Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/175899
King of the Castle Brunello Cucinelli is weaving Italian magic on a hilltop in Umbria, where his sumptuous cashmeres begin their journey to The Shops at Crystals. By Laurie Brookins A look at the Brunello Cucinelli boutique at The Shops at Crystals. C hurch bells announce the noon hour in Solomeo at the same moment that a sleek black Maserati purrs to a halt near the Piazza della Pace. From inside the stunning automobile, a welldressed man in his 50s flags me down, and although we quickly discern that his English is almost as broken as my Italian, his purpose becomes clear: He is seeking directions to the "negozi di Cucinelli." Ah, of course, the stores. He has trekked here with one goal in mind: to shop in the pair of Brunello Cucinelli boutiques that routinely draw day-trippers to this medieval Umbrian hill town. A glance at his watch, however, is followed by a grimace: Those bells at the nearby Church of San Bartolomeo tell him the stores are now closed for lunch. With a shrug and a smile, he cruises back down the hill, content to kill time traversing the Italian countryside until the boutiques reopen at 3. Brunello Cucinelli is not surprised when I relate this anecdote to him. He's accustomed to seeing a regular trickle—and on weekends quite the parade—of fashion-conscious consumers making the pilgrimage to Solomeo in search of the sublimely soft cashmeres and other luxe knitwear that form the nucleus of his eponymous label. It's been 28 years since he settled his VEGASMAGAZINE.COM 111 110-113_V_Feat_Cucinelli3_Oct13.indd 111 9/17/13 5:39 PM