TEXTILES

Textile and Apparel Representative Ida Myers, 88

photo

Ida Myers

Longtime textile and apparel sales representative Ida Myers died on Sept. 25. She was 88.

Born in Rochester, N.Y., Myers and her family moved to Phoenix before settling in Los Angeles’ Boyle Heights neighborhood when Myers was in her teens.

Myers spent more than six decades in the apparel industry, working as a sales representative for apparel, buttons, textiles and trim before she retired in 2007.

She got her start in her 20s, selling ready-to-wear, following in the footsteps of her older brother, Harry Bell, who already worked in the industry. Apparel became a family business. Her grandson Chris Myers ran a multi-line showroom in the California Market Center for many years before joining Los Angeles brand XCVI Inc. as director of business development.

“Ida had offices all over the CalMart [now called the California Market Center] as well as the neighboring buildings,” her grandson recalled. “There wasn’t any part of a garment she didn’t sell.”

Known for her bubbly personality and bright red hair, Myers would book an appointment with stylist Connie Moran at Hair Etcetera on the CMC’s second floor and then walk across the hall to the Extra Secretary to say hello to owner Barbara Kaplan, who said Myers was the Auntie Mame of the building.

“She lit up the room,” Kaplan said. “I never saw her sad—or quiet.”

Kaplan described Myers as clever, warm, honest and generous.

“She would befriend everybody walking into the building,” she said. “She would bring them by and say, ‘Look what’s here!’”

A fan of film and television, Myers also worked as a wardrobe consultant to several actors and on entertainment projects, her grandson said.

She also worked in sales for the Beverly Hills Times Magazine and supported several charities, in particular, the Thailans Mental Health Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Myers is survived by three sons, seven grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.

A life-celebration service will be held in Los Angeles on Oct 18. For details, contact Chris Myers at chris@chrismyers.org or call (213) 840-1161.