Petro Zillia's Tochterman Tapped for Panel in France
Nony Tochterman, designer for Los Angeles–based label Petro Zillia, has been selected for a panel discussion organized by Espace Textile, the Lyon, France–based trade group that represents many French textile mills in the international market.
Tochterman will share the panel with a New York–based designer at the Dec. 9 event. Espace Textile is currently winnowing down the list of East Coast designers, according to Agnes Elisabelair, international export manager for Espace Textile.
The event will cover U.S. textile production, distribution and trade with Europe, particularly with France. The panel will also focus on the U.S. apparel market and market segmentation and will address some of the new American designers in the field. In addition, there will be a discussion about the future of textile sourcing after January 2005, when quotas will end for goods manufactured by World Trade Organization members.
Tochterman and the New York designer will be asked to offer their opinions on French textiles and discuss their international textile sourcing plans after the elimination of quotas. Organizers hope to glean information from the two designers about why they buy French fabrics and what their price and delivery expectations are for French textiles.
“The American market has become one of the most important markets for the French mills, as well as for European textiles, despite the high level of euros,” Elisabelair said.
Espace Textile organized a similar conference earlier this year featuring a representative from French fashion house Christian Lacroix and representatives from several French chain stores. This is the first such conference with non-European designers, said Elisabelair, who added that the organization is considering hosting a similar conference with Chinese designers. The organization may also host a conference with representatives from U.S. department and chain stores. “Of course, we are very pleased to [host such a conference] with American designers for the first time,” Elisabelair said.
“The American designers are becoming more and more important on the fashion scene,” she continued, noting U.S. designers’ recent successes heading French design houses—including Celine, Louis Vuitton and Yves St. Laurent—as well as the rise of the contemporary and young designer market in the United States. —Alison A. Nieder
