Founded in 1925, Canclini has become one of the best cooperation partners of many prestigious men’s fashion brands in western markets for shirting fabric due to the company’s passion for work, dynamism, constant innovation, and creativity. Canclini is now also a wellknown high quality shirting fabric reference brand in the Chinese market, featuring its trademark traditional Italian style and taste. Nearly ten years ago, in order to better serve the Chinese market and satisfy the customers’ demands, Canclini opened its first Shanghai branch. Moreover, this March, during the renowned Intertextile Beijing exhibition, the company will show both overseas and Chinese visitors their newly-developed collection of fabrics for shirts, Stucchi, which will well demonstrate the pure Italian craftsmanship. Fortunately, China Textile has had the opportunity to interview Mr. Simone Canclini, president of Canclini. He generously shared with us the company’s brand story, their fabric products’ special characteristics, as well as their marketing success recipe.


Q: Canclini Tessile is a well-known and appreciated name in China. What is the secret of your success in this market?

 

A: We believe in this Country and in its millenarian culture. Not so many years ago many people showed a business narrow-mindedness regarding the Chinese market and production as mere copycats of occidental products and style.

 

We never shared this vision, and this unrealistic approach very quickly showed its limitations.We have always been open to China’s culture, willing to learn from its rich history and share our own culture in return. We are impressed by the country’s sophisticated traditions and its workers, who are always seriously committed to their professional goals, through their own unique abilities and by the several common traits we share, such as love and passion for beautiful products and the talent to immediately recognize and appreciate the care in even the finest details.

 

It is for all these reasons that we opened 10 years ago, our first office in Shanghai; we deeply believe that only by being present locally and breathing the Chinese culture and style that it is possible to offer the Chinese market the best possible products and services available. We are totally convinced that China is a great country; many of our future major customers will be Chinese, which is why we will continue to invest in this country.

 

Q: Could you please briefly introduce the history of Canclini?

 

A: Canclini Tessile S.p.A. is a family company, founded in 1925 by my grandfather. Since we are located in the beautiful area of Como, known as the silk heart of Europe, we started producing silk and stretch silk fabrics, before changing our production into fine cotton fabrics for shirts, shortly after the Second World War. We have since then been one of the most famous Italian names for quality collections in the fabric market for shirts.

 

In the early days, we aimed to gain a deep understanding of the local market and its specific requirements, then, in the second half of the last century, we further improved our production investments and our R&D and style departments; our scope became bigger and we built an expert, worldwide sales force net.

 

I took over management of the company from my father more than 15 years ago, and together with my cousin Mauro, who succeeded to his father as head designer, we gave our company a new young spirit, enhancing the Italian know-how in terms of style, production, and innovation in all aspects.

 

In recent years, the harsh falling of prices, together with the rising cost of raw materials and the emergence of new competitors, has led us to invest even more in higher quality products, production flexibility, and in style and trends research. As with everybody in the area, we have been suffering in the past several years from the general economic crisis, which is in part covered by the booming of our exports sales. We are a solid and well-experienced company, and last year showed the comeback of an increasingly popular trend, which awarded our investments and reconfirmed us in keeping our faith in our belief of the quality of Canclini’s genuine Italian fabrics.

 

Currently, thanks to our experience and passion for work, the company has worked with several international designers, including Etro, Giorgio Armani, Alexander McQueen, Paul Stuart, Michael Kors, and many prestigious brands of men’s fashion, like Ermenegildo Zegna, Hugo Boss, Hackett and Alfred Dunhill.

 

In the past few years, around 75% of turnover was represented by export, making Canclini well known as one of the most important brands of traditional Italian style and taste. China and Asia are, for us, special markets; in recent years, we have improved our presence in the Far East, offering a wide range of services and researching the local market to best suit our local customers’ needs.

 

In a world that constantly changes, we succeed in consistently pursuing our mission year after year, namely, offering the highest standards in our articles, reliable support to our clients, and flexible and trustful deliveries.

