PAD Sets Up Shop in NYC

By  Kathleen DesMarteau

Taking a grass roots approach to marketing its solutions in New York's fashion district, Canada-based PAD System Technologies has brought on board designer Charles Ancona as a sales and marketing representative.

Ancona, who continues to run Ancona Design Corp., is leading the setup of a PAD office and pattern-making service bureau at 248 W. 35th St., co-located with Michael Calderone Inc., a pattern-making business that is transitioning from manual techniques to the use of CAD technology. PAD's global headquarters are in Montreal and its U.S. headquarters in Los Angeles.

Ancona, who is best known for his performance ski wear and stretch apparel, said he believes the use of CAD will enable him to increase his capture of new design ideas ten-fold (from four design ideas per week to 40), and to perfect complex designs before having costly patterns and samples made (patterns alone are running him $200 to $300 per style). CAD also is an essential ingredient in his launch plans for a custom apparel division. "It's going to allow me to explode," he said. "For years I've been taking ideas and shelving them for lack of time."

Prior to PAD's opening the new office, Ancona coordinated demonstrations of PAD's technology at the design headquarters of some of PAD's New York clientele, which includes Narciso Rodriguez and Castle Hill. While this type of on-site demonstration will likely continue, Ancona said he is looking forward to inviting potential PAD customers to visit the new office to see the software in action.