JL: Cristiano, it's a pleasure to be with you here in Abruzzo at Tela Genova HQ. Our M.J. Bale x Tela Genova collaboration is new, but we hope will be an enduring partnership. Speaking of new, this is fresh information – at least to me – that denim was an Italian creation?

CC: No, thank you, it is my honour to have you here. And, yes, it is true. The first time I had an interview at Pitti Uomo a few years ago, I said, ‘Napoleon took from Italy La Gioconda (Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa painting) and the Americans took the denim origins from us.’ When I started to research the history of Italian denim traditions for Tela Geneva, I was surprised too, because I was thinking that denim was coming from the U.S. But then I found a world in Genoa that's changed my mind and also my approach to this job. I found in a museum in the city of Genoa with the Teli della Passione (the ‘Passion Canvases’, a collection of paintings depicting the Passion of Christ) that are the most ancient representation of denim we have in the world. The number 1515… it was exactly the year when the denim was born in Genoa; [the paintings] were the first testimonials we have of denim in the world. Then I continue to study, and I found pieces of art, painters… so many uses of denim in the [16th] century.

JL: Denim for clothing or fabric used by, say, tradespeople?

CC: Exactly. Denim became clothing only in the 19th century. And in that time, America was growing a lot, and they were the first to use denim in an industrial way – to sell a lot of denim. But the story of this fabric comes from the past and from our Italian past. Even the most ancient pair of jeans still existing is not from Levi Strauss but Garibaldi’s chino [worn in 1860] that is today in the Museo del Risorgimento in Roma. Everyone can go to Roma to see this pair of jeans. Japanese people come to Roma to see the jeans. What I write on the label, ‘Tela Genova La Storia,’ is not something I say just to sell the product, but because la storia – the history – is true. This is my mission. My mission is not to only to craft denim, because my blood is made by denim, because I was born in denim, but it's also to tell the world this history, this amazing history.

JL: What are the origins of Tela Geneva? The city of Genoa is obviously in your brand name, but we are here in your Abruzzo headquarters, where you make the garments…

CC: My family has been in the denim business for three generations, but Tela Genova was founded in 1982 by an Italian designer. The company was in San Benedetto del Tronto, really close to where I live. I was already working with my family on other brands for 15 years when I saw this notice that Tela Genova had gone bankrupt. So, I started to be in contact with the lawyers and then I bought the brand. In the beginning I just studied the brand, and then I developed it. The name Tela Genova means the whole region of jeans in Genoa city. The only coincidence is that my history and my family background is in denim. Then, of course, after some years I became really close with the city of Genoa – with the mayor of the city with, the ministries of the city, with the people of the city, because, they know the history, but they have no channels. They have no ambassadors to tell their story. That's something I'm trying to do.

JL: You are on the border here between mountainous Abruzzo and the sea town of San Benedetto del Tronto in Le Marche – what effect do both regions have on you?

CC: My people, the people of this region, are influenced by the mountain and by the sea. For us, the sea is really important. It is the way we are open to the world, no? It’s the sea. But the [strength] of the people from the mountains, their resilience comes from the mountains. And we are just in between… But we need the characteristics of both to survive: these strong, clean, rigid people from the mountains and smart, open people from the sea with their new mentality. So, we are mixed in that world.

JL: Last night at dinner you said, ‘Tela Genova is a culture, a feeling.’ What did you mean by that?

CC: Ah, I also told you that we use a kind of language, no? I meant that living denim, living the brand for me is not only just a job. It's a way of thinking. It's a way of living reality. I used to define the brand as ‘the last analogue brand in a digital world,’ because our attention on details and materials is something that we are losing in the modern age and the modern fashion industry. And that's the connection I'm trying to do. These are my personal values. To be real. To be genuine. To have a strong identity. That is what I'm trying to do with the brand. You know, when you are at the cinema, when you are going to look at old analogue movies, you see some crackles on the edge of the screen. These are imperfections. It is imperfections, I think, that makes us more human. You know, in the digital world, in the fashion industry, absolutely everything has to be perfect. Everything has to be fast. I believe in details and even in imperfection. Because what we are if not the results of our imperfection?

JL: Bravo, Cristiano. We agree wholeheartedly. Lastly, what is the spirit – the soul – of Tela Genova?

CC: I brought with me the philosophy of my grandmother. One time she told me, ‘I am too poor to buy cheap stuff’. What that means now, in 2025, translates to, ‘I'm too poor to buy fast fashion products.’ So, she gives me this message to create longstanding and durable products and to do something that's really connected with territory. That's the soul of the brand – to respect the place where I'm living and to produce durable and simple stuff.