Candiani Launches Brand Focused on Biodegradable Stretch Denim
Traditional old-school denim has been seen as biodegradable due to its natural-fiber cotton construction. But once those jeans are infused with stretch via Spandex, Lycra or some other synthetic fiber, they no longer break down as easily.
Italian jeans maker Candiani Denim thinks it’s solved that problem with the introduction of its new Coreva Design denim brand after teasing the launch earlier this year. Its Coreva technology adds stretch to denim using natural rubber, which offers elasticity that will eventually break down in nature in around four months as opposed to the hundreds of years needed to degrade synthetic fibers.
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“Coreva makes recycling possible, transforming the garment into regenerative and compatible by-products in agriculture,” said Alberto Candiani, president of Candiani Denim. “[It allows the denim] to return to the land and grow new crops.”
While denim recycling programs have become more common at retailers such as H&M, Carhartt and Hemline, as well as Blue Jeans Go Green, a significant amount of denim waste still ends up in landfills. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), textile waste that includes denim takes up nearly 5 percent of landfill waste.
Coreva Design’s first collection, which was introduced last month in Milan, includes a range of products beyond jeans, including sweatshirts, hoodies, joggers, chinos, cargo miniskirts and maxi shirts. The line will eventually include four capsule collections, the first of which will available for spring/summer 2024.
Candiani’s Coreva technology earned the company the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI) Groundbreaker Award at the Italian organization’s Sustainable Fashion Awards ceremony on Sept. 24. The Groundbreaker Award recognizes new ideas, technologies or products representing innovation and involving a new way of approaching a pressing issue. Other fashion luminaries honored by the CNMI this year include Gucci, Valentino, Dolce & Gabbana, Chloé and Donatella Versace, among others.
“We are humbled to get such a meaningful acknowledgment, especially a few days after launching Coreva design,” Candiani said. “This brand proves that our patent Coreva is a scalable technology to manufacture circular stretch denim collections.”
