LOS ANGELES, California— Marcovaldo, a 25 year old converter of trims and fabrics will show its new South African inspired Mandela collection of 300 fabric sku’s in 12 designs at Showtime in High Point, N.C. in December.

Marcovaldo sells to jobbers, furniture manufacturers and retailers. In some cases it sells to hotel projects on a direct basis through its other divisions.

The big effort is part of principal Joseph Moran’s overall agenda to double sales of the company in the next 12 months, he said. Hiring a separate sales force for Marcovaldo was part of the strategy. Marcovaldo is one of three sister companies owned by the Moran’s which includes Brooks and Ribenks. All divisions have their own sales teams now, Joseph said. Brooks & Marcovaldo divisions have always had separate sales forces. Mandela Collection-African Salmon

Brooks supplies fabrics to manufacturers. The company owns a German distribution company which covers Europe, Eastern Europe and South Africa. Ribenks is a container business, Joseph said. All of the companies benefit from Marcovaldo’s QC and China to China based business in Hangzhou with 16 employees. There are 50 more employees in the U.S., Joseph said.

The Mandela  line is priced at $6-$18 a yard and includes solids, African colors, piece dyed velvets, textures and naturals in rayon and linen according to Shani Moran, originally from Johannesburg S.A. herself, is co principal with her husband Joseph. Shani is the designer of the collection, the largest introduction in the company’s history. The product is stocked in Los Angeles for immediate delivery according to Joseph.

Half of The Mandela Collection is designed in China and the balance of the line comes from Spain and Italy, Moran said. “Mandela represents the textures and the smell of Africa. We worked with Nelson Mandela’s grandson to develop the collection. Trims are planned for the collection but the initial emphasis is on fabric, the Moran’s said. Normally, they produce about four trimming lines a year but the fabric effort took precedence over the trimming this time, they said. F&FI