 

Today, we are quite proud of our achievement in making Canclini an international brand, synonymous with excellence and quality design.

 

Q: What’s the spirit and philosophy of this brand?

 

A: It’s very simple: we design and produce our premium textiles to make, for our customers and their clients, the daily ritual of choosing a shirt a genuine pleasure. There’s nothing more satisfying for a man than wearing a different fabric every day that makes him feel comfortable, elegant, and trendy.

 

There are plenty of choices for our customers: a classic twill made of 120/2, like Argento, for business models; create a trendy shirt with Shambala quality for evening collections; a comfortable flannel, like Melton, for sporty versions to wear during the weekend to feel relaxed and comfortable; an article made of 100% linen to create a shirt perfect to go out and play golf in summer. Wearing a shirt is an absolute pleasure if you have the choice between multiple fabrics that fit your mood and satisfy your ego. That’s a hard job for us to propose such a wide range of products for, but that’s what we like the most, satisfying our customers’ needs.

 

What drives us in our daily activities and best represents the philosophy of our brand is always paying attention to the research, in terms of both style and technology, renewing our collections and articles every year, offering our clients state of the art products, meeting their requests, and above all, making sure that all details are flawless.

 

Q: With what advantages of know-how Canclini equipped?

 

A: Canclini has always devoted a lot of attention to the production process. Producing a premium product is only possible with the most up to date looms, the most modern warping machines, and the most sophisticated finishing processes and techniques. This dedication to our product allows us to produce a wide range of fabrics, made in 80/1 compact yarn up to 300/2 ply, linen, silk and cashmere mixtures.

 

What is also important for us is special attention to our own creativity and designs, a deep understanding of the market, and close cooperation with our customers’ design teams and their exact expectations. That’s why we invest a great deal in our fabric archive, which currently contains more than 2,500 books of fabric collections from all over the world and across history. It is absolutely essential to our company; it has provided a major source of inspiration for our special customers each year, utilizing the treasures of the past to reinvent their future collections.

 

And, last but not the least, our foresight towards the future helps us to offer our clients all the most advanced, convenient digital tools, from our E-commerce website dedicated to professionals, to a brand new easy-to-use App for our tailoring business in China. Understanding the market means always being ready to quickly suit our customer’s needs, both now and in the future.

 

Q: Please share with us more details about the productions or collection structures.

 

A: Let’s say that our range is wide enough for everybody’s needs… Our articles are made of 100% pure cotton, ranging from the highest yarns counts, including the excellence of cottons, such as Giza 45, to the lowest yarns counts that are devoted to the most sporty articles.

 

Of course, we also have articles made with a mixture of linen and cotton or cashmere and cotton, for the customers who require special blends, and many types of finishing are available in our range, offering products dry or warm touch so as to meet specific quality and comfort requirements.

 

As for our collection, our proposal is based upon three different offers. The first pillar of our collection is composed by our Stock Service Program, called “I Continuativi (“The Continuous”), an extremely rich series of classical designs that accentuates the traditional Italian style and is ready in stock for quick deliveries, also for a single cut length. It was initially dedicated for tailoring, but most of our customers appreciate its diversity and quality, and it became as it is today. This Stock Service Program is divided into three sections: one very classical, another slightly more formal, and the third one, dedicated to our high yarn count luxury qualities, from 140/2 to 300/2 ply.

 

Our second pillar is a seasonable collection, which is – and we are quite proud of it - considered by our customers as an absolute must-see. It is completely renewed every six months, and counts more than 3,000 colours and represents the newest trends, themes, and moods. This collection is composed of various styles: the “New tradition” section (the new classic mood), the “Graphite” section (the urban fashion style), the “Sport” (for a more casual attitude), the “Stretch” section, and the “Print” section (a unique part in the collection, made of more elaborate prints).

 

We are also launching a new collection of textiles for shirts, STUCCHI, which is specially designed for the Far East market, traditionally defined by refined taste and an extreme sensibility to the traditional Italian design.

