Stretch denim runs in the family at Candiani Denim! Gianluigi pioneered it in the ’80s, making stretch fabrics his signature style. Alberto is revolutionizing the industry with the launch of COREVA™, the world’s first and only circular and compostable stretch denim. Even if it represents most of the market today, this denim fabric has not always been popular. Let’s see where this story began.
How were skinny stretch jeans invented?
Stretch jeans were invented at the end of the ’70s when fashion designers such as Peter Golding and Elio Fiorucci realized it was time to offer their clients something different from the traditional rigid men’s fits and created sexier, skinnier, and more feminine jeans.
Stretch jeans boomed a few years later and, in the ’80s, became the garment to wear, especially for women. They were introduced in all the collections of the most famous denim brands in Europe and the United States.
From premium denim to COREVA™: the stretch one has become a sustainable denim fabric
In the ’80s, Gianluigi Candiani immediately understood that stretch denim had great potential and would be the next big thing in fashion. He pioneered stretch fabrics, which became the signature style of the Los Angeles premium denim industry, combining authentic aesthetics with elastic performance.
Stretch denim is still one of the qualities distinguishing Candiani Denim. During the last few years, we have also made much progress in manufacturing stretch yet sustainable denim fabric. ReLast is our first step in the development of synthetic stretch yarns with a low environmental impact, which contain an exclusive pre-consumer recycled elastomer. ReSolve fabrics go even further and focus on the end of jeans’ life. Once discarded, they do not release toxic substances.
COREVA™ is, however, probably the most disruptive innovation in the stretch denim sector, and Alberto Candiani is changing the industry with this patented technology that replaces petrol-based, synthetic yarns with natural rubber to create fully biodegradable and compostable stretch denim.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of stretch denim?
Unlike conventional, 100% cotton denim, stretch jeans allow for a tight-leg fit, sitting close against the skin when worn and enhancing the body’s appearance. That is why stretch denim is a very versatile fabric that can also be worn with more elegant and formal outfits. Moreover, since they blend cotton and elastic materials, stretch jeans ensure higher flexibility than traditional denim and usually offer increased comfort.
On the other hand, stretch denim is usually made with petrol-based, polluting synthetic yarns that release toxic substances into the environment and, at the end of their life, need hundreds of years to decompose. Today, stretch jeans represent about 80% of the global denim market.
COREVA™ denim is the only alternative to a petrol-based, synthetic yarn
COREVA™ is the only alternative to conventional stretch denim. Petrol-based synthetic yarns are replaced with natural rubber. The technology does not affect the aesthetics, durability, and performance of fabrics but allows them to biodegrade in less than six months at the end of their useful life, with a positive effect on the environment. Some tests proved that COREVA™ denim can, indeed, be used as fertilizer to grow new plants in a fully circular model.
Thanks to their special and unique features, COREVA™ fabrics ensure unparalleled natural comfort in the industry while also benefitting the environment.
Coreva Design is the new sustainable jeans brand to increase consumer awareness about COREVA™ stretch technology
In September 2023, we launched Coreva Design, our first-ever consumer brand. The brand aims to spread awareness on a B2C level about COREVA™ and to build a direct, educational dialog with the end consumer.
We are usually for less is more, but this time, we embrace the mantra the more, the merrier, meaning that we want as many people as possible to know about this eco-friendly technology. Coreva Design will, indeed, prove that COREVA™ is scalable and that it is possible to produce entire circular collections with a positive impact at the end of their life.
Coreva Design is meant to create market awareness and to facilitate our B2B clients to introduce COREVA™ into their lines by strengthening the image of our ingredient. It represents, hence, a new adventure that will ultimately serve the jeans brands we proudly supply, just like all our previous ones.
