The magic of Cucinelli’s world is that it embraces both humility and grandeur. Just past the beige carpet, I saw tuxedo-clad tech CEOs rubbing shoulders with black-cloaked monks of the Franciscan order; the designer’s sermon of humanistic capitalism has made him as beloved in Silicon Valley as he is in the church. He throws the only fashion parties where you’ll hear someone explain that they had just spoken with the Pope about AI.
The evening began with a glass of Krug in a brand-new auditorium the size of an airplane hangar that was lined with classical marble statues. Italian prime minister Georgia Meloni and the American ambassador were in the house, as was Jessica Chastain, Jonathan Bailey, Chris Pine, and a host of other VIPs draped in shimmery velvet dinner jackets. The dinner hall was furnished with piles of books—100,000 in all—from Cucinelli’s vaunted personal library.
The scene at Cinecittà
Courtesy of Ernesto S. Ruscio/Getty Images
What most guests didn’t expect when the theater’s lights went down was that Tornatore would tell the majority of the narrative through highly romantic dramatic recreations of scenes from Cucinelli’s life. Oprah and other famous friends popped up to offer commentary, but to the uninitiated that would be the only indication that they were watching a doc rather than an unlikely drama where a farmer’s son becomes a menswear icon and leading advocate of ethical, human-centered business practices, complete with a speaking slot at the G20.
In opening remarks, Tornatore defined The Gracious Visionary as an “experimental film” that fused documentary, feature, and advertisement in a new way. The director added at a press conference the next morning that he hesitated to sign on when Cucinelli reached out. “I didn’t know anything about his story, to be honest,” he said. Cucinelli sealed the deal by promising an open-ended timeline and what sure looked like an infinite budget. (The film ultimately took three years to make.)