 

The third pillar which completes our offerings is the special patterns. We are collaborating with our customers on a much more personal basis to develop exclusive designs. They are the perfect highlights of our clients’ collections.

 

I would like also to devote some words to our made-to-measure service. It is a service based on local warehouses, where our customers can order even one single cut length and be guaranteed that they will receive it within the next 48 hours. This special system allows our clients to reduce the levels of their own warehouses (with consequent reduction of costs), and be able to offer their clients an extremely rich collection, without risking the lack of textiles. We started this project in Italy several years ago, and later expanded into Spain, as well as to the USA, Canada, China and

Japan.

 

Q: Environment-protection is a hot topic nowadays for textile and apparel industries around the world. For Canclini, how to guarantee the ECO part and social responsibility?

 

A: We produce our product with the most state of the art devices. By choosing the most environmentally oriented equipment, we reduce our energy and water consumption, and utilize chemical products that respect the environment. We have held Oeko-tex certification for several years, which guarantees that the products we use and our fabrics are not harmful to anyone’s health.

 

We take our commitment to the environment very seriously, as well as our respect for the planet and its people. The concept of corporate social responsibility has always been very important to us. That’s why we have held SA8000 ethical certification for several years now, an international certification which guarantees that in our day to day activities, we always respect the quality of the relationship between the company, its employees, and its supply chain.

 

Q: Who are the targeting clients in Asia and in China?

 

A: Our customers consider Canclini as a leading shirting weaving mill, in terms of both quality and design innovation. In the western market, we work with the best brands of men’s fashion, and we have become a major European supplier for some of them, including Ermenegildo Zegna. We have also been rewarded with collaboration with the best brands in Asia and China, such as Lampo, Satchi, Spontini and Jesdani in China and Calvin Klein or Trinity, which is the licensee in Asia for Gieves and Hawkes, and Cerruti in the rest of Asia, just to name a few.

 

We strive to serve all of the most premium and refined tailor shops in China and the rest of Asia, therefore, we have replicated our Italian tailoring department in Shanghai with exceptional service, which has elicited a great response from the market and our customers.

 

Q: During the past two years, what about the selling status in Chinese market? And what’s your China marketing strategy for the next five years?

 

A: The Chinese market has been one of the most booming markets in these past several years. Being present locally is crucial to understanding our customers’ needs and adapting ourselves to this specific market.

 

As a matter of fact, ten years ago, we opened our first office in Shanghai, staffed with ten employees dedicated to our collaboration with our Chinese customers. As with all of our western customers, we are giving support in developing special designs and structures, and quickly becoming a solid partner for their strong business, much more than just a simple supplier.

 

The Chinese market represents for us, an important business challenge, and we are devoting a great deal of energy, human resources, and monetary investment to better understand this millenarian culture and its place in the world of fashion.

 

Q: Please predict the fabric trends in 2013 and 2014, and is there any special kind of collections Canclini prepares for China Market?

 

A: Our new precious collection, Stucchi, devoted to the most refined experts and connoisseurs of luxury clothing, will be soon available on the market.

 

It will offer premium textiles where fineness of design, lightness and compactness are completely transformed by Italian inspiration. Canclini will present Stucchi at Milano Unica, handled by Intertextile Beijing in March, to pay homage to the place where Canclini was born.

 

This new brand, which refers back to the old and precious experience of manufacturers of silk textiles, will be an amazing transition into thin and beautiful cotton textiles. Our pure Italian craftsmanship, combined with the most updated technology has helped to develop this product, which was at risk to be lost to the sands of time. This is a new reimagining of our origins, a further expression of the priceless value of the Italian style and culture.

 

The collection, made of four articles, is stretched out in over 700 colours, which is the result of the inspiration taken from the study of old premium textiles, aimed to meet the market needs of all those customers looking for fabulous articles, where tradition, Italian style, and old techniques find their place in Chinese culture.