Brunello Cucinelli

Brunello Cucinelli built his cashmere house in Solomeo, a fourteenth-century Umbrian hamlet he has progressively restored — theatre, library, vineyards — as the physical expression of what he calls humanistic capitalism: fair wages, dignified hours, profit in proportion. The clothes embody the same philosophy. Cucinelli made his name dyeing cashmere in unexpected colors in the late 1970s, and the house still turns on knitwear: unstructured jackets, layered neutrals, the quietly luxurious wardrobe that came to define 'quiet luxury' before the phrase existed. Everything is made in Italy, much of it in Umbria itself. The Solomeo headquarters is a destination in its own right — a working argument that a factory can be beautiful and a business can be an ethical project. Start with the knitwear; the greys and earth tones are the house's native language.

If visiting Umbria, book lunch in Solomeo itself — the village restaurant and the workshops together are the philosophy made visible, and visitors are welcomed.