Blue Cast: Candiani’s Simon Giuliani on the Mill’s Fashion-Meets-Food and Circular Developments
Blue Cast is a podcast series from the TENCEL™ Denim team. Each episode features a conversation with a special guest from within the industry or the fringes of the denim community. The following is a recap of episode 504.
Sustainability has become a bigger story in the denim industry in recent decades, but for Italian mill Candiani Denim, considering the environmental impact of production dates back half a century. In 1974, the Italian government established a nature preserve in the area surrounding Candiani’s factory. The manufacturer was faced with a choice: adhere to environmental directives or relocate. Candiani chose the former and began its ongoing work to reduce the impact of its facility.
The mill, established in 1938, is now headed by fourth generation family member Alberto Candiani. Among its recent moves has been an expansion from solely a B2B company to becoming a B2C brand, and today Candiani has a consumer-facing store in Milan. To accomplish this B2C endeavor, Candiani tapped Simon Giuliani as its global marketing director, leaning on his brand-building expertise.
On the most recent episode of our Blue Cast podcast, Lenzing’s Tuncay Kilickan chatted with Simon about two of the mill’s buzzy sustainability projects.
One key innovation area for Candiani has been reducing the impact of stretch fibers, which remain in landfills for centuries since they don’t biodegrade. The mill initially worked with a recycled synthetic elastomer, and then a biodegradable synthetic elastomer. It then created Coreva, a 100 percent natural rubber elastomer, which enables jeans to be 100 percent biodegradable.
“In order to think in a circular way and to create a circular solution, we need to step away from synthetic products and…just stick to the natural solutions that we can find,” said Simon.
Taking this a step further, Candiani has tested the use of Coreva scraps as fertilizer to help other plants grow. An initial pilot was done in 2022 in Oxnard, CA at McGrath Family Farm nearby to Rodale Institute—a center for regenerative agriculture. The farm grew regenerative cotton using Coreva offcuts, and found that the rubber helped with water retention, keeping the soil moist and lowering the amount of water needed for the plants. It also added to the nutrients for the plants. This pilot was shared on a B2B level, and Candiani invited the denim industry to an event at the farm.
In 2023, Candiani took this a step further by creating a circular system tied to food agriculture. Umbria, Italy-based farm Quinto Sapore used Coreva in the soil for tomato production. When the harvest was ready, the tomatoes were used to create sauce. “We just chose tomatoes because we’re Italians and I thought this is a good time to use a cliché,” quipped Simon.
This saucy initiative got celebrity and consumer attention through the Green Carpet Fashion Awards this March. Model and actress Amber Valletta introduced the project wearing a Triarchy denim suit with Coreva. As clips from the documentary rolled, attendees were served pasta with the Coreva tomato sauce. A digital marketing campaign promoted the placement, asking consumers “Can you eat your jeans?” and a Bergdorf Goodman event will bring the tomato story to the retailer’s customers.
“We’re all dealing with the same kind of frustration because you’re coming up with solutions or innovations that many times don’t even make it to the market for price reasons or because they’re not understood or because the brand needs to do an effort that’s too big for them to communicate it,” Simon said. “So in this case, we found the right proportion between B2B and B2C communication.” He added that the strong B2C actually propelled the conversation in the industry.
Candiani is also tackling waste in collaboration with Lenzing, focusing on the geotextiles used to protect glaciers. These nonwoven materials are usually made with synthetics, but Lenzing has seen success with swapping to a wood-based nonwoven—eliminating the issue of microplastics. These geotextiles are expected to have a lifespan of up to four years before they need to be replaced. Lenzing tapped the whole supply chain to create circular fashion with these textiles. Marchi & Fildi mechanically recycled the textiles, Candiani created fabric out of the recycled materials and brand Blue of a Kind provided a retail outlet.
The resulting Glacial Threads collection launched during the United Nations International Day of the Forests. A sculpture from artist Michelangelo Pistoletto—who created the collection logo—was placed in the garden at the event and covered with a textile. Surrounding this were models wearing the garments. A garment was on view at the Lenzing booth at Kingpins, and Candiani also did a window display in its store during Milan Design Week.
Simon noted that Glacial Threads serves three purposes: protecting glaciers, reducing the impact of geotextiles and preventing waste at the end of life of these textiles through fashion. “It’s a pragmatic and tangible solution when it comes to preserving glaciers, and let’s hope also to get the same enthusiasm from brands to actually be able to convert that into fashion items,” Simon said.
Listen to the full conversation here.