GenovaJeans, the initiative held in Genoa from 5 to 8 October and dedicated to the new generation of jeans, set the premises for the creation of a community dedicated to this iconic, revolutionary and highly innovative garment.
30 prominent industry leaders, divided into three categories (heritage, new creatives and production chain) created a unique and inspiring experience in valuable historic venues in the heart of the city. Presented in-group exhibitions, they forged a circular journey from the design to the creation of jeans, from the ingredient to the final outfit, and vice versa.
Heritage brands, exploring the history, evolution and best practices of this iconic garment, were hosted inside the Biblioteca Universitaria and included Blue Blanket Division, Blue Of A Kind, Diesel, IMIJT35020 By Canova, Incotex Blue Division, Mud Jeans, Pepe Jeans, Roy Roger’s, Stefano Chiassai and Tela Genova.
BLUE BLANKET DIVISION
Blue Blanket Jeans is a brand that draws from vintage-inspired garments to create collections considered contemporary in terms of style and sustainability. Blue Blanket uses the highest quality 100% cotton denim and creates RAW garments: not industrially washed.
One of their claims is #BEST UNWASHED, proposing RAW garments that, through the genuine and natural wear and frequent use, tell the story of the owner who wears them, thus fulfilling two major requirements expressed by designer Antonio Di Battista: genuine and natural wear and a moral commitment to environmental impact, making them sustainable.
BLUE OF A KIND
Blue of a Kind is meant to be not just a fashion company, rather a community built around an idea. The project has been primarily conceived and created in a post-modern cultural sphere, with the vision to define a new standard in 21 century’s fashion. Blue of a Kind believes in the possibility to reconcile uncompromised style, contemporary fit and products with a valuable heritage, together with a sustainable production process. For this reason, all the products are made exclusively from vintage products handcrafted with the use of leftovers and surplus. That’s the approach to “chic” in the contemporary age, mixing street-fashion and vintage to create a new, effortless and relaxed way to luxury.
Blue of a Kind has built a completely different approach to design compared to traditional fashion companies: working with a network of suppliers all over europe in order to find the best in breed vintage garments and stock in need of rescue, that will ultimately become the raw material to develop products.
DIESEL
The Diesel items presented at GenovaJeans this year belong to a new generation denim collection that promotes circularity: Diesel Rehab Denim. The fabric used is composed of completely recycled cotton fibres, partially recovered from existing Diesel fabrics, and completely recycled elastane, combined with Lyocell by TENCEL™ x REFIBRA® . In addition to the use of materials with a lower environmental impact, Diesel Rehab Denim is characterised by being dyed with the revolutionary Dry Indigo® by Tejidos Royo technology, which allows the denim fabric to be dyed without the use of water and with a saving in the use of chemicals of up to 89%.
he D-Barcy denim jacket, as well as the 5-pocket D-Onlypocket, present a light blue wash with a distinctive marbled effect obtained through low-impact pigments and treatments that allow the use of reduced quantities of water and chemicals compared to traditional methods, including the use of natural pumice stone substitutes that, compared to the latter, can be reused for numerous washing cycles leaving, among other things, less residue in the environment. The DE-SLIMMY denim jacket, as well as the DE-PENDENCE denim skirt, on the other hand, have a light blue wash with a bleached effect, with great attention to detail and also obtained through innovative treatments, including the use of natural pumice stone substitutes and a mist technique which, through a special spray, allows the fabric to be washed in a light blue colour.
IMIJT35020 BY CANOVA
“The style presented expresses a haute tailor-made concept to emphasise the IMjiT philosophy, defined as the UNICA MAESTRANZA behind the creations. The fabrics of the ”male” installation are hank-dyed indigo with an organic cotton base, while in the women’s one we mixed materials such as raw silk, a hand-printed and pleated white denim by combining the top with a non-gender jacket made by used jeans. No treatment or finishing processes altered the materials. From the design to the stitching everything was made in our workshop in Due Carrare’.
INCOTEX BLUE DIVISION
Creativity, innovation and all-Italian expertise produce a denim that blends with the most advanced tailoring techniques. Denim Meets Sartorial: this is the mission of Incotex Blue Division rooted in a heritage of expertise and tailoring. At Genoa Jeans Incotex Blue Division presented the experimental selection of the collection. Sustainable fabrics and zero-impact treatments such as dyeing processes with natural materials and post-consumer recycled cottons.
MUD JEANS
A circular economy is an alternative from the traditional linear ‘take, make and waste’ system. In a circular economy, fabrics are kept at their highest value during use, and re-enter the production process after use, never ending up as waste. Our jeans contain up to 40% post-consumer recycled cotton. For us the sky is not the limit, we always try to improve our products. Our goal is to be the first to introduce jeans made from 100% post-consumer recycled cotton. MUD Jeans only works together with selected manufacturers that ensure the wellbeing of everybody involved.
