The death of the suit. The end of the necktie. The rise of casual dressing. Activewear. Streetwear. WFH. OOO. Zoom. Given everything that’s happened over the past few years, you wouldn’t be surprised if vast swathes of the menswear industry had downed their fabric scissors and followed government advice to retrain in cyber.

Someone who definitely hasn’t is Brunello Cucinelli. For 43 years, his company has been producing some of the most luxurious and desirable clothing in the world, much of it cashmere and all of it handmade in Italy from a centuries-old base in Solomeo, a hilltop village in Umbria, a mountainous region two hours’ drive from Rome. Each year, the brand releases its financial results and each year they climb higher and higher through the roof. In 2021 they were up 30.9 per cent, with sales of €712m. Signor Cucinelli makes exquisite suits, but his real USP is mixing and matching tailoring – menswear-speak for suit jackets and “proper” trousers – with items such as rollnecks, shearling bomber jackets and cashmere hoodies. To wear Cucinelli is to look impeccable yet comfortable. In other words, he’s been promoting a sportivo chic version of traditional menswear for years.

‘Fit is really important,’ Cucinelli told me when we met recently. ‘You basically wear a sartorial [tailored] kind of top, a blazer and you pair it with some kind of sporty detail. In my case, corduroy trousers.’

On the one hand this is a basic tenet of Italian style, sprezzatura, a detail that’s intentionally a bit off. One of Cucinelli’s style heroes is Gianni Agnelli, the 99-per-cent immaculate late Fiat chairman who would wear his watch over his shirt cuff and fasten his tie so the thin end was longer than the thick. (Gilets over City suits and hiking boots under tailored trousers were two other Agnelli favourites that feature heavily in Cucinelli collections.) On the other hand, Cucinelli has elevated this idea to a whole new level. Leaf through one of his catalogues and so stylish and perfectly turned-out do his models appear that you feel like bursting into tears.

The autumn/winter 2022 Cucinelli collection is big on tweed, Prince of Wales check and houndstooth with what the brand calls a ‘powerful array’ of greys and blues ‘which stand out as timeless ambassadors of elegance’.

‘The suit has to elevate the figure and personality of the person who wears it,’ says Alessio Piastrelli, from the brand’s men’s style team. ‘Worn with knitwear, polo shirts and dyed shirts, with or without ties.’

If Gucci and Zegna are about cutting-edge collabs and futuristic fabrics, and Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani represent accessibility and tradition, Brunello Cucinelli is none of these things. The clothes he makes are gorgeous, timeless and beyond such trifling concerns as seasonal trends. They’re also expensive. A cardigan can set you back £3,250, a set of jogging bottoms £2,320, and you could buy a car for the price of one of his winter coats. His website currently advertises a pair of grey socks for £570.

Cucinelli has a couple of answers to this. One, that everything is made by hand, in Italy, using the finest materials. And two, that since his clothes are the best, you need to buy them once. He is the original buy-better-buy-less merchant.

‘It’s true we are very expensive,’ he told me. ‘But I want to manufacture something beautiful. And I like to have authentic things. I’m Italian: serve me spaghetti, seasoned with olive oil then Parmesan cheese. But, of course, the oil must be fantastic. The Parmesan must taste great.’

Cucinelli practises what he calls “humanistic capitalism”. Yes, he’s in the business of making money, but he also pays his staff 20 per cent above the going rate, a 90-minute lunch break is enforced and everyone is out of the door by 6pm. He donates a fifth of his profits to the Brunello and Federica Cucinelli Foundation (Federica is his wife), to be used ‘for humanity’. Projects include building a hospital in Malawi and a football field in his nearby hometown, Castel Rigone. He’s rebuilt Solomeo’s plaza, repaved streets and nurtured orchards. Andrea Romizi, the mayor of Perugia, notes that Cucinelli has interpreted business in an ‘extremely original manner’, prioritising respect for their community. There has been talk of Cucinelli going into politics.

His approach is literally written throughout the company, as quotes on ceramic plaques displayed around Solomeo. His inspirations are not Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk but Socrates, Seneca, St Benedict and St Francis. “Love of knowledge echoes in our hearts and nourishes great thoughts,” for example – one from Socrates. So often does he mention the Roman emperor Hadrian you’d think he’d just seen him that week for lunch.

According to Cucinelli lore, he was raised by a family that lived off the land, cultivating sunflowers in a house with no electricity or plumbing, where 13 people slept under the same roof. After considering the priesthood, he dropped out of university in 1975 around the time Benetton was killing it selling multicoloured Shetland wool jumpers to women. Cashmere, by contrast, was traditionally grey and black and reserved for men. He borrowed 20 kilos of yarn and his reign as “the cashmere king” had begun.

‘Our hope is to come up with something eternal, everlasting,’ says Alessio Piastrelli.‘We greatly believe in dressing well.’

Despite the soaraway profits, the label is scarcely a household name. It’s a favourite instead with the jet-set and royalty, the ultimate understatement of stealth wealth. Neckties and WFH may come and go. Cucinelli’s business is based on a more long-term, not to say philosophical, view. For a while, the landing page on his website offered the legend “Beauty will save the world”. Dostoevsky said that.

brunellocucinelli.com