According to the Italian luxury brand Brunello Cucinelli’s financial report for the first half of fiscal year 2025, sales in the Asian market, including the Chinese Mainland, grew from €174 million to €195.7 million year-on-year, marking a 12.5% increase. This made Asia the fastest-growing market globally. The region’s share of total sales also rose from 28.0% to 28.6%, making it the only region to show a proportional increase.
However, as noted by Luxeplace, the company’s management has repeatedly emphasized a “slow” strategy for the Chinese market, one that diverges from conventional commercial expansion. At the core of this approach is a focus on brand “depth” rather than the “breadth” of commercial growth.
Co-CEO Luca Lisandroni confirmed during a conference call the strong growth momentum in China, noting that the market achieved double-digit growth in the first half of this year, leading growth across Asia. Both Hong Kong and Macau also posted gains. Growth in the Chinese market was not only significant but evenly distributed across regions and reflected consistently in both quarters, further validating the brand’s robust development trajectory.
Nonetheless, the brand continues to resist rapid store expansion in China. During the call, brand founder Brunello Cucinelli recounted how he declined a proposal from a Chinese investor:
“A 20-year-old Chinese investor came to us with a group of other investors and said, ‘You have a huge opportunity in China right now; you could open more stores.’ I replied, ‘No, no, you can go back to China. Don’t worry. We don’t want to open stores blindly in China. We’re not looking to grow 15%–20% through China. We don’t want to be acquired by anyone. We want balanced growth.‘ But he insisted, ‘You have a great opportunity. You’ve brought your brand to China.’ (I responded) But we don’t want to open more stores, nor do we want you to invest and then walk away in a year and a half.“
According to Luxeplace’s research, Brunello Cucinelli did not open any new stores in China or globally during the first half of this year. The most recent store opening in China was in December 2024, when the brand launched its first boutique in Guangzhou at the K11 Art Mall.
Luca Lisandroni stated, “We’ve always focused on brand relevance, not anything else. Our brand is still relatively young, and even more so in Asian countries. So we truly believe we need to go deep with our brand, not broad. We are more than happy to welcome new clients every day and help them grow closer to our brand, to better understand our brand, our products, and our values.”
Brunello Cucinelli also revealed, “A week ago, the Chinese Ambassador to Italy visited us. He was accompanied by seven individuals, all from the business community. When they saw the statues of Confucius and Plato displayed side by side in the building, they really liked it. They visited us and deeply appreciated our way of doing things.“
Lisandroni added that, due to the brand’s growing appeal in the Chinese market, they have received several proposals regarding new commercial locations, retail initiatives, and the upcoming Casa Cucinelli set to open in 2026.
“You know, among all the proposed locations, there are three houses that date back to the 1300s. We said, just give one to us, because we’re going to build a beautiful library there, with books in Italian, Chinese, and English, so everyone can go there and have access to the books from our global library. We are, of course, honored, as it’s a recognition of the validity of our brand.”
“We always strive to find the right balance between growth and investment. At the same time, we aim to protect the uniqueness of our brand.”
| Source: Brunello Cucinelli earnings call
| Image Credit: Brand official website
| Editor: LeZhi
