Kaltman's Velvets, Now From China
After 46 years in the textile business, Hal Kaltman is going to China.
The well-known textile representative and former president of the Textile Association of Los Angeles recently began representing Jiangsul Girmes Special Textile Co. Ltd.—better known as GSTZ—a vertical textile mill based in Zhangjiagang City, China.
Kaltman’s company, Hal Kaltman Textiles, had been the West Coast rep for Canadian mill J.L. de Ball Canada for nearly 15 years.
GSTZ opened in 2002 originally as a partnership between de Ball and German textile maker Girmes GmbH. The factory changed its name to Jiangsu Girmes Special Textiles Co. in 2006 and now operates as a separate entity from Girmes, which filed for bankruptcy in 2004, and J.L. de Ball Canada, which has restructured its business (including shifting its West Coast representation to another company in Los Angeles).
GSTZ, like de Ball, produces high-end velvets and corduroys, as well as faux furs.
“They are innovators,” Kaltman said. “They have velvets I’ve never seen before.”
Among the GSTZ fabrics in the current line are cotton/cashmere velvets and corduroys, as well as cotton/bamboo blends and stretch versions with Tencel and Lycra.
The collection includes a wide range of stock colors, as well as capacity for custom colors and prints.
Minimum orders for stock colors are 500 to 1,000 yards per color. The minimum order for special colors is 1,000 yards. And according to Kaltman, prices are “as good if not better” than comparable goods from other mills.
“I’m very excited about this line,” Kaltman said, adding he’s already getting good reception to the line from several designers and piece-goods buyers in Los Angeles.
“There’s nothing like this product made domestically or outside of Europe,” he said.
For more information about GMTZ, contact Kaltman at (213) 627-9055.—Alison A. Nieder
