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MARZOTTO IN BIG APPLE:
Marzotto SpA has opened a new office for its textile and yarn divisions in New York.
Jean de Jaegher, chairman of the Valdagno, Italy-based apparel and textile conglomerate, said the opening of the new location, at 500 Fifth Avenue, “reflects the policy of this company to pursue investment within the NAFTA area.”
Previously, the company had handled its New York sales through agents. De Jaegher said Marzotto planned investments in North America do not include producing fabrics.
KTA FINANCIAL FORECAST:
The Knitted Textile Association’s annual financial forecast will tackle the question: “When will our industry get a bigger share of the robust economy?”
The event is scheduled for Jan. 12, 8 a.m., at Arno Ristorante in New York.
Scheduled to speak are Jack Pickler, first vice president and senior textile and apparel analyst at Prudential Securities; Marc Goliven, vice president and senior regional economist at The Chase Manhattan Bank, and Carl Steidtmann, chief retail economist at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
ATMI PARLEY SET:
The topic for the American Textile Manufacturers Institute’s annual meeting will be “Textiles 2000 — Focus on the Future.”
The meeting is scheduled for March 16-18, at the Southampton Princess in Hamilton, Bermuda. Doug Ellis, president of Southern Mills, is to give the keynote address. Other speakers are to include former Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank president and chief executive officer Robert P. Forrestal, management consultant Oren Harari, CNN political analyst Charlie Cook, marketing guru Roger Blackwell and Scott Seydel, president of chemicals maker The Seydel Cos.
NEW WOOLMARK HEAD:
The Woolmark Co. last month named Sarah McCann president and group manager of the Americas, heading up its New York office. She succeeds Wilbur H. “Pete” Peter, who stepped down as director of the Americas on Oct. 1.
McCann had previously served as manager of marketing information for the fiber-promotion organization. Her old position will not be filled at this time, she said.
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DYERSBURG DIRECTOR:
Dyersburg Corp. has named Wellman vice president of government affairs James P. Casey to its board. Casey, 58, increases the total number of directors for the Charlotte, N.C.-based mill to 11. Before being named to his current position at Wellman earlier this year, Casey served as the president of that company’s fiber division.
COTTON CHANGES:
Since Cotton Incorporated changed the mission of its international marketing division to global product marketing earlier this year, the unit has fine-tuned its approach, according to Dean B. Turner, senior vice president of global product marketing.
The unit’s technical, marketing and research staff now work more closely together and visit cotton users together, to more effectively share information, he said.
The advantage of closer cooperation, Turner said, is that when presenting new information about cotton, teams can say, “Here is what we can do and here is why the consumer will want that.”
Global product marketing has also created a “product initiatives committee” charged with developing new processes to improve cotton’s performance as apparel, he continued.
“What we see is the ability to try to discover the next wrinkle-resistant phenomenon related to cotton,”
Turner said. Turner said the product development group is focusing on ways to develop lighter-weight fabrics with better drape — often blends of cotton and other fibers — to help cotton increase its share in the women’s apparel market. It is also looking at ways to improve cotton’s performance in stretch fabrics, and considering exactly what stretch qualities shoppers want.
For instance, Turner said, “Are we looking at power stretch or is the consumer more interested in comfort stretch?”
R. Michael Tyndall, senior director, added, “What we’re trying to do is take our technical developments and bridge that with our marketing capabilities.”
ANOTHER STRETCH:
Globe Manufacturing Corp. is sponsoring a second “Stretch to the Future” scholarship competition at New York’s High School of Fashion Industries this year.
In the contest, juniors and seniors at the school submit sketches of designs using stretch fabrics. The best designs are constructed of fabrics incorporating Globe’s Glospan spandex, which are judged by a panel of fashion experts and shown at the school’s annual fashion show in May. Seven categories of design are considered: activewear/swimwear, children’s wear, eveningwear, fantasy, intimate apparel, men’s wear and women’s wear.
This year’s celebrity judge is to be designer Steve Madden, according to Globe.
The six winners, three from the junior class and three from the senior class, receive scholarships for their continuing education. Last year’s purse was $3,850; Bill Girrier, director of marketing at the Fall River, Mass.-based company, said this year’s prizes would be slightly higher.
The fashion show is scheduled for May 24.
DUPONT’S NEW NYLON:
DuPont has introduced a new variety of Tactel with inherent stretch properties. Called Ispira, the company will initially target the outdoor and active sports markets for sales, according to Ria Stern, marketing and brand manager for nylon apparel.
While nylon yarns with mechanical stretch properties, resulting from special texturizing processes, have been around for some time, Stern said, “What ends up happening is eventually you lose on the recovery.”
She added that the new variety of yarn, which is made from two different nylon polymers, retains its stretch properties for a longer period of time. Stern said two North American mills are already producing fabrics using Ispira and that the first apparel incorporating the yarn will hit retail stores in spring.
WORLDTEX TO INDIA:
Covered-yarn and narrow-elastics manufacturer Worldtex Inc. said it has entered into a joint venture with Indian concern Spinwell Valliappa Private Ltd. to “develop and promote the market for covered elastic yarns in India and neighboring countries.”
The new venture, Worldtex Valliappa Private Ltd., will manufacture, market and sell in the Indian subcontinent. Spinwell is an affiliate of Sree Valliappa Textiles Ltd., a division of the Sona Group conglomerate.
In a statement, Barry Setzer, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Worldtex, said, “In the near future, given their expertise in spinning, twisting and knitting, the venture will manufacture the types of covered elastic yarns for which Worldtex is well known. While this venture is relatively small, we believe that it can grow rapidly, given the size of the Indian market and potential export opportunities.”