Incotex, a men’s smart causal brand founded in 1951 that’s part of the Slowear group, and Giada SpA, an Italian company founded in 1987 that distributes and manufactures brands such as Vilebrequin, Karl Lagerfeld and Hand Picked, along with past collaborations including Jacob Cohen, Yves Saint Laurent, Max Mara, Calvin Klein, Guess, Marlboro Classics (now MCS), have started a partnership for the launch of Incotex Blue Division, a new premium denim line debuting for s/s 2022.
Franco Catania, CEO, Giada SpA, and Roberto Compagno, president and CEO, Gruppo Slowear, explained the reasons and the ambitions behind their new project.
Why did you start this agreement?
Franco Catania (FC): It all started from a longtime friendship. It is the meeting of two companies that have been playing at an excellence level that I am sure will become a winning deal in the future.
Roberto Compagno (RC): In a true partnership by merging competences with Giada, Incotex wants to become the reference point for denim enthusiasts as it has been on trousers for 70 over years now.
The agreement was designed to combine the resources of the two companies and unite their respective strengths–on the one hand, the sartorial expertise of Incotex, already a manufacturer of the world’s best trousers, and on the other, Giada, with its supreme technical expertise and manufacturing capacity in luxury denim.
What collection will you offer?
FC: By merging together our respective expertise in the trouser segment–mostly cotton-focused and rigorous for Incotex and focused on luxury jeans for Giada, we gave life to a truly pleasant collection offering different blue nuances and unique tailor-made techniques applied to five-pockets.
The first one is the Superior Standard line, the “Made in Incotex” evolution of the essential five-pocket. The line offers next-gen fittings and washes combined with high-level cottons and denims.
The second one, the Tailored Contemporary line, is the quintessence of sartorial expertise. Built on a contemporary tapered fit, it represents the elevation of the denim concept, thanks to details from the sartorial world.
The third and the most representative one, is the Pure Couture line, a capsule of unique pieces characterized by avant-garde washing, styles and tailoring details applied to denim, mostly aimed at connoisseurs and fashion insiders.
FC: Giada has been producing in Bronte, inside the Etna Natural Park, for over 30 years and, considering the context it is based in, always had to behave sustainably, both for ethic and legal reasons. The company uses only solar energy, its washing machines use very little water and every production waste is recycled.
RC: The direction of this collaboration is not to have only a few "green" garments, but to propose an overall attention to sustainability and impacts.
The entire supply chain is featuring top-notch machines and the most advances low impact techniques. Incotex only collaborates with certified companies, which work in full compliance with standards in terms of sustainability such as Giada. Also in terms of design we put an effort: we have focused our attention on simple rinses to avoid excessive treatments and by consequence, excessive water consumption. Hopefully, consumers will follow this approach.
What targets do you aim to achieve through this collaboration?
FC: We expect great results. In a first phase we aim for a high positioning, then, thanks to our trustworthiness and constant research for the best quality, good numbers will follow.
RC: We believe this brand will amaze both five-pocket lovers and those who want to approach this product with a complete new perspective. As already for all Incotex trousers, I repeat that our ambition is and remains one: to become the market reference also in the denim world. And we will.
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