PEPE JEANS
Pepe Jeans London showcased its Autumn-Winter 23 collection during GenovaJeans 2023, celebrating its iconic British heritage and urban roots. The collection offers versatile clothing, from early autumn layers to winter jackets, inspired by the British countryside and seasonal shades. The women’s collection boasts a Boho romantic feel, while the men’s collection reimagines classic Pepe Jeans’ styles with contemporary twists. Traditional British chic meets Pepe Jeans’ attitude with jacquard, corduroy, and flannel pieces in rich seasonal colors. The collection features a playful mix-and-match range and a sustainable denim selection for both men and women, blending fashion and function for a cozy and stylish winter wardrobe.
ROY ROGER’S
Roy Roger’s is the first blue-jeans born in Italy in 1952, the result of a constant search for the highest quality materials and experimentation with innovative washing, craftsmanship and cutting-edge technologies. A history of more than 70 years, which is narrated through its archive, an endless source of inspiration. Each Roy Roger’s collection, in fact, revisits traditional models to conceive new ways of wearing and living blue-jeans.
STEFANO CHIASSAI
An exclusive project by Stefano Chiassai, a unique collection that highlights a new expression of the iconic blue fabric. The new denim is eco-friendly and presented in a new sartorial style thanks to the combination of craftsmanship and new technologies.
TELA GENOVA
Tela Genova, a historic Made in Italy brand whose history is linked to ancient Italian canvas, presented a combination of authenticity, traditional craftsmanship and innovation. In the spaces of the Biblioteca Universitaria, it narrated through iconic looks its everlasting connection with the Jeans canvas and its ability to propose items with a distinctive and timeless aesthetic, an authentic expression of a contemporary, innovative and refined lifestyle.
The new creatives, a new generation of designers who have adopted innovative eco-design trategies to create smart jeans, were present inside Edificio Metelino in the Darsena area and included Andrea Grossi, Gilberto Calzolari, Gimmijeans, Jeanne Friot, Marcello Pipitone with Albiate 1830, Ksenia Schnaider, Patine, Regenesi, The Blue Suit with ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei and Zerobarracento.
ANDREA GROSSI
For Genova Jeans we decided to create two outfits from a sustainable perspective using leftover fabric from Is ISKO™, simulating the washing through a trompe l’oeil made by airbrush in collaboration with the Sfero Design collective. Through two colour ranges we tried to reproduce a classic Stone Wash with a Whiskers effect and a “Rusty” wash, thus obtaining a classic yet unexpected effect on the denim, and above all avoiding the use of water and chemicals that are usually used to corrode the fabric. The silhouettes created draw inspiration from Levi’s Engineered collection and the search for 18th century menswear.
GILBERTO CALZOLARI
Gilberto Calzolari reinterprets the conventional use of denim in a very personal way, with a glamorous and contemporary design. Thanks to the collaboration with ISKO™, the pieces are made of denim with a low environmental impact that combines performance and durability with the use of natural dyes, made special and ultra-sustainable by the THERMORE® padding made from recycled pet bottles, the maxi zips in recycled plastic by LAMPO® and the detachable collars in eco-friendly fur from production waste. A new generation jeanswear proposal where innovation and sustainability meet creativity and elegance.
GIMMIJEANS
GimmiJeans has brought back to Genoa what was of Genoa, the hemp denim. The origins of hemp denim can be traced back to clever sailors who made a pair of trousers using hemp sails and later dyeing them indigo. “We have created a collection with a cottony hemp, a capsule collection with centuries-old hemp, cultivated and woven in Vicenza almost 120 years ago by my great grandmother, and a jacquard fabric with a pinstripe effect, also made of hemp and cotton. In addition, we brought the fabric made from hemp cultivated and crafted by us in Vicenza’.
JEANNE FRIOT
This special look uses the following sustainable and innovative solutions: the FAUX-FUR JACKET is a fiber-fur made with responsibly sourced mohair and organic cotton. The TROUSERS & QUILT use fabric developed using a 100% plant-based indigo pigment to dye yarns. The same pigment has also been used to creatively embellish the garments. All materials sourced are aligned to Kering
Standards.
MARCELLO PIPITONE WITH ALBIATE 1830: The outfits created by Marcello Pipitone with Albiate 1830 fabrics represent the perfect mix of recycling and sustainable innovation, for a collaboration that encompasses the spirit and identity of Albiate 1830 and Marcello Pipitone, who share style, research and experimentation. A truly unique partnership, which demonstrates how supply chains and emerging designers are able to bring new life to the world of denim, and which embodies the importance of the collaboration between two solid players in the fashion system.
