When Carolina Cucinelli arrived in Aspen for the first time, it was an idyllic winter day—and she instantly felt at home.
“I felt a wonderful sense of harmony,” says the vice president and co-creative director of the iconic Italian luxury brand her father founded in 1978. “The natural elegance of the people and their respect for the town’s spaces closely reflect the Brunello Cucinelli style.”
Nick Fouquet crafts hats in his Aspen atelier.
Aspen’s chic style and warm spirit remind Brunello Cucinelli co-creative director Carolina Cucinelli of her Italian home of Solomeo, Umbria.
J Bar at Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection.
The picturesque mountains, untamed beauty, and welcoming spirit reminded her of Solomeo, the 13th-century hamlet in the heart of Umbria’s scenic hills, where she was raised and still lives. There, her father instilled in her a heartfelt commitment to fostering community and preserving nature and heritage. (The senior Cucinelli famously spent decades restoring his beloved Solomeo, his wife’s hometown, and nurturing both his business and village community with the development of artisan trade schools, venues for the arts, parks, and more.)
In Aspen, Carolina Cucinelli discovered a similar kindhearted spirit.
The Garden at Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection
“Authenticity and quality are two characteristics I found everywhere in Aspen—in the places and the people—and these are precisely how we came to define ‘gentle luxury’ at Brunello Cucinelli,” she says. The company opened a store in town in 2012, and its laid-back luxury—evident in plush cashmere sweaters and jackets, softly tailored coats, and layers of cream-colored sportswear—epitomizes Aspen’s elegant ease.
In this mountain town, Cucinelli sees echoes of her small Italian village, where innovation for the future resides alongside tradition. The nonprofit Aspen Institute, for instance, is a favorite spot for its programs exploring some of the most challenging topics of the day. The Aspen Art Museum is another one of Cucinelli’s must-visit places for its great selection of contemporary art, “housed in a modern building that blends perfectly with the town’s ambiance.” She also visits her friend Nick Fouquet’s namesake shop, where she recently found new hats to take back to Italy.
Aspen’s historic downtown—with its pedestrian cobblestone shopping streets, sprawling green park, and well-preserved buildings, like the Wheeler Opera House—is another part of the city with which Cucinelli feels a personal affinity. That’s one reason she was drawn to Hotel Jerome, Auberge Resorts Collection, built by Jerome Wheeler in 1889. Constructed during Aspen’s mining heyday, the hotel has been at the center of this town’s social scene since its early days and has maintained its Western charm. A cocktail at Hotel Jerome’s J Bar “offers moments of relaxation in an elegant and sophisticated atmosphere,” she adds.
With every visit, Aspen’s breathtaking natural beauty invigorates and inspires Cucinelli. “I vividly remember the beautiful trail we hiked to the Maroon Bells,” she says. “The peaks reflecting in the waters of the surrounding lakes made everything feel suspended in time.”
It’s that natural splendor, that easygoing spirit, that sprezzatura, that Cucinelli relishes—and that lingers long after she’s returned to Italy.
Growing up in a close-knit Italian family in the small village of Solomeo, sisters Camilla and Carolina Cucinelli were immersed in the family’s cashmere business—even at a young age, when the girls would visit their father’s design studio and workshops and share meals in the company canteen.
Naturally, both women joined the family business, along with their spouses, and this spring, the sisters unveiled a signature handbag, the BC Duo—the result of months of collaboration.
“The idea was born from the desire to celebrate what unites us by creating something elegant and timeless, yet also contemporary,” says Camilla, vice president and co-head women’s creative director. “This project mirrors our bond, our shared vision, and the belief that together we can create something that transcends individuality.”
Designed in the company’s sleek, minimalist style, the shopper bag is constructed with geometric panels stitched together to create a sculpted shape in buttery leather, suede, or denim, and dyed in the elegant neutral tones the brand is known for.
Sisters Carolina and Camilla Cucinelli collaborate in their Solomeo, Italy, studio.
How did your father’s style influence you?
Camilla: “Brunello’s approach is rooted in tradition, while we strive to translate it into a more modern and functional perspective.”
What inspired the BC Duo?
Carolina: “We felt the need to design something that represented our shared journey. We wanted to create an accessory that expressed our way of perceiving beauty: authentic, functional, and capable of engaging with the present.”
What does the BC Duo represent to you?
Camilla: “The BC Duo reflects our duality: aesthetics and function, tradition and modernity, united in a single creation.”
Tell us about the design process.
Carolina: “Our work together is built on constant dialogue and exchange. Every phase of the process stems from the fusion of our ideas and those of a team of 20 people with whom we meet, discuss, experiment, select materials, and test prototypes.”