Saks and Brunello Cucinelli Partner on Exclusive Capsule and Visual Takeover of Saks New York Flagship
Saks will launch Cucinelli's first fragrances as the exclusive wholesale partner in the U.S.
When Brunello Cucinelli came to New York this week, he received a great big welcome from Saks.
Saks and Cucinelli are celebrating 25 years of partnership with an exclusive capsule collection, a visual takeover of Saks’ New York flagship, a private dinner in New York City and digital content across Saks’ channels.
In tandem with the capsule launch and New York City flagship takeover, Saks will launch Cucinelli’s first fragrances as the exclusive wholesale partner in the U.S.
Saks recently unveiled newly renovated Cucinelli women’s and men’s shops at the New York flagship, which have both expanded significantly in size and feature new design elements.
“We’ve been talking to Brunello and their team for awhile to figure out what we can do to celebrate our partnership,” said Tracy Margolies, chief merchandising officer at Saks. “All the stars were aligned for this year.”
“We’re launching their fragrances exclusively at Saks, and we put together a beautiful, exclusive capsule of about 30 skus [stock keeping units]. It’s all about craftsmanship and elegance and timeless silhouettes. It’s a collection that merges their brand and our brand and really characterizes his craftsmanship,” she said.
Asked how the brand is performing this fall at Saks, Margolies said, “We’re very happy with our partnership with Brunello Cucinelli.” She said what draws the Saks customer to the collection is “the quality, the craftsmanship, the timeless silhouettes and the consistency. It’s the finest craftsmanship, and it’s elegant,” she said.
Cucinelli’s exclusive capsule collection for Saks consists of women’s and men’s ready-to-wear and accessories. A neutral, muted color palette, inspired by Italy’s fine marbles, travertines and pietra serena is the basis for the timeless pieces that can dressed up or down for any occasion.
Women’s items range in price from $1,695 to $10,995, while men’s items are $530 to $9,495. The fragrances are $210.
The capsule will be featured heavily online and in-store.
In a Zoom interview with Brunello Cucinelli last week, he said Saks is one of his biggest clients worldwide. They have been doing business together since 1998 when Cucinelli was just making women’s and men’s knitwear for them. “That’s when this great relationship started off. They were the most important supporters that we should do a total look, instead of just sweaters,” said Cucinelli through an interpreter.
“There have been some very fun moments over the 25 years,” said Cucinelli, citing meetings filled with jokes and pranks with former Saks executives Ron Frasch and Joe Boitano.
The North American market accounts for 35 percent of Cucinelli’s total revenues, he said.
The women’s assortment consists of versatile garments that easily mix and match, including intricately crafted knitwear, everyday dresses, structured tailoring and denim and leather jackets. Geared to fall and winter weather, there are cashmeres, soft shearlings and iridescent suedes with Cucinelli’s signature monili embroidery and fluid fabrics with ’90s-inspired boxy silhouettes and sartorial motifs.
The men’s assortment is built around different moments and needs of the day. There are blazers and suits combined with knitwear for what Saks calls “sophisticated nonchalance in true Brunello Cucinelli style,” along with joggers for downtime, and classic shawl-collar cardigans and leather jackets for the weekend. Fabrics and natural yarns add texture to the garments, including cashmere, corduroy and cavalry twill.
The collection is available exclusively on saks.com and at 15 Saks Fifth Avenue stores across the country, starting Tuesday.
To celebrate the partnership, Cucinelli will take over Saks’ New York flagship with a special Fifth Avenue window display in the six main Fifth Avenue windows and immersive visual installations throughout the store from Tuesday through Oct. 30.
The window display on Fifth Avenue aims to reflect the fascination and value of slow travel. The train that travels through Saks’ storefront, The Solemeo Express, conveys an ideal train journey between two continents, between two countries, and between two cities as different as New York and Solomeo, the medieval Umbrian hamlet where Cucinelli is based, linked by a relationship based on the constant search for innovation, excellence and beauty, according to the companies.
The journey continues inside the store through five outposts, each located on a different floor of the building: a train compartment with retro flair on the main floor and phone booths are positioned on both sides of the women’s shoe floor. A bar cart is featured on the fourth floor housing womenswear, and a waiting room overflowing with luggage can be found on the men’s sixth floor. Both rtw floors are also home to Brunello Cucinelli’s renovated women’s and men’s shops, which feature vintage wood design elements meant to reflect the vibe of a typical Italian living room. Space will also be dedicated to the new fragrance collection on the beauty floor, bringing the scents and sensations of the Umbrian countryside to New York City.
The colors and finishes that have become the hallmark of the Solomeo brand characterize the displays, designed to immediately convey the feeling of a relaxing and luxurious journey. The cashmere suitcases that adorn the windows and outposts serve as symbols of the cultural journey that crosses and connects the two cities.
Discussing the travel theme, Cucinelli explained, “We are somehow on our way toward a new time and need to move toward this new time where we need to find a balance with the surroundings, with creation and with our lives. That’s why we picked ideas of traveling. It shows the love we have for travel and also traveling toward a new time.”
“Travel has always epitomized luxury. When you travel, you want to be in your best clothes and have your luxury suitcases with you. It epitomizes beauty in a way,” he added.
Asked what New York and Solomeo have in common, Cucinelli laughed. “This is really a great question. The managers would always come to Solomeo to learn about the brand and be immersed in the brand. That’s why we developed such a great relationship. Also, in terms of visual merchandising, we have always highlighted that the brand in their stores represents our culture, the culture of the hamlet, the culture of quality, or a specific lifestyle, in order to have the exchange of these two cities.”
Cucinelli said he’s hoping for “many bestsellers,” at Saks.
“We like the overall taste and having a chic, clean, sober, high-quality collection in muted colors. It needs to match perfectly our taste and Saks’ clients’ tastes,” he said. As for how it differs from his regular fall collection, he said these are styles that were designed exclusively and specifically for Saks.
Cucinelli stressed that exclusivity is vital to the overall business. “For our company, exclusively has always been one of the founding pillars. We’ve always wanted to manufacture a product that has top-notch quality, is exclusive and rare. Exclusivity and rarity should be important features of our product and hopefully this product will last for years,” he said.
Saks and Cucinelli is celebrating the initiative and their long-standing partnership with a private event in New York on Tuesday featuring an appearance by Cucinelli.
The fragrance launch at Saks includes two eau de parfums: one for women, and one for men. The fragrances are inspired by the Italian countryside, with scents meant to evoke landscapes, medieval artwork and a strong sense of spirituality.
Brunello Cucinelli Pour Femme, created by perfumer Daphne Bugey, captures the lightness of cashmere through vetiver and cedar, along with warm hints of chestnut, pink pepper and the zing of orange blossom. Brunello Cucinelli Pour Homme, created by master perfumer Olivier Cresp, features cypress and juniper forming a zesty-woody base, brightened by Italian begamot and lemon, with a touch of spicy ginger.
Brunello Cucinelli Parfums will be available at Saks three months in advance of other wholesale partners.
Digital content showcasing the capsule collection, the flagship takeover and the fragrance launch will appear on saks.com and across both brands’ social media channels, including an exclusive interview with Cucinelli on The Edit, Saks editorial hub for fashion news and style inspiration. Saks will also feature the capsule collection on both its women’s and men’s homepages on saks.com.