KSENIA SCHNAIDER
This special look uses the following sustainable and innovative solutions: the DENIM JACKET & TROUSERS are made of recycled cotton that has been coloured through a water efficient yarn-dyeing technology. The BAG is in alternative leather and all fabrics are aligned to Kering Standards.
PATINE
Somewhere between the nostalgia of the insouciance of the 80’s and the utopia of a future where global warming have been beaten, Patine is a super conscious optimistic french brand. Since we all have to buy less, we are slowly building a ready-to-rewear brand, filling our dreamy closet with your future favorite clothes. It is like a single collection… we’re just taking 15 years to do it. We are a mission company, a certified BCorp, and after bootstrapping during a few years, we just raised money from our customers who are now our shareholders. They also participate to the creation of future pieces. We opened 3 months ago our first shop rooted in Paris 10, just under our Office & Studio. We have no seasons or collections, just essentials and short capsules released on preorder or drops.
REGENESI
Regenesi conveyed its DNA and mission through the ‘Regenerate your jeans’ project. Regenerating post-consumer materials by transforming them into objects and fashion accessories with an innovative and completely sustainable design is what the brand has been doing since 2008. The jeans that have been lost at the back of the wardrobe, a garment that changes with time, absorbing
stories and adventures, come to new life and become a new accessory: bag, pouch, backpack or clutch, objects filled with an emotional and ethical value.
THE BLUE SUIT with ROICA™ by Asahi Kasei
The Blue Suit has been founded in 2018 by Karen Rauschenbach and Yvonne Vermeulen DENIM X SUIT The fusion of denim with traditional suit design and tailoring is what sets the Blue Suit apart. Founded in March 2018, we only use premium organic fabrics sourced exclusively in Europe. To ensure the highest quality, we proudly produce each garment in Northern Italy.
We are the first Swiss denim brand to be Cradle to Cradle Certified®. By focusing on circular design principles and the biological cycle, we launched our first Cradle to Cradle Certified® collection in September 2022: the Black Collection. Since then, the number of certified styles has multiplied by four. We believe design should be safe for people and the planet. We stand for timeless design, comfort and durability. Our products tell great stories about circular processes – from raw materials to exquisite creations and back into the cycle for renewal. The fabrics used are from Candiani Denim collection that uses ROICA™ V550 as the stretch fiber. ROICA™ V550 is the sustainable degradable yarn rewarded with a Cradle to Cradle Certified™ Material Health Certificate. It degrades under ISO 14855-1 tested by OWS decomposing into CO2 and water. ROICA™ V550 enable Asahi Kasei to deliver a contemporary, performing, certified, degradable and safe end of life innovation for denimwear.
ZEROBARRACENTO presented a jeans capsule produced by Berto Industria Tessile with the innovative ECOTEC® yarn produced from pre-consumer materials. All products are developed and made in Italy with zero-waste modelling, which allows no waste in production. Kimonos, over jackets, wide trousers with straps and a double-face skirt are only a few of the proposals showcased.
The production chain, composed of iconic companies in the supply and value chain, representing the major stages in the production process, were made up of Albiate 1830 – Albini Group, Cadica, Candiani Denim, Circulose®, Officina39, Pure Denim with Bemberg™ By Asahi Kasei, Soko, Tencel™, Tonello, YKK Italia and were housed inside the Ex Oratorio di San Tommaso.
ALBIATE 1830 – Albini Group: “A new life for Denim” is the installation presented by Albiate 1830 which narrates 3 innovatives and sustainable projects developed by ALBINI_next, the group innovation hub dedicated to denim and nowadays part of the brand collections. GROUNDED INDIGO: it is a natural textile dye, the only 100% plant-based indigo in the world certified USDA BioPreferred™, while RETWIST+ is an innovative yarn composed of 70% organic Supima virgin cotton and 30% recycled cotton from past Albiate 1830 collection. Futura instead is a new type of paper with an outstanding 25% of fibres obtained from textile waste, thus reducing the amount of virgin cellulose normally used in the manufacturing of paper.
CADICA presented, in the evocative setting of the former San Tommaso Oratory in Genoa, skilfully set up for the occasion by Sergio Salerni, its JEANS trims and accessories collection. A capsule collection addressed to streetwear brands, young, dynamic and fun, created using sustainable and recycled materials. Tags, labels, buttons and packaging material were presented to visitors in the supply chain area, many of whom were final consumers, opening a constructive dialogue looking
forward to a more conscious approach to purchasing in the future.
