The ‘Council in Support of Mankind’ will select the projects and organizations that will receive the donations
For Brunello Cucinelli, the garments left unsold in boutiques all over the world following the lockdowns of the past months are a resource that he wants to “donate to humanity.” With this project, the enlightened entrepreneur is putting his humanistic philosophy on fashion into practice. The “Brunello Cucinelli for Humanity” indelible label will be on each garment. Altogether, the production value of the goods amounts to 30 million euros. Thus, the gift has a much greater value in retail price terms.
Because of the lockdown, the brand’s first half preliminary sales decreased by 29.5%.
Nevertheless, Cucinelli decided not to mark the unsold garments down to generate revenue nor to send it off to discounters.
Instead, the now out-of-season merchandise that is still in stores will be simply gifted. He described this as “a new kind of capitalism. There is harmony between profit and giving back.”
Select organizations and projects will receive the packages containing 40-50 garments in perfect condition and packaged as gifts, with letters from Cucinelli. The newly set up “Council in Support of Mankind” will be in charge of the selection. It comprises 10 people from the company, 6 of which are also members of Cucinelli’s family.
Cucinelli said that this project “raises human dignity and honors all those who have worked in the manufacturing of these garments.” Adding that, “It will go hand in hand with the other, which started several years ago, which consists in repairing, recovering, and reusing all our products. All this completes the greatest project of ‘human sustainability‘ in which we have always believed and which we like to summarize in climate and emissions, care of the earth and animals, and care of the human person. It would be a real pleasure for me if this symbolic gesture were accepted as a sign of good wishes towards a new and lasting new time.”
Ilona Catani Scarlett
Photos from the official Facebook page