Alberto, you had an international career as a DJ before you decided to dedicate yourself to the family business. What experiences from that time have you taken with you?

My career as a DJ and producer certainly contributed to a broader perspective on trends. Music events, festivals, and clubs provide a platform for cultures and subcultures to meet, and sometimes even avant-garde artists come together, which can be truly inspiring.

It was fun. A lot of fun. But it was also an outstanding experience that helped me develop some of my professional skills and expertise.

My career as a DJ and touring with my band overlapped with my "normal" life in the textile business for quite some time, almost ten years. That made my life really interesting. I realized that the world was going to change – or at least that a major shift in communication and digitalization was imminent. And, above all, a more conscious approach to consumption.

Sustainability, both as a word and a concept, was not yet established in the early 2000s. Its general meaning was still developing – and frankly, it still is. Indeed, sustainability is not a completed task. It is perhaps more accurate to define sustainability as a process that evolves over time and strives to perfect itself.

Since 2021, you have been leading Candiani in the fourth generation and have dedicated yourself to the goal of forging an eco-friendly path in denim production through sustainable innovation. Tell us about the green transformation that Candiani has undergone.

Honestly, I didn’t really have to turn Candiani into a greener operation. I’m just trying to perfect it, fully aware that perfection doesn’t exist or at least isn’t truly attainable. But that’s the challenge I love most, and the struggle that keeps everything interesting.

Candiani is historically located in a national nature reserve (Parco Del Ticino), and this aspect has influenced the green transformation. Ever since my grandfather was in charge of the family business in the early 70s, we have adhered to strict environmental regulations. At that time, we couldn’t operate like our competitors; we had to work much cleaner. This adaptation already led us in a “greener direction” back then.

Just like my father, I am obsessed with innovation. Nowadays, significant innovations can only be sustainable, or we can say that relevant sustainability only occurs because we develop industrial processes and products in such a way that they can reduce or neutralize their environmental impact.