Ilse Metchek — California Fashion Association

President

THE LATEST: Metchek’s nonprofit California Fashion Association last year expanded its membership to include manufacturers that sew cloth masks and gowns. It also partnered with Black Design Collective to develop seminars aimed at helping Black designers, retailers and manufacturers build viable businesses and where industry experts provided insights about apparel merchandising, technology, marketing, social media and distribution.
BACKGROUND: Metchek, a native of Frankfurt, Germany, created the nonprofit California Fashion Association in 1995 in conjunction with the region’s major apparel manufacturers and representatives of the finance sector and other industries. She previously served as executive director of the California Market Center, a 1.8-million-square-foot complex in the Fashion District that includes showrooms and creative offices. Metchek also worked as president of clothing brand White Stag Inc. while it was a division of garment manufacturer Warnaco Group Inc. She is a board member of the Fashion Industries Guild of Cedars-Sinai.
YEARS ON THE LA500: 6
Return to the 2021 edition of the LA500.