MILAN — While Brunello Cucinelli described this as “the finest moment of the company’s history,” reflecting continued growth at retail across geographies, he did not want to appear as if he was making light of this “particular juncture for humanity.”
On Thursday, during a call with analysts to comment on the first-quarter performance of his namesake company, Cucinelli often spoke about the pandemic and the lessons learned then, citing “the importance of clarity in the fundamental principles of our enterprise; the necessity for all our decisions to be reversible, elastic and flexible — culturally as well — on an almost daily basis, and, finally, the need for great caution and patience, without thereby relinquishing our rightful ambition.”
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Quoting one of his beloved philosophers, he urged “to put into practice the teaching of Thomas More, who said: ‘Oh my God, help me to accept what I cannot change, and help me to change what I can.’”
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Turning to business, he reported that his company, in the three months ended March 31, saw sales rise 8.1 percent to 369.1 million euros, compared with 341.4 million euros in the same period last year. At constant currency, growth stood at 14 percent.
“The first quarter of 2026 started on a positive note, further accelerating compared to the already positive conclusion of 2025, particularly in the Americas and in China, and even better than our expectations,” said chief executive officer Luca Lisandroni.
He underscored the strength of the company’s retail channel, which showed a gain of 12.9 percent to 238.2 million euros, accounting for 64.5 percent of the total. At constant currency, retail was up 20.1 percent.
The higher sales reflected like-for-like growth and the contribution from new stores, “as well as the continued increase in client numbers and average spending, accompanied by a sales mix increasingly oriented towards higher-value products,” explained Lisandroni.
In the first quarter, two boutiques opened in Florida, in Boca Raton and Naples, and one in Wuhan, China. A store in Vancouver will open in the second quarter and, toward the end of the year or early 2027, a second unit will open in Abu Dhabi and one in Mexico City. The Geneva, Toronto and Plaza 66 stores will be expanded in the third quarter.
In the first quarter, wholesale sales inched up 0.3 percent to 130.9 million euros. At constant currency, they grew 4.3 percent.
Cucinelli confirmed the forecast of revenue growth of around 10 percent at constant exchange rates for 2026 and for 2027.
The performance in March remained in line with the first two months of the year, even after the start of the war in the Middle East, said Lisandroni, noting that the region accounts for only about 5 percent of total sales, highlighting the centrality of the local customer and the limited dependence on international tourism. However, he said that stores in the Middle East have seen a 50 percent decrease in sales, but that they remain open.
In the quarter, sales in Europe rose 4.2 percent to 124.7 million euros, representing 33.8 percent of the total.
No new store openings took place last year or in the first quarter in the region, but the flagship stores on Bond Street in London and Saint-Honoré in Paris were expanded in the last part of 2025.
Revenues in the Americas rose 9.4 percent to 137.7 million euros. At constant currency, sales in that market climbed 20.3 percent, representing a share of 37.3 percent.
Lisandroni said shipments to Saks Global resumed in mid-January with regular payments, and revenues generated with the retailer since the beginning of the year show growth compared to the same period of 2025. Cucinelli is planning to expand at Bergdorf Goodman, and convert five locations to concessions at Saks, said Lisandroni.
Cucinelli said he will be traveling to New York next week to present the docufilm on his life directed by Gabriele Tornatore that premiered in December at Rome’s Cinecittà. The film will also be shown in Asia and is slated to end the tour in December in the Middle East.
In the quarter, sales in Asia were up 11.3 percent to 106.7 million euros, accounting for 28.9 percent of the total, driven by the retail channel and China fared particularly well, said Lisandroni, with a further improvement compared to the already positive trend of the fourth quarter of 2025. He added that Hong Kong has returned to becoming “a very strong pole of attraction.”
A new Casa Cucinelli store will open in Shanghai in August.