Surtex celebrates 25th anniversary

Trend panel will feature industry luminaries

HTT Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 5/11/2011 10:00:20 AM

New York - Surtex, celebrating its 25th anniversary, will open here next week with nearly 300 exhibitors from some 12 different countries as well as a panel discussion on design trends.
Exhibitors at the Jacob Javits Center will represent the works of more than 1,000 artists and designers during the show, which runs May 15-17.
A panel of industry experts will review the state of American design - "American Embraces Design...Finally" - on May 17. A continental breakfast begins at 8 a.m., with the program running from 8:30-10:00 a.m.
Panelists include:

• Richard Roman, president and CEO of Revman International, Inc., the marketing company he founded in l988 to partner with some of the industry's best-known brands, among them Marimekko, Laura Ashley, Tommy Hilfiger, Vera Wang and Candice Olson;
• David Bolotsky, founder and CEO of UncommonGoods.com, an online marketplace focused on creatively designed, high-quality merchandise at affordable prices;
• Lynn Shanahan, CEO of the C2 Group, a company that partners with and invests in both strategic and private equity firms, and provides operating management for its affiliates. She is currently acting president of Marimekko, North America;

• David Hedley, managing director of Artwork Design Ltd., a 25-year-old design studio located near the traditional textile center of Manchester, UK. Hedley and his business partner, Andrew Bell, have been participating in SURTEX since its inception;
• Elizabeth Bournaud of Francois Bournaud, Paris, since l973, a leading design resource for textiles, stationery, and other products, and an exhibitor at SURTEX since its inception;
• Michelle Ishay-Cohen, executive art director at Abrams, including such design-focused imprints as Stewart, Tabori & Chang;

• Tom Mirabile, Sr. VP of Global Trend and Design for Lifetime Brands, Inc.

Dan Rubinstein, editor-in-chief of Surface Magazine, will moderate.
"When Surtex began - with fewer than 100 exhibitors - there was really no such thing as manufacturers licensing original art for use on their products," said Penny Sikalis, manager of Surtex and vp of show producer GLM. "Most licenses were for TV and film characters -and for sports figures. Manufacturers who were hungry for great surface designs usually bought them outright and manipulated for their needs."
Tickets are $125 per person. Register at www.surtex.com.
For more information, contact Sikalis at 914-421-3297, penny_sikalis@glmshows.com, or visit www.SURTEX.com.