Tela Genova, a historic Italian premium jeans brand, has embarked on a new path of growth.
Since 2014, they managed the brand—owned by Casitalia Srl—through licensing agreements with leading Italian manufacturers, such as Cama Italia and later FG1936, in collaboration with the Caucci brothers’ industrial textile group for ten years, while maintaining its identity as a high-end product.
Starting in September 2025, Casitalia Srl has chosen to focus its investments on a new production facility dedicated exclusively to Tela Genova, to ensure greater design consistency, quality control, and continuity.
It is managed by its co-owners—Cristiano, Alberta, and Maria Antonietta Caucci—supported by a logistics manager, a back-office manager, and Maria Grazia Spinosi, the brand’s designer.
The headquarters is located in an 800-sq.-meter building in Sant’Egidio alla Vibrata, in the heart of the Val Vibrata—an area historically known as the “Valle del Jeans,” renowned for jeans production and high-quality tailoring.
At the same time, Tela Genova has opened a new showroom in Milan, on Via Morimondo. It i a 120-sq.-meter exhibition space conceived as a true “Casa Tela Genova,”
entirely dedicated to the brand, its aesthetic universe, and its identity.
Through these investments, the brand aims to grow internationally and strengthen its network of established relationships in markets such as Europe, North America, Australia, South Korea, and Japan, while continuing to expand through a highly selective distribution network.
We discussed this new direction with Cristiano Caucci, co-owner, during the latest edition of Pitti Uomo, where Tela Genova presented its new S/S 2027 collection.
What has happened to Tela Genova? What are the latest developments in the brand’s management?
We’ve created an independent new company. It’s a new corporate structure, managed by my sisters Alberta and Maria Antonietta and myself, but also by a team that is completely independent and dedicated to the brand. We’re a group of specialists, each in their own field of expertise.
About a year ago, around January, I decided to withdraw the brand license from the manufacturing company—where I had been serving as commercial director and brand manager—so that I could manage it directly alongside my sisters as co-owners.
I am very grateful to the Caucci Group and to the family-owned companies that have supported me and helped me grow over the past ten years, because they gave me the opportunity to get to where I am today. However, I believe the brand has matured, and at 45, I felt the need to strike out on my own, together with my sisters, dedicating ourselves fully to this project and putting ourselves on the line as entrepreneurs.
Has there been a reorganization of the group?
Yes. Essentially, we’ve freed ourselves from other dynamics.
This allows the company to create a more effective product, in line with an image that’s more true to itself. When the company is free to make its own decisions, unencumbered by any pressure from production managers, it can choose the most suitable materials, in line with our consumers’ needs. We’re now very lean, and the creative process is fast.
We make decisions together, based, for example, on a weekly meeting. There are six of us on the team—one person per department—and each of us is responsible for managing our own network of people and suppliers. We’re a bit more agile right now and can adapt to different production rhythms—for example, by offering a selection of “Never Out of Stock” items, which we’ve unearthed from the brand’s archives along with a specific historic logo we want to add on the back leather patch, as well as limited-edition drops.
How many collections do you want to launch per year?
The goal is to move away from seasonality. It’s certainly important to run sales campaigns; otherwise, the industry wouldn’t exist. However, the product must reach stores when there’s a need for it—there’s no longer a need for a single seasonal delivery. In other words, Never Out Of Stock items can reach the market whenever they’re needed.
That said, we also want to do drops that arrive in stores whenever we feel like it. Since we use a lot of Japanese selvedge denim—and many brands are currently using denim from that country—there’s a catch: Japan has a thousand looms, not a million, and these looms break down. Spare parts aren’t readily available; they have to be custom-made. Therefore the whole process is slowed down.
In this collection, Japanese and precious fabrics play a key role. That’s why we’re offering pieces in selvedge denim and chambray from Kuroki, a historic Japanese fabric manufacturer we’ve been working with for years. There are also workwear pieces and fabrics of the highest quality, such as Super Libertador, as well as cotton poplin parachute fabric and 100% linen ones. In addition, we use other highly sought-after materials, such as blends of cotton and silk, and linen, cotton, and silk. Also standing out are fabrics treated by a historic dyehouse—Giovanni Clerici e Figli—in Gallarate, founded in 1867 and now run by the seventh generation. It is one of the two oldest dyehouses still in operation in Italy. They specialize in all types of treatments and allow us to achieve fabrics with greater body and more texture in the military-style line, as well as compactness combined with finesse.
You mention the need to slow down. Does this have to do with the goal of breaking free from the cycle of seasonality?
Yes, in that sense. Tela Genova is a brand that offers timeless collections for the modern man who still appreciates the value of things. For us today, it’s essential to have partners who share our worldview—one centered on slowness—because the world moves so fast these days, and we want to take it slow. We want to focus more on quality than on quantity.
We’d rather make one fewer product and make it better. I find there’s much more appreciation for this approach today than in the past. Given all the events that have taken place, the conflicts, overproduction, and much more. We need to return to our humanity. Tela Genova aims to embody this in our products alongside those who share our values.
How many drops would you like to release in a year?
We currently offer two collections and two drops. We’ll see how it goes—we haven’t ruled out the possibility of launching a women’s drop as well.
How many stores are you selling to?
We currently have about 200 clients. We’re expanding internationally, which is where we prefer to grow, even though it doesn’t yet account for half of our sales. We hope to reach that goal soon. We’re meeting with stores in cities like Copenhagen, Chicago, and London. So we’re really stepping on the gas.
What will your revenue be by the end of 2026?
For now, it’s around two million euros, but I expect significant growth. 2026 is the first year we’ve had a single season; in 2027, we’ll have two seasons, and we’ll see where that takes us. The average prices for a pair of pants are €100 wholesale and €260–€280 retail.
Turnover isn’t our goal. Instead, we want to continue doing our work exactly as we envisioned it, paying close attention to detail and materials. For now, this might mean that our revenue won’t be extremely high, because otherwise we’d have to change our production system—but we’ll see; we’ll evaluate things step by step and stay the course [Editor’s note: like Genoese sailors–we like to think–because they were able to conquer the world].