In an interview with CNBC, CEO Riccardo Stefanelli explained that the brand’s success in producing everything from diamond-thread knitwear to $1,000 T-shirts is rooted in a philosophy that prioritizes long-term reputation over short-term profit margins.

“Don’t be greedy,” Stefanelli said on the sidelines of the World Fashion Summit in Copenhagen. “If you are greedy, it means you are extracting value from the supply chain and depriving someone else. We must think long-term, not in short cycles dictated by the stock market.”

To protect this philosophy from external pressure, the Cucinelli family retains majority control of the business, holding 51% of the shares.

The competitors’ mistake: prices went up, but value didn’t

Brunello Cucinelli strictly follows a financial rule: the retail price of an item should not exceed its production cost by more than seven to eight times. This approach sharply contrasts with the behavior of many luxury players during the post-pandemic boom, which ended in 2022.

During that period, many brands aggressively raised prices — sometimes boosting revenues by as much as 30% — without offering proportional improvements in quality. As a result, customers began to feel alienated. Even Luca de Meo, CEO of the luxury conglomerate Kering (owner of Gucci), has recently acknowledged that price increases in the industry “went too far.”

Stefanelli emphasized: “We want customers to clearly understand the balance between real value and retail price. When that balance is lost, problems begin. People stop understanding why they should pay more. I respect the success of LVMH and Kering, but we do a very different job.”

At the top of the pyramid

The luxury market is now highly polarized: large conglomerates targeting mass-entry luxury consumers are stagnating, while ultra-exclusive brands continue to thrive.

Cucinelli’s focus on a single brand and relatively small scale (market capitalization around €6 billion and €1.4 billion in 2025 revenue) allows the company to maintain stable annual growth of 10–12%. The brand deliberately limits production volumes to preserve exclusivity.

According to Stefanelli, attempts by competitors to scale aggressively are a trap: “Once you go down to the mass market, you can never return to the top of the pyramid.” Analysts at Jefferies also note that Cucinelli’s results once again demonstrate the “exceptional resilience of ultra-wealthy consumers to economic crises.”

A solution to labor shortages: pay people more

The luxury industry — especially “Made in Italy” — has recently faced scandals involving exploitation in subcontracted factories and poor working conditions. Against this backdrop, Stefanelli proposes a simple solution: pay artisans properly.

Higher wages are also essential to attract younger generations into traditional crafts such as tailoring and weaving, where labor shortages are becoming severe. Parents are unlikely to encourage children to enter these professions unless they are confident the work will be fairly and generously rewarded.

“If you believe your company should last for the next 50 years, you plan your business as we do,” Stefanelli concluded. “Yes, it is a cost to the budget. But it is our conscious choice.”