Canatiba Puts Family and the Environment First
There’s a popular meme on social media these days that says, “Do it with passion or not at all.”
Passion—for quality product, innovation, a more sustainable future and for family—has been the fire that has fueled the family-run mill Têxtil Canatiba for over 40 years. Full commitment is essential for any business to be successful, but it comes naturally to the close-knit family that runs Canatiba, said Marketing Director Felipe Covolan. His father and uncle founded the mill based in the State of São Paulo in Brazil.
“It requires passion and restless dedication. It requires heart and a lot of gut feeling. When family is involved, it is impossible for it not to be personal,” Covolan explained.
Despite it being a family business, Covolan said Canatiba is a “completely professional administration.” The mill has carved a name for itself in denim manufacturing by adding functional properties for comfort, health and environmental care without losing touch with the roots of denim.
“Everyone from the family that is active in the business is involved deep in the operation. Our founders are still young and active and directly acting in product development and sales. Their involvement, and deep knowledge of the operation makes things happen faster and with high quality,” he said.
Canatiba has been a leader in investing and adapting more environmentally-friendly technologies that reduces emissions of gases, allows for water reuse and complies with the latest sustainable practices and standards.
Through these technologies, the mill has achieved a number of innovations that speak particularly to its Brazilian base, including Brazil’s first line of cooling denim with Invista’s COOLMAX®, a range of beauty denim capable of reducing the signs of cellulite and Maxskin Hi-Comfort, a line of TENCEL® and Lenzing Modal® denim that offers the wearer softness with extreme lightness.
Covolan said TENCEL® fabrications are an important component to the mill’s business. Canatiba has approximately 700 different fabrics in its line. TENCEL® is in about 15 percent of the fabrics and Covolan said that amount is growing as demand for lightweight and comfort denim increases.
Looking forward, the mill continues to be inspired by the natural beauty of its home country and of its people. As a result, Covolan said the mill plans to continue to invest in innovations that ensure cleaner manufacturing processes and denim with health benefits.
“We are inspired by our people’s creativity, by our bright colors and by our people’s happiness. Brazilians are hard-working people and have the ability to endure through their difficulties without losing their happiness of living and faith,” Covolan said. “Maybe that is our greatest inspiration, especially because being a family business, our company was born from hard and restless work.”
Carved In Blue: Who do you admire the most in the denim industry?
Felipe: The people that I admire the most at the mill are the founders Romeu and Darci, because even during the hardest moments of business they never gave up their core concepts: innovation, high quality with the least environmental impact possible which brought the mill to where it is right now.
Carved In Blue: What is your goal each season?
Felipe: To deliver to our customers the best quality and make sure that they understand the care and technology that we apply on every fabric.
Carved In Blue: Which item of denim has been in the Canatiba line the longest?
Felipe: It’s the 500/1023 Novo Megaflex that was born at 2007, and it is still in our line.
Carved In Blue: What if your favorite part of your job?
Felipe: My favorite part is to see the new fabrics that we receive every month and to work on sale of the fabrics.
Carved In Blue: When does a jean stop being a jean?
Felipe: When it is not made of denim like those printed garments that simulate a jean.
Carved In Blue: What does “carved in blue” mean to you?
Felipe: For me, it means everything because since I was a kid my father would take me every weekend to walk the mill. Today I’m able to work at the mill side-by-side with my father and my uncle—the founders of the company. It is a pleasure and an honor. We breathe denim every day. Denim is in our blood—I have blue blood—so for me carved in blue makes total sense. This is part of me—my roots are in indigo.