You will LOVE Solomeo. They arranged for us to tour the factory and have lunch. Make sure they give you lunch if you can.
I remember the day I went to the Chicago store and mentioned we were going to route our trip through Solomeo. They said 'Do you want us to arrange a tour and have lunch" and I almost fell over with joy. DO I WANT TO? Are you kidding? It's not really a factory you tour. It's the workroom where they sew. It's incredible. The day we were there, they had just started a new class. They hire about 30 apprentices each year and teach them how to make this stuff. They literally feed each individual thread of cashmere into the thing to weave it. Then, you go to the most beautiful cafeteria on the planet and all the employees are dressed in BC. It's like a live fashion show while you eat a 5 course gourmet lunch. It was heaven on earth. Solomeo is the most beautiful place. It's tiny. I wanted to stay in Solomeo so we booked a room at the only place to stay...which was an old farmhouse converted to a bed and breakfast. It is run by this man who looks like he is about 90. He is scary when you meet him but we got to know him and he was the nicest guy. He cooked an amazing dinner for just us one night. We were the only ones staying there. It is this big house. It wasn't the cleanest place on earth and my husband was like, what is this place you booked us in but honestly, the whole experience was one of our best travel experiences we ever had. The old man didn't speak a word of English and we don't speak Italian, but somehow, we managed to communicate. We returned to Solomeo a few years later but didn't stay in the town overnight. But we walked over to the farmhouse to see if the old man was still there and he remembered us!
So while we were in Solomeo, I saw a Bentley parked in the parking lot and kind of figured it was BC's. I was hoping to spot him while we were there and sadly, we didn't. We went to a laundromat on our way out of town and did our laundry and headed to Rome. We checked in and I said let's to to the BC store because they were holding a scarf for me. I had seen it in Venice but their VAT thing wasn't working so I couldn't buy it there. When we went to the Rome store around 5, they had a red carpet out front and all these people in tuxes and gowns were being photographed. They were having a party for the opening of the men's store. I said, do you want me to come back? Clearly I wasn't dressed for a black tie event. They said no, come in! I was telling them how we just came from Solomeo and I loved it but I had kind of hoped to see BC and didn't. They said oh, he's upstairs! Do you want meet him. I almost fell over. As he came in, he brought his photographer took our photo together. He was lovely and gracious and wonderful. He doesn't speak English either though. I emailed the PR rep and tried to get that photo but they had no idea what I was talking about. When we were in Rome 3 years later, they said we remember you! We have a picture of you with BC. I asked them to email it to me and they did. Joy!
Sorry for the OT but I don't meet very many Cucinelli fans who understand the joy.
