Designer Q & A - CVRIVSTVS TRIBUTES.
This week's Designer Q & A is with Lorenzo Sannito, the founder of CVRIVSTVS TRIBUTES. And in case you were wondering - the above photo of Mr Sannito is supposed to be cropped like that!
1) Why do you think after 200 years jeans are still one of the most popular items of clothing?
I have never found a specific answer to this question. I have always thought that "poetry" was the right term to classify an authentic "jeans" and rightly so this is how I like to label it. Authentic jeans could be defined as "poetry".
2) Last time I counted there were over 50 brands of premium denim jeans, what makes your jeans stand out from the rest?
Feelings and the real value of the jeans. Emotion is what my clients feel every time they open a Christus packaging because what distinguished my jeans among others is called "emotion". Christus is not just a brand in the fashion world, but it is the making of a wearable artistic product completely hand made. In each item there is a lot of hard work done by the craftsmen and the Italian tailors that work for me; without them the "magic" would not happen.
3) Who do you imagine is a typical customer?
Today, after a year in the business, I can tell you that 90% of Christus clients are artists. As artists I mean photographers, designers, musicians, singers; it is a brand conceived for them.
4) Which style and wash of your jeans are flying out of the shops the quickest at the moment?
The first series of 150 items, has been sold 20 days ago. By the end of November 2007, the second series of the fourth type of jeans will be presented. In order to create each year, a unique sequence of jeans, I must introduce a special edition. The "tribute" line will have cashmere introduced with the denim. There will be 500 items of this style available.
5) Where do you get your inspiration from?
My inspiration comes from every thing. "Beauty" is my vital lymph, my lifeblood. Wherever I am, whatever touched my feelings gets immediately into my mind and never flies away. It stays with me for ever, it becomes part of me.
6) Are there any essential jeans that everyone should have in their wardrobe?
I believe that a pair of "Vintage Levi’s" is a must.
7) What are the first pair of jeans you remember?
I remember the first launch of "Evisu" in Europe, for the first time I understood that in the denim’s world there are no limits. I was 17 at the time.
8) What have been your favourite pair of jeans that you have owned?
They were a pair of original vintage levi's jeans from 1930 , very tight that I still own. Jeans is the only garment that I can’t get rid of. I keep them all.
9) What have been your favourite pair of jeans that you have produced?
Certainly number 001 of the first jeans I produced, is the one I care the most. Everything started from them. I try never to get attached to what I create; I always think to the next step, of what I will do after that. To feel fulfilled will be self destructive to me.
10) How many pairs of jeans do you currently own and which are your favourites?
In my archive I have more than 150 pairs of jeans that I know by heart. They help me to generate and find solutions for other brands that are supported by my "Creative Project Suite" which allows me to manufacture the "Limited Edition".
11) Are you a "wash your jeans after each wear" person or a "wear your jeans for six months before you wash them" person?
Six months! Too long. I wash them myself after 10, 15 times I wear them. A pair of jeans should never go into the washer machine but they should only be washed by hand.
12) Do you own jeans for different occasions (for instance I have work jeans, smart jeans, weekend jeans, holiday jeans, jeans for going to concerts in, jeans for gardening in) if so what have you got?
The only distinction I make is among a pair of elegant jeans and a pair of trandy-trash jeans. I never liked any thing in between.
13) Which is your favourite jeans shop?
"Evisu Savile Row" in London.
14) Which celebs are currently wearing your jeans?
The first thing that i always say is that you can't give as a gift the art,every form of art must be always purchased.I have never payed or gave as a present a pair of my denim. There are many tales in the artistic world. When I get emails from celebrities that wanna buy the Christus jeans, you never know who’s on the other side unless the request comes from legitimate Studios or Recording Studios. Since my jeans are so recognizable, many often times photographers have offered to sell me pictures of my jeans not worn by celebrities but just promoting the jeans itself. Chris Martin of Coldplay,the famous designer Philippe Starck and the American rapper Jay-Z are some of the artists that the magazines have been connected to me.
15) How important big an effect does it have on your sales when a celeb is seen wearing a pair of your jeans?
I never buy photos that are normally offered to me. As soon as a celebrity purchases a pair of jeans a huge number of requests follows. The brand is based on the VIP’s word-by-mouth which has been my marketing strategy since the beginning. This is the significant and important focal point in which the life of "tributes" brand is based upon.
16) Who is your current favourite denim icon (male & female). I am thinking the person who has the most denim style?
Brad Pitt to me has always been above others and in terms of the women worlds Kate Moss.
17) Which character (male & female) from a movie had the most denim style?
It could be a long list of names, but in my top 10 there are: George Jung, played by Johnny Deep in "Blow", Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt in "Fight Club", Johnny played by Marlon Brando in "The Wild One", and Steve McQueen and Paul Newman in every films they made.
18) Which person living or dead would you most like to see in a pair of your jeans?
Mick Jagger for sure.
19) If jeans had not been invented, what would we all be wearing?
Among the 20 questions, for sure this is the most difficult one. I am unable to give you an answer. I hope that will never be an alternative to denim.
20) And finally, any predictions for denim in 2007
People are becoming more and more aware of quality. Only the more creative people will emerge. The "copycat" will have a hard time. We are getting really close to creating the perfect pair of jeans. Every brand would like to have the best and very often don’t know where to find it. I believe that more we go on and more the blue jeans industry of the "premium denim" will be difficult, but for sure more interesting and of higher quality.
