Established in 1965 by the 3 Tacchella brothers, Carrera Jeans can very well claim to be the oldest jeans brand in Italy. Fibre2Fashion spoke to the CEO of Carrera Jeans, Gianluca Tacchella, to understand how the company is positioned in the global market as on date, the type of research & development it undertakes in terms of new fabric and its future plans.
What is the size of the denim industry in Italy? How much denim products are produced annually?
Denim industry in Italy used to be very big at some point of time but now has become less important. There are few big players like Candiani.
We don't source in Italy. We produce our own denim in Tajikistan. We don't have the denim production numbers because we have our own source. We can give the denim consumption numbers though of the domestic market (Italy). Nearly, 26.7 million jeans were consumed in 2019 and 20.4 million jeans were consumed in 2020 (a 24 per cent decrease).
What is the competition like for you from within Italy?
There are very few competitors of Carrera. Our competitors are basically the international retail chains (H&M, Zara, etc) and Levi's in Italy.
What is the type of R&D work Carrera undertakes in terms of new fabric, designs etc?
R&D is very important to us. What we call the "invisible innovation on the fabric" is essential to us to maintain a good relationship with the customers and to differentiate from our competitors.
Invisible innovation is a whole series of upgradation in the performance of the fabric which don't change the look of the fabric but only the comfort and the feeling. Having an integrated factory, we can work on the yarn, fabric, the manufacturing, and the finishing.
We made the first "vegan certified" jeans. Also, we have the first Legg-jeans with aloe vera treatment.
How does the government of Italy support the textile industry at large?
For what I know, there is no special support provided by government for the textile industry.
Who are the founders of Carrera Jeans? What is the story behind this iconic company?
Carrera Jeans was founded in 1965 by three Tacchella brothers in Verona (Italy), the city of Romeo and Juliet. In the 70's, Carrera became one of leading jeans manufacturing companies in Europe and the production was totally done in Italy. Till date, Carrera is the number one brand in Italy with 10 per cent market share in volumes. In jeans Carrera became very big due to 3 factors:
1.Huge investment in technology.
a.Was the first brand to develop Italian denim with local mills -- Legler and Candiani.
b.Was the first company to introduce the automated cutting machine.
c.Was the first company to develop an industrial washing plant for denim.
d.Was the first company to produce jeans in less than 10 minutes.
2.Huge Investments in marketing, TV campaign and sports sponsorship
3.Multi-channel distribution
In the 90's Carrera was forced to change its industrial strategy and was obliged to dismantle all Italian operations due to 3 factors:
1.Salary rise
2.Lack of labour force
3.Competition from Far East countries
Carrera decided to move its industrial operation in Tajikistan (land of cotton), where it built 2 vertically integrated production units starting from raw material to finished products.
These units allow Carrera to have high quality and sustainable production. We develop our denim fabrics which are different from the rest of our competitors.
What is your retail presence - both online and offline?
We have around 40 direct stores and 1500 Carrera points in Italy and Europe. We sell online and also work with international platforms like Amazon, Ebay, Shwroomprivè etc.
How have the Corona pandemic impacted your business? Kindly share at length.
In 2020 we lost 4 per cent of our business. The textile sector lost 37 per cent. This was because we have a multi-channel distribution strategy. We sell our products not only to textile stores but also to other stores like shoe stores, brico stores, etc. We generally push for e-commerce. We produced millions of washable masks in 2020.
To which market (premium/mass/luxury) segment is Carrera catering to? Who are your target audience?
Carrera has always been known for high quality products and best price. We are in the mass segment. We try to dress everybody because everybody wears jeans. Our main consumers are men in the 25+ age group.
What are the different fabrics, styles, designs of denims offered by you?
We develop all our denim fabrics inhouse. We produce still and elastic denim fabrics, 14 oz, 12oz, 10oz, 8oz, jog-denim as well. We provide different fits for men, women and kids in various finishing.
Has sustainability become more important in the present crisis arising due to Covid-19?
Everybody is talking about sustainability, but most of the companies talking about it have really no idea of what they are talking about because they are just trading companies. We have developed the first project of blockchain in textile sector to trace the production chain. Our factories are "environment friendly" as they emit very little CO2 in the environment. All our stores and the company use 100 per cent renewable energy.
All our women in Tajikistan (Muslim country) have salaries in dollars and have a very comfortable place of work. Our factories are considered a benchmark by local government and World Bank.
What are your future expansion plans?
The first step is to exit from the pandemic period and return to normalcy. Many of our customers are suffering from closures. We believe 2021 will be a transformational year. If nothing bad happens during the winter months, we can hope to return to normalcy by next year. We are not working for expansion. We are working for pleasure. Expansion is a consequence of good acts, but it is not a must. (PC)
How does Carrera position itself in the global jeans market? What is your USP?
Carrera Jeans is the oldest Italian jeans brand still operational without any interruption. Few Italian brands are older than Carrera; many have disappeared due to bankruptcy in the following decades.
Carrera is a mix of tradition and innovation at an affordable price. It is a brand with a strong loyal customer base. Very few brands can compete with Carrera in terms of quality/price. This is possible because we have an integrated supply chain, and we can offer the best fabric at the best price.
Published on: 31/05/2021
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
