Brunello Cucinelli Resumes Shipments to Saks Global, Forecasts No 2026 Impact

Brunello Cucinelli signaled calm from Milan by restarting deliveries and collecting payments, a move that reasserts the house’s longstanding wholesale ties. The company said, “From the end of January, we resumed regular shipments of our Spring/Summer 2026 collection, receiving regular payments.” Executive chairman Brunello Cucinelli added a familiar note of confidence about the U.S. partners, saying, “Saks, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman are three great brands with beautiful locations ... We've never lost a dollar with them ... I don't want to say anything about their merger decision, for us it's three distinct brands.” Readers may find that level of assurance unusually sanguine given the backdrop.

Cucinelli absorbed the supplier shock with a targeted accounting move: an extraordinary provision of €8.1 million booked in the 2025 financial year. That one-off sits against a full‑year net profit of €142 million in 2025, a 10.5 percent rise, and management is forecasting roughly a 10 percent rise in revenue for 2026 at constant exchange rates. The board will propose a dividend of €1.04 per share with a 50 percent payout ratio, the company said, and the house plans an average price increase of about 3 percent across 2026.

The pause and the reassurance both stem from Saks Global’s mid‑January Chapter 11 filing, itself tied to a heavy debt load after the late‑2024 transaction that brought Neiman Marcus under the broader umbrella. Cucinelli described the recent downsizing of U.S. point‑of‑sale as marginal for his brand because the company has concentrated distribution in flagship locations. He praised the new Saks Global leadership by name — Geoffroy van Raemdonck and Lana Todorovich — for focusing “on a more select number of stores and a curated selection of brands, increasingly high end.”

Operationally, the company reconciled a bumpy late 2025 with smoother winter operations. Management acknowledged shipment slowdowns and, in one account, a one‑month payment delay, but moved up the release of its 2025 results by almost a month to speak candidly during Milan Fashion Week. CEO Luca Lisandroni outlined concrete retail moves for 2026: converting five concessions at Neiman Marcus and renovating two spaces at Bergdorf Goodman, steps that reinforce the brand’s wholesale footprint even as other luxury houses pare that exposure.

Cucinelli stressed the limited risk profile in plain numbers: roughly 36 percent of revenue comes from wholesale channels while 64 percent is generated through its own retail network, and the company said the economic effects tied to Saks would be exhausted with the 2025 financial statements. Management also set a near‑term meeting with Saks executives in Milan to follow up. With a €8.1m provision against a €142m profit and a public plan for concessions and renovations, the house is positioning 2026 as a year of steady growth and controlled exposure rather than disruption.