Divatex ups thread count to 1,000

Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 10/7/2002 12:00:00 AM

NEW YORK —

Divatex Home Fashions is bringing a new 1,000-count sheet and duvet cover program to the October market.

According to Ritch Yanowitz, vp, Divatex went up to 750-count goods several years ago and had determined a 1,000-count product was feasible.

"It's taken us a while to develop it," Yanowitz told Home Textiles Today. "The factories had to get it so that it had the right hand but also some durability and the right weave."

The solid-color sheets and duvet covers are constructed from 100 percent pima cotton and are available in a sophisticated palette of white, ivory, pale blue and pale yellow. Depending on the needs of the retailer, Divatex is offering the program as open stock or sets. A queen set will be less than $200 at retail, Yanowitz said, while a queen-sized duvet cover will be in the $175 range. None of the 1,000-count product, however, currently coordinates to any other product in Divatex's lineup, and coordinates are not planned.

Although Divatex is concentrating for now on just the sheets and duvet covers, an expansion of the program is already being planned for the 2003 winter market in February. That expansion would include jacquards and dobby stripes, as well as comforters "at some point," Yanowitz said, as well as a luxury-weight matelassé that would coordinate.

That said, Yanowitz quickly added that Divatex had no plans to get into the bed-in-a-bag market. "We're going to treat this as real luxury," he said.

New sheet colors, as they are requested by retailers, are also going to be added over time.

The company is shipping goods now, and both the Divatex brand and private label options are offered.

Divatex has also added two constructions of throws to its line. A faux shearling and a faux suede are both new and available in all sizes, with a queen retailing in the $100 range.