MILAN — You can count on Brunello Cucinelli for an injection of positivity, despite the generalized ho-hum luxury forecasts.
Indeed, Cucinelli on Wednesday once again raised his namesake company’s sales projections, expecting 2024 revenues to increase between 11 percent and 12 percent. Less than two months ago, based on the nine-month performance, Cucinelli said he expected sales to grow 10 percent in the year.
In an unexpected year-end update call with analysts at the end of trading, Cucinelli was upbeat, defining 2024 as “a truly enchanting and outstanding year” in light of the company’s performance, touting the reaction from buyers to the brand’s pre-fall collection presented last month, and trumpeting “an increasingly confident outlook” of a 10 percent increase in sales for 2025 and 2026.
Throughout the call he said it was key to “maintain exclusivity, creativity, craftsmanship, innovation and contemporaneity,” which he believes are essential and what fuel the performance of his company and differentiates it from its competitors.
He took the opportunity once again to express his distaste for evergreen products, which “lead directly to a brand’s graveyard.” He also reiterated the importance of fair price. “Trust was one of the most recurring words we were met with during our recent trips around the world and talking to retailers, customers and investors. We were told we could be trusted,” Cucinelli said.
He added that “luxury will never go away. We think the propensity to buy in the higher range is unchanged, if not greater, for products of absolute luxury.” He cautioned against irritating customers — even the wealthiest — with exaggerated price hikes. Fair remuneration for artisans was also a key topic he discussed, aligned with his views on the dignity of work and humanistic capitalism.
In 2024, Cucinelli expects sales in the U.S. to increase between 15 and 17 percent, to gain 12 to 14 percent in Asia and 5 to 7 percent in Europe. Conversely to many of his peers, he forecast a 10 to 12 percent increase in China, a market that continues to improve, he said.
Brunello Cucinelli spring 2025
Courtesy of Brunello Cucinelli
Also, he said “there is a good buzz in America, it’s a very positive moment.” Responding to an analyst, he waved away concerns about potential risks connected to the pending Saks-Neiman Marcus merger.
In 2024, retail is expected to grow between 12 and 14 percent and wholesale between 8 and 10 percent. “Don’t believe all you hear about streamlining the wholesale channel, it’s not in trouble,” he affirmed. “If you have the right product, [wholesalers] will buy it.”
Cucinelli is earmarking around 8 percent of sales for investments in 2025 and 6 to 7 percent of sales in expenditures on image and communication.
After traveling to New York, Shanghai, Dubai and Los Angeles over the past couple of months, Cucinelli said that last month he held a two-day initiative at the medieval castle he has restored over the years and home to the company’s headquarters in Solomeo. Called “Castello di Solomeo Welcomes La Paulée,” it was dedicated to the world of wine, inspired by the ancient annual harvest festival in France, and with tastings of some of the most prestigious labels in the world, including Domaine Marquis d’Angerville, Maison Louis Jadot, Champagne Salon and Champagne Delamotte, to name a few. Michelin-starred chefs Michel and César Troisgros produced a dinner dedicated to the flavors of the local area. In 2022, Cucinelli introduced the 2018 vintage of the Rosso del Castello di Solomeo.
During the call, Cucinelli proudly recalled receiving the John B. Fairchild Honor from WWD at the end of October, and the Good Business award last month from Bloomberg China.