CANDIANI DENIM: Candiani Denim has presented COREVA™, a patented technology that replaces the synthetic elastomer in stretch jeans with a natural elastomer, creating the first compostable jeans in the world. These jeans not only biodegrade but also become compost, allowing new natural raw materials to be fertilised. This innovation aims to create a fully regenerative and recyclable denim fabric with minimal impact on the environment. The jeans COREVA™ preserve their beauty, elasticity and durability over time, without compromising on quality. COREVA™ is a step towards a future where discarded garments contribute positively to the environment.
CIRCULOSE®: CIRCULOSE® is a brand representing a dissolving pulp made from 100% textile waste, such as old cotton jeans and cotton production offcuts. This pulp is used to produce artificial fibres such as viscose, lyocell and others. These fibres are then woven and spun to create textiles, and thus new high-quality products. The main difference of CIRCULOSE® is that it is made from textile waste instead of new cotton, plastic or wood. The CIRCULOSE® supplier network includes
over 100 yarn spinners, weavers and manufacturers offering a wide choice of materials made from CIRCULOSE® to fashion brands worldwide.
OFFICINA39:. Recycrom™ creates a full range of pigment powders using textile fibers from used clothing and manufacturing waste. Through a sophisticated production process, fabric textile waste fibers are transformed into an incredibly fine powder that can be used as a pigment dye for fabrics and garments made of cotton, wool, nylon or any natural fiber and blend.
PURE DENIM with BEMBERG™ by Asahi Kasei: The “Blue di Cupro” fabric line shown at GenovaJeans includes fabrics made with Bemberg™, a unique, new generation material made from the smart-tech transformation of cotton linters, a preconsumer material converted through a traceable and transparent closed-loop process. Bemberg™ is the registered trademark for Cupro regenerated cellulosic fibre, produced solely by Asahi Kasei in Japan. Using PureDenim’s advanced technologies, these fabrics are dyed with ‘Smart Indigo’, a chemical-free indigo dyeing technology that uses only water, indigo pigments and electricity. For finishing, ‘Eco Sonic™’ ultrasonic technology is used, which significantly reduces water consumption, improves appearance and controls discolouration. In addition, PureDenim protects the yarns with NaturalReco®, a natural product that completely eliminates the use of plastic film, reducing the release of microplastics into the environment.
SOKO: Sokoshowed how their know-how in the textile industry has led to tangible benefits and lower environmental impacts at the recent GenovaJeans event. Their participation to the event highlighted how innovations in responsible and pioneering production processes contribute to the mission of creating more conscious and responsible fashion.
TENCEL™: TENCEL™ Lyocell x REFIBRA™ fibres represent a significant contribution to the circular economy. The REFIBRA™ technology uses cotton waste from garment manufacturing by transforming it into cotton pulp, which, together with wood pulp, is used to create new virgin TENCEL™ Lyocell fibres. A special system makes it possible to recognise TENCEL™ Lyocell × REFIBRA™ fibres in garments, even after many processing steps.
TONELLO: The Laundry (R)Evolution is the laundry concept of the future: just a few machines are needed to manage the entire production flow, which thus becomes even smoother and easier, allowing productivity to be reconciled with the utmost care for the environment. New computer vision systems also control the cycle, making work even simpler and safer.
YKK ITALIA: At GenoaJeans, YKK presented responsible innovations on zips and buttons, key products of the company headquartered in Japan: Zippers specially designed for the denim sector, which is particularly demanding in terms of resistance, with tape made from organic cotton or TENCEL™ fibre, a biodegradable material obtained from cellulose, or the NATULON® line using recycled polyester tape. Also AcroPlating® technology, a new plating method for buttons that,
compared to traditional electroplating, significantly reduces the consumption of water, energy, chemicals and residues. YKK also showed buttons and rivets designed to facilitate their removal during recycling, for a truly circular design.
The responsible innovation, ethics and transparency adopted by each company taking part in the circular journey of GenovaJeans were explained through a QR code powered by C.L.A.S.S. (Creativity Lifestyle And Sustainable Synergy) that provided information on the garments, their composition, production phases and company values.
GenovaJeans is a project conceived by Manuela Arata, President of the Promotional Committee. The event is produced by the Municipality of Genoa, which has entrusted its general curatorship to Anna Orlando. It is promoted with Regione Liguria, is made possibile with the support and collaboration of ITA – Italian Trade Agency and enjoys the patronage of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, SMI – Sistema Moda Italia, Milano Unica and Piattaforma Sistema Formativo Moda ETS, as well as those of CNA Federmoda, Confartigianato and ENIT – Agenzia Nazionale del Turismo. GenovaJeans has as partners, among others, Genoa Chamber of Commerce, Candiani Denim, Centro Studi Grande Milano, ETT, Sagep, AMIU Genova, Humana People to People, Farmacie Comunali Genovesi and AMT. The mannequins for the collective exhibitions were provided by La Rosa.
