BRUNELLO CUCINELLI AND THE DREAM OF SOLOMEO

Brunello Cucinelli is known worldwide for the extreme quality of his cashmere. He started fourty years ago with the pullovers and now the company ( in the stock market since few years) spread into lots of things. Not only fashion such as linen, scarves, cottons, shoes etc... Cucinelli goes beyond. He has a dream and he explained it: "The great dream of my life has always been to work for the moral and economic dignity of the human being. I imagined a company that would make a profit but I wanted it to be achieved with ethics and respect of human beings, manufacturing products without harming the Creation".

About 400 journalists, some monks, carabinieri and few politicians such as Katiuscia Marini the president of Umbria Region,  were invited in Solomeo in his headquarters. Two hours from Rome.  We had a fantastic time. Below a picture of me in the gardens of the factory. Not only Brunello Cucinelli showed us the factory but also the new vineyards, a monument dedicated to the Dignity of the human being and the Solomeo village where we had the press conference. In Rome if you want to shop in Brunello Cucinelli's boutiques you have two stores. One is located in via Borgognona 33  (the biggest one) and the other is in via del Babuino 150/D.

At the end of this unforgettable day we had dinner with the best italian wines possible. Guado al Tasso and Tignanello. Brunello Cucinelli has a great quality, very rare. He is a generous man. He is also extremely curious and like to meet and talk with people from other fields. Soon he will be in USA to meet for the second time Jeff Besos from Amazon. Apparently he challenged him " You are the new Leonardo da Vinci but the one of you who will manage to humanize the web will be the King". An interesting point of view from one of the most successful italian entrepreneur of his generation.

GRANDTOURSHOPPING.COM INVITED AT ADN KRONOS PRESS AGENCY

This morning, August 30th 2018, I was invited in ADN KRONOS for a video interview. The press agency is located in Trastevere in Piazza Mastai. It is considered one of the most prestigious press agency in Italy and it was a great honour to talk about Made in Italy, exclusive shopping in Rome, problems and possible solutions.

The interview was led by Carmela Piccione, a great reporter who writes in a wide amount of fields such as culture, ballet, fashion and politic. She is reknown and respected. She asked me a lot about tourists. Grandtourshopping.com especially deal with clients from USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia but we also have europeans, especially english and swiss.

Carmela Piccione asked me about the glamour of Made In Italy and I explained that clients don't want only fashion clothes, shoes and bags but also look for beautiful little things such as stripe socks from Gallo, bijoux, jewels. They even like little coloured copy books from a stationary company called Campo Marzio. They love the design. My mission is to make them discovery new brands. I love a florentine artist who works on plastic that looks like glass. He makes vases, glasses, salad bowls. His name is Mario Luca Giusti.

There are so many brands to talk about. Clients like the fact that in shops such as Cenci the salesman have an amazing knowledge on tailorship. Not only that, Made in Italy can be extremely flexible and cleaver. It is one of the best country in the world where you can find great clothes for very curvy girls. Sometimes I also have young entrepreneurs in their thirties from the New Economy. They can not dress anymore as Steve Jobs with a T shirts and a pair of sneakers. Often they need to be dressed up to discuss business on Wall Street. So I take them to buy a new italian suit without spending a fortune. I like for exemple Canali, they work extremely well, I discover them in Florence in Pitti Uomo.

The video will come out in few days, we will keep you posted. Can't wait  to see it.

In Rome The Winter collection of Max Mara, an intelligent shopping solution

In Rome the most important Max Mara flagship store is located in the most elegant street : Via Condotti. I often step by with my clients of grandtourshopping.com and I also ago to the Max and Co boutique located at the end of the street in the corner with Largo Goldoni. Max and Co is less expensive and more focused on young women.

Globally I love this italian group, a symbol of Made in Italy. They solve so many problems. For a coat, a dress, a pair of pants. I also go  to Marina Rinaldi the Max Mara brand dedicated to the curvy women.They are a fantastic solution. In a way I think Sportmax, which is more focused on design and up to date fashion is more difficult to adapt even though the clothes are interesting and you can feel and notice the research. Max Mara and Sportmax shows in Milano during the fashion week. Marina Rinaldi generally organizes a presentation in their showroom but globally my relationship with them is more focused on the product in boutiques that, as said, I often visit with or without clients.

Here below a picture of Gigi Hadid in the Max Mara Winter collection. The message is that is time for women to feel strong. You can find overcoats, animal prints, slick black leather, english tweeds, checks, pencil skirts or stirrups pants. They are teddy bear coats but also military maxis. A strange combination of Western look and conceptual style. Now the Max Mara woman demands success on her own terms and dresses accordingly.