The influence of stealth wealth designers Loro Piana and Brunello Cucinelli’s Sprezzatura image
By Tissa Sabeti
Sprezzatura has always been at the heart of Italian fashion. Loro piana and Brunello Cucinelli both lead the way in crafting luxury that is effortless and discreet. But what is the obsession with these quite luxury designers really about, and why do they embody sprezzatura?
Brunello Cucinelli’s humanistic philosophy at the heart of his Solomeo community is perhaps the secret to why the brand exudes so much sprezzatura! The ethos of Cucinelli’s brand is in that centres around community and views the product and the labour as equal. It is known that the brand has a noble and humanistic philosophy at its heart, funding the maintenance of the local buildings and creating jobs for locals. The care at the heart of Brunello Cucinelli plays a rather large role along side the equities craftsmanship in making the label exude sprezzatura. By placing so much importance on the community of the company, Cucinelli transcends other labels by becoming something more than. Brunello Cucinelli pairs this philosophy with little to no advertisement which comes together with the quality of their clothes to present an effortlessly beautiful product. By not being loud and being focused on meaningful community the label is able to assemble an image that reflects Italian family values as well as allow their wearer to come across as a individual less focused on looking good, but rather someone focused on community and fitting in. Their humble image contributes to the silence of the brand and the beauty of their products because Sprezzatura is all about coming across like you are not putting effort and yet there is something undeniably luscious about they way the whole individual comes across. Brunello Cucinelli’s choices to use the most fine of natural fabrics and often embroidered them with no identifiable logo (that is very obvious) allows the wearer to wear their clothes, not be enveloped and shallowed by the brand they are wearing.
With this focus on stealth wealth, I ask what is at the bottom of this ‘if you know, you know style’ ? and I find the answer is sprezzatura
The world of quite luxury is rapidly becoming a, ironically, wildly spoken about area of luxury fashion. With trends such as ‘Old money’ coming to the forefront of fashion and with the success of HBO’s ‘Succession’ the appearance of stealth wealth has become the new vogue. Brands such as Loro Piana, Zegna, Brioni, and Brunello Cucinelli are being hyper focused on and attracting a lot of attention from social media, most notably ‘Gstaad Guy’, a social media personality parodying the lives of the ‘Old money’ with his character Constance. ‘Gstaad Guy’ has contributed to the sprezzatura of Lord Piana by adding a lightheartedness to the label and also humour. Equally, his character ‘Constance’ furthered the image of the brand’s stealth wealth clientele. With online personalities such as Gated Guy presenting a life style, rather than just a fashion label, the focus on lifestyle and sprezzatura appearance becomes more apparent. There is a real craving for witnessing the lives of those with rich experiences and a carefree attitude, TikTok has been focused on curating a ‘lived in’ wardrobe to enhance the sprezzatura style of many ‘old money’ looks.
With this focus on stealth wealth, I ask what is at the bottom of this ‘if you know, you know style’ ? and I find the answer is sprezzatura. Of course the ‘old money’ trend and media have played a role, but the actual style which is being assembled is one that does not try to hard. It is a confident and curated style which has been passed down through generations. The allure of looking undone is popular because there is something humble about it which seems to deny, or at least try to hide, the pleasures of self endurance or vanity. It does not come as a surprise that the effects of stealth death style are moving into more accessible fashion, with designers and brands focusing more on simple designs. This sprezzatura way of life and image is one that is widely desired, and it moves fashion into an era focused on lifestyle and experiences, rather than just ideas of status and appearance.
It seems that more emphasis is being placed on heritage, the type of inherited pieces and vintage one yes that carry meaning and can be passed down with all its meaningful richness. With a sprezzatura focused life and style, fashioning is becoming more focused on family and passing down and carrying items withe memory (vintage items and classic pieces ), it would seem fashion is in a time of nostalgia which craves the sprezzatura of a time not too long ago.
Image Credit: Tissa Sabeti
