New Visual Communications Co. Opens in Los Angeles
Global Apparel Network (GAN), a provider of visual collaboration solutions for the fashion industry, has opened a Los Angeles office in addition to offices in Charlotte, N.C.; Grand Rapids, Mich., and New York.
The Amsterdam-based company markets Visuality, a product development software application that allows designers and others to collaborate on storyboards, prototypes, merchandising, sourcing and marketing processes via the Internet.
GAN recently established its North American headquarters in New York and hired veteran John Robinson from Lectra USA to become president of operations. Another former Lectra and Oracle Corp. executive, Chris Munson, will manage the Los Angeles office and oversee sales and service on the West Coast.
Robinson has more than 20 years of industry experience, having run activewear company Robinson Manufacturing Co. in Dayton, Tenn. He most recently was vice president of the apparel business unit for Lectra, which has since replaced him with Phillipe Ribera.
GAN hired several other former Lectra executives: Simon Poulton to manage the Northeast region; Dennis Harrington, also of CDI, to manage the Midwest region; and Paul Tyston, who spent 17 years with Lectra, to manage the Southern region from Charlotte.
“We are extremely pleased with the reaction that the North American market is showing for Visuality,” Robinson said. “We are seeing many similarities here to the fast start we experienced in Europe, where we quickly secured more than 50 industry-leading customers. Based on the feedback we are receiving from retailers, brands, and producers alike, we are building a strong, professional team that will solidify our capability to serve the market into the future.”
Among the company’s customers are Gap Inc., VF Corp. (Europe), Joop!, Mexx International (a Liz Claiborne brand), Auchan and TopShop.
GAN’s U.S. headquarters are at 275 Madison Ave. in New York. For more information, visit www.globalapparelnetwork.com, or e-mail info@visualitylife.com. The West Coast bureau is located in suite 516 of 1880 Century Park East in Los Angeles.
—Robert McAllister
