Brunello Cucinelli

“I always say, 'Obama is my president - the president of the world.'”

“When I was eight, nine years of age, my mother bought me a pair of green trousers - corduroy green trousers. I didn't like green, and I basically buried them underground. And my mother kept asking me, 'Where are your trousers?' I said, 'Oh, I don't know.' And from then on I stopped wearing green.”

“I had a very simple life growing up in the farm country outside of Perugia, and biscotti and warm milk with a tiny bit of coffee were a big part of my morning ritual before walking to school.”

“When someone says, 'Shut up, farmer,' it hurts. It's difficult to explain, but it hurts.”

“I don't want to buy something that has harmed anyone. This is my absolutely strongest belief, and I believe other people think this, too. Or if they don't now, they will.”

“Yes, I was a hippy - absolutely a hippy.”

“I say to my industrialist friends, when you have guests from out of town, I don't care how important they are, you should feed them the essence of Italian culture: spaghetti, bread and olive oil.”

“I come from a farming culture, where we valued raw materials above all.”

“If you have a company that doesn't sell its goods or services abroad and focuses only on the domestic market, it will keep paying a price.”

“I've always had an aversion to debt.”

“It has always been very important to look carefully at young people and the way they wear clothes.”

“Black is overrated. You'll never find it in my stores. Of course it's slimming, but it's just used too much, especially for men. One black suit by one designer, another one by another - they all look the same in the end. If I walk into a crowded hotel lobby and I'm wearing a black suit, I just look like everyone else.”

“I never remember my parents having an argument.”

“To me, the simplest things can have the highest value.”

“I like to have cookies in the morning before I go swimming.”

“I think businesses live longer that are on the stock market.”

“There is definitely a comeback of the idea of dressing well every day. Nowadays, suits can be worn for many occasions - to work or to school, to a dinner party or red carpet event.”

“If you buy a sweater for €1,000 and you know that the funds you are paying are also going to help to build a hospital and a school, wouldn't you think better about it?”

“In the heart of the desert and founded by the first Spanish Conquistadores, Las Vegas has become the entertainment capital of the world, with more than 30 million visitors a year.”

“I love a modern suit paired with a polo or cotton T-shirt... and then paired with leather sneakers, or cashmere joggers with a tailored blazer and a sleeveless puffer vest to get the ultimate informal and formal combination.”