Jacob Cohën is far more than just a brand. It's a story of passion, innovation, courage, resilience, hope and determination. It's an intuition that was born and developed across two generations, and today represents the vision of a woman and business leader, Jennifer Tommasi Bardelle, who has given shape and substance to that initial disruptive inspiration with unwavering determination, whilst deeply respecting its founders.
The brand was established in 1985 by the Bardelle family with a clear goal in mind: to break down hierarchies and elevate jeans to luxury status.
It would be Nicola Bardelle, about 15 years later, who would bring that revolutionary concept to fruition. In 2002, he relaunched the brand, disrupting the very concept of denim, transforming it from the quintessential pop fabric into a blank canvas for an upgrade into the highest market segment.
He achieved this through ingenuity and divergent, subversive thinking: using only noble and precious fabrics such as Japanese Kurabo, creating tailored, couture constructions, ensuring a perfect and flattering fit, and personalising each pair of trousers with jewelled buttons, hand embroidery and pony hair labels. It was his attention to exclusive detail, obsession with excellence, and desire to create something unique that transformed a simple pair of jeans into a garment with great personality. Much like Nicola himself.
"I created my first pair of jeans because I wanted them to be comfortable, but at the same time luxurious and eclectic. A garment that can be worn even on the most formal occasions"
His dream would end with him on the roads of Saint Tropez one August morning in 2012.
An accident claimed Nicola Bardelle's life and shattered the future of his wife Jennifer, who was left alone with two young children. The sudden tragedy in the French Riviera, where the first flagship store had just opened, marked a deep, irreversible turning point for the company, which was now without the guidance of its visionary leader.
The engines kept running and the gears turning, but Jacob Cohën – despite production and distribution being entrusted to a licensee – no longer had its driving force. For Jennifer Tommasi, it was a time of both loss and decisive choices: to give up or to carry on, to surrender or to try to continue what she had shared and started to build with Nicola. Despite her doubts, she chose the latter path, seeking a way forward through countless obstacles, not least of which was convincing employees, suppliers, and market operators that the brand could continue even after the death of its brilliant founder, and that this continuity could be guaranteed by a young woman.
Jennifer surrounded herself with the right people, taking one step at a time, driven by the determination to complete an unfinished work. Amidst the difficulties, she progressively adjusted her approach, keeping in mind the goal of eventually reaching Nicola's most cherished ambition: to make Jacob Cohën an independent enterprise, capable of operating without the intermediation of third-party players
In 2020, amid the pandemic, a joint venture with a major manufacturing company enabled Jacob Cohën to begin, from 2020/2021, a production and distribution journey with greater participation and control over processes and strategies. This change of direction was shared with Luca Roda, who after four years as Jennifer Tommasi's right-hand man, was promoted to CEO.
Results soon followed, and together, by the end of 2023, they led the company to definitively move beyond the licensing model it had relied on for almost 20 years: Jacob Cohën Company announced the acquisition of 100% of JC Industry (a new company resulting from the previous partnership), dissolving all external collaborations and paving the way for an industrial relaunch of the brand.
With the closing of the deal, the company's new era officially began, marked by vertical integration and the complete internalisation of design, manufacturing, and marketing: the brand secured total oversight of its collections and their market positioning, becoming the sole architect of the Jacob Cohën philosophy and its narrative.
“Behind each pair of jeans, there’s a love story ‒ a story of passion, of dedication. To create a denim piece that’s luxurious, yet unconventional. We like to dare, to push boudaries. This is the past and the future of Jacob Cohën."
Today, the company embodies Jennifer Tommasi's vision, who piece by piece, with boldness and tenacity, is bringing to full expression what Nicola Bardelle had imagined over 20 years ago: giving jeans a couture soul, making them a master key to relaxed, comfortable, unconventional luxury that celebrates the individuality of its wearer. A high-profile garment, made entirely in Italy. And sustainable, because it's designed to last, like a signature piece. With the new structure, the brand continues its journey towards lifestyle expansion whilst simultaneously raising the bar for quality and creativity, bringing these to the world's finest stores.
Top-tier multi-brand retailers remain the brand's primary commercial outlet, with strong development in the United States and Canada, but Jacob Cohën increasingly speaks the language of retail, with new flagship stores ready to join the existing directly operated locations in cities such as Milan, Paris, Rome, Courchevel and Saint Tropez, and franchised outlets in countries including Japan, Spain, Switzerland and Norway.
The dream - this time Jennifer's - continues.
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