Next-Generation Textiles
Studio Bert Forma carries on the tradition of seeking new lines and new business
Three years after his death, Bert Forma is still very much involved in the 42-year-old textile company that bears his name, Studio Bert Forma.
Much has remained the same. His name is still on the door of the company headquarters in downtown Los Angeles, several of the Italian mills he represented are still with the company and many of the systems for tracking customers and goods remain in place.
What is new is the young couple who took over the company from Forma shortly before he died. Although Kevin and Heather Maldonado were new to the textile industry when Forma began grooming them to take over the business, the two have since brought in a whole range of new lines from Europe and Asia. The couple has also developed a client roster that reads like a who’s who of California contemporary and designer brands.
With more than 20 lines, Studio Bert Forma fabrics appear in collections ranging from Guess? to Geren Ford. The company represents the Italian wovens favored by Trina Turk and St. John; the French silk prints and jacquards purchased by Corey Lynn Calter and David Meister; and the Turkish and the Italian denim picked up by 7 For All Mankind, Serfontaine, Frankie B. and Goldsign.
Since the couple took over, business has doubled each year, according to the Maldonados.
“This year might be hard to double,” Kevin said, noting that the weak dollar-euro exchange rate has made it a difficult year for many European mills—and for the American companies that buy European fabrics. “A lot of European mills are struggling, especially with the euro.”
So far, however, the Maldonados’ business has been running counter to trend.
“As the euro goes up, our business goes up,” Kevin said.
The key is diversification. Studio Bert Forma represents textile collections from Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and China.
By offering a range of high-end fabrics from around the world, the Maldonados hope to offer something for all their clients, large and small.
“A lot of people can’t work with China because of the volume, and a lot cannot work with Italy because of the price,” said Kevin.
The Maldonados point to another advantage to their wide range of collections. They can bring the world of international textiles to the domestic market.
“There are a lot of new companies, and for a new company it’s hard to travel to Paris and Milan,” said Kevin.
The Maldonados run a tight operation, with two employees in the Los Angeles office: Lucy Spriggs and Eric Bautiste. Last year they opened a New York office, which Kevin runs with two additional employees: 25-year sales veteran Michael O’Brian and Brian Marks. Heather heads up the Los Angeles office, located in a loft in the Old Bank District in downtown.
The bicoastal lifestyle dovetails nicely into the couple’s trade-show schedule, which includes Premiegrave;re Vision and Texworld in Paris, Milano Unica in Milan, and the PV Preview and Supima Premium Fabric Show in New York, as well as visits to existing and new customers at shows such as Fashion Coterie. In addition to new customers, the Maldonados are always on the hunt for new collections.
“We’re always looking for new companies that are suited to our market,” Heather said. “We’re always looking for new mills that are honest and can produce on time.”
As for what’s missing from their mix of mills, Heather noted, “It would be nice to work with a domestic mill.”
The New York office caters to many of the large bridge and designer labels such as Theory and Tahari, as well as high-end designer lines, said Kevin.
“L.A. is more casual. It’s more of a contemporary market,” he said.
The company’s fabrics run from wool suiting fabrics from Luigi Botto and Binicocchi to shirting fabrics from BTD and Tezyaparlar to premium and more-mainstream denims from Rudoni and Central Denim.
Minimum orders range from 100 meters for Campore’s woolen wovens up to 3,000 meters for cottons from Chinese mill Lucky or premium denim from Italian mill Rudoni.
Prices range from $3 per meter for some of Tezyaparlar’s shirting fabrics up to $60 per meter for some of Gierlings’ pile fabrics.
Philea, a French millthat produces coordinating knits, wovens and jacquard fabrics, was the Maldonados’ topselling mill last summer, according to Heather.
“It seems each year our top mill changes,” she said.
Sarti, an Italian producer of high-end knits and wovens, is among the most forward collections, Heather said, noting that Sarti fabrics have appeared in the collections of Isda, St. John, Nordstrom, Rock & Republic, Velvet, Trina Turk and Collection Bebe.
