All in the Family with Vincenzo Marrocco
We’re continuing our summer series, “All in the Family” and looking at just how deep blue runs in family blood lines, and these families are often to thank for the rich culture and heritage the denim industry comes with.
This time we’re talking to Vincenzo Marrocco, son of Saverio Marrocco, former North America Director of Sales at Candiani Denim, who’s credited with bringing the Italian denim name into the U.S. market.
Vincenzo has made his own way, now the USA sales manager for Blue Diamond Denim Supply, importing premium denim and knit fabric from China. And though his path was different from his father’s, Vincenzo never moved far from the denim roots he’s known all his life and his connections in the sector are what denimheads dream of – he worked right alongside Adriano Goldschmied, after all.
For the Marroccos, denim has been all in the family, and here’s a look at that storyline through Vincenzo’s eyes.
Carved in Blue: What was your very first impression of the denim business?
Vincenzo: When jeans first mattered to me, it was 1993 and as a 13-year-old skateboarder, the style was to wear huge 46-inch waist jeans cut off at the bottom where the opening would cover your whole foot like a bell bottom would, but the leg was totally straight with no taper. We looked like kids wearing astronaut pants.
Carved in Blue: Ah memories! So, when did you realize you were a blueblood?
Vincenzo: It wasn’t until a few months after working side by side with Adriano [Goldschmied] that I slowly started falling in love with denim and with fashion. When you work with Adriano, as he puts it, ‘We must take off like a rocket!’, which means all work must happen right now and all learning will happen as you go. I learned to appreciate the technical and creative depth that Adriano has for denim, and more importantly, who he is in the industry and how important he is in the history of denim as a whole.
Carved in Blue: Did you always want to join the family’s denim business?
Vincenzo: Despite my father Saverio having a huge success in bringing Candiani denim to the U.S. market, I still never imagined that I would end up in the denim industry. I was very driven to find my own path and build my own success story. For years my father tried encouraging me to follow in his footsteps, but at the same time he supported my drive to be my own entrepreneur, and after 11 years of running my own business, I finally gave in and joined this industry. With the help of my father, I had the extreme fortune to join Adriano Goldschmied in his venture to develop his own fabric concepts with Blue Diamond, thus bringing a premium quality denim from China to the U.S. market.
Carved in Blue: Would you want your children to follow in your footsteps?
Vincenzo: I would want to give my children the opportunity to do their own thing, but if they wanted to follow in my footsteps of course I would help them to do so, but only if that is what truly brought them happiness.
Carved in Blue: What’s the best advice your dad ever gave you?
Vincenzo: The best advice my father ever gave me is in how to treat your customers, and to always remember that even the smallest customer should get the same respect and service as the largest customer because you never know who the next superstar in the industry is going to be. He also taught me to always respond immediately to all customers even if you don’t yet have the answer they are looking for. Customers need to feel that you are easy to reach and always ready to serve.
Carved in Blue: What do you think the future holds for the denim industry?
Vincenzo: I think the vintage revolution will never go away, and it will always cycle back into trends simply because that is the industry’s heritage. Definitely there is a strong push towards innovation, sustainability and technology, and I believe that denim looking Indigo knits certainly will become an ever-growing part of the future as the need for softness and comfort combined with keeping a traditional denim look continues to rise.
Carved in Blue: What does Carved in Blue mean to you?
Vincenzo: As Adriano always says, ‘The story of denim is really the story of indigo, and the story of indigo will never go away.’ So if you are a true blueblood, then you understand that although technology and trends in this industry will always progress, one constant that will always remain is that the future of denim will always be Carved in Blue.