Premium denim supplier Candiani gains momentum: outstretches to the end consumer with new ecommerce platform

Candiani gains momentum. The historical denim supplier that recently launched a biodegradable jeans collection with UK Luxury brand Stella McCartney, gains prominence in an era in which suppliers are shifting more and more into the spotlight. “ Candiani will evolve, it will become more of a brand. Suppliers are becoming increasingly important,” disclosed Alberto Candiani, member of the fourth generation to MDS.

Candiani goes against the current of the supply chain by revolutionizing the game. In March of this year, it will launch an online store, which will house limited edition jeans from its 15 active collaborators. The commodities will also be available at the manufacturer’s Milano store, which opened last year. The store in Milano also sells its top clients jeans, a unique retail project that the Milanese businessman has been backing progressively to propel the soon-to-be brand of Candiani. 

The only foreign structure of the company is situated in Los Angeles, “ It’s a small structure, with a laundry, with a futuristic sense, where we study our fabric and we consult with our customers in terms of workshops and prototype and engineering treatments and washes according to the fabric properties and how to make it happen in the most efficient way, in the most sustainable way.” The rest of the vertically integrated company’s operations are run locally. It has two production plants, together, they both cover a surface of 85.000 square meters, making it Europe’s largest production facility.

The yearly revenue of the Italian denim supplier spins around 100 million euros (110.7 million dollars) and the company plans to consolidate roughly the same amount of revenue for the fiscal year of 2020. Candiani produces around 30 million meters of denim per year.

The premium industry remains as the company’s main market, especially when it comes to Californians brands, and high-end fashion brands, such as Stella McCartney. The largest client of the company till today is Levi’s Strauss. The locally sourced company also does business with the German luxury fashion house, Hugo Boss or the Milan-based Dsquare2 brand among others.

In recent years, the denim supplier has been attempting to make itself visible to the end consumer, pushing forward its name, via the 4 to 5 million labels it deliver with Candiani’s label. The owner of the company explains the course that the business has taken over the years in terms of order among clients.

“Levi’s doesn’t buy what they used to buy from us 20 years ago, they used to buy 5 to 6 million meters and now they only buy one,” disclosed the current owner of Candiani. The owner equally unveils the price difference in meters between the European markets and other markets; Candiani’s average denim cost is 5 euros per meter, whereas Turkey drops it to 3.80 euros and China and Pakistan lag behind with the lowest offer of 2.80 euros.

Candiani’s average denim cost is 5 euros per meter, whereas Turkey drops it to 3.80 euros and China and Pakistan lag behind with the lowest offer of 2.80 euros

To justify these prices, the company has focused on transparency and sustainability, “the main reason why we cost more is because we run large back style operations in Italy, in the nature reserve of Ticino Park (the mill),” said the owner. Candiani equally sources 40% of the cotton it processes from Better Cotton Initiative, an organization that exists to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, the environment in which it grows in and for the sector’s future, as stated on the brand’s web page. 

Sustainability is the axis of the company, which focuses on transparency, a practice which isn’t new to the family-run business, Alberto Candiani, as the fourth generation in the family to manage the business is simply following the footsteps of his predecessors. “I look at my grandfather and my father, whatever they have done, luckily, here has always been thought as efficiency improvement. Efficiency, in my opinion, is the grandfather of sustainability, “ said Alberto.

The company was founded 1938 by Luigi Candiani, who worked with workwear fabrics, at the time he produced 10.000 meters per year. He was succeeded by Primo Candiani in 1960, who initiated the vertically integrated structure and escalated the number of production to 2 million meters per year. In 1980, Gianluigi Candiani took over the management and evolved from denim to premium denim, with equally impressive digits in terms of production, which now reached 10 million meters per year. The current leader Alberto Candiani took over the brand’s rein in 2000 and has been propelling the sustainability vision ever since. Currently, the supplier produces about 30 million meters per year. The Candiani family currently operate with 650 employees.