“If you want innovation and you are willing to pay for it, [Sarti is] really amazing,” Heather said.
Designer Trina Turk has been working with Studio Bert Forma since before the Maldonados took over. When she first launched her line and placed orders for small quantities, Forma was very accommodating, she recalled.
“He was really supportive—he got the mills to do the small orders,” she said.
As Turk’s business grew, so did her orders.
“It has shifted a little; now I have access to more resources,” she said. Although Turk now sources many of her fabrics at Premiegrave;re Vision, having a local resource allows her to manage her time at the Paris show more efficiently.
“It allows us at PV to explore new resources,” she said. “We don’t have to spend time seeing those resources we can see in L.A.”
Outside perspective
Back in 2003, when Bert Forma decided it was time to retire, Kevin was working toward a degree in economics at the University of California, Los Angeles. Heather was at Boston University studying international relations and political science with a focus on Middle East and European foreign-policy and security studies. Kevin began working for Forma as a consultant, helping the textile veteran update his database program. The two clicked, and Forma suggested Kevin take over the business after a long training program.
At first, Kevin declined, but after working with Forma for another year and a half, he reconsidered. “I decided I didn’t want to go into investment banking,” he recalled.
Forma’s plan for a long transition didn’t work out quite as planned. Kevin started in June 2003, and Heather started in October. “By Christmas that year, Bert said, ’I think you’re ready,’” Heather said.
“On March 1, 2004, we were scheduled to take over [the company]. On March 3, Bert passed away,” she said.
The two briefly considered changing the name of the company—Heather was lobbying for “SBF”—but ultimately they decided to retain the Studio Bert Forma name.
“It was [Bert’s] wish,” said Kevin. “There is name recognition—especially on the West Coast. The only advantage [to the new name] was to make it shorter or easier to remember.”
Four years later, the Maldonados see their fabrics hanging on the racks of stores such as Fred Segal, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. The next step for the company is to diversify its customer base to include labels such as J. Crew, Arden B. and BCBG Max Azria.
And while the Maldonados still see themselves as industry outsiders, they acknowledge that one of the rewards of working in the apparel industry is the chance to work with creative people.
“There’s always something new in this business,” said Kevin, whose outsiders’ perspective means he and his wife can retain an idealistic approach to the way they do business.
“For us, we try to focus on integrity and to do the right thing every time,” he said.
For more information about Studio Bert Forma, call (213) 625-3500 or visit www.studiobert.com.
Studio Bert Forma’s Lines(represented by the company’s West Coast showroom)
Italian millsBinicocchi: wovens, tweeds, raw-edge fabrications, meltons and woolsBistoffe: woven cottons with beautiful finishes and heavyweight woolsCampore: woven wools, cashmeres and blendsCocci Stefano: yarn-dyed cotton and blends for tops and bottomsFANS: fancy and simple knitsFurpila: knits and polarfleeceGartex: wovens, jacquards, velvets, twills and boucleacute;Luigi Botto: Fine, moretraditional wools and linensRudoni: premium denim and cotton shirtingsSarti: beautiful knits and wovens, haute couture and sweater fabricationsTBM: shirt-weight cottons, denim and cordurouysTextylia: trouser-weight, fashion-forward wool and blends
French mills
Carlier: silk and cotton prints and jacquardsPhilea: knits and wovens in corresponding prints, patterns and texturesReynaud Rexo: wovens and knits, taffetas, jacquards and warp prints
Spanish mills
Cadena: prints on silk, polyester and stretch cotton
Portuguese mills
Gierlings: faux furs, faux skins and velvets
Turkish mills
BTD: casual suiting fabrics in polyester/viscose and stretch, some cottons and woolsTezyaparlar: yarn-dyed and piece-dyed shirt-weight stretch cottons
Chinese/Hong Kong mills
Central Denim (Hong Kong): mainstream and premium denimLucky (China): cottons
