Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa will send an “Ambassador of Fashion” to join a veteran apparel industry executive in giving words of advice to winners at the upcoming 52nd Annual Scholarship Luncheon of the Textile Association of Los Angeles (TALA).
Cynthia Ruiz has served as the chairman of the city’s Department of Public Works (DPW) for the past three years, and more recently signed on as a co-chair of the Fashion Advisory Committee appointed by Villaraigosa as a way to help market the local trade. She has taken on an unofficial role as an “Ambassador of Fashion,” and is expected to give the city a boost as a center of the industry during her talk to the students, who will come from colleges throughout the region to receive honors for textile design.
Also expected to talk to the students is veteran fashion industry executive Harry R. Mandell, who most recently served as president of the Ed Hardy contemporary label.
Among the schools whose students will receive honors from TALA are three that operate campuses in the Downtown area: Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM), and Otis School of Fashion Design. Others include: the Art Institute of California-Hollywood, which is located in the Koreatown district west of Downtown; Cal State Los Angeles on the Eastside; Woodbury University in Burbank; the West Valley Occupational Center in Woodland Hills; and Fashion Careers College in San Diego.
The luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, November 19 in the Fashion Theatre of the California Market Center at 9th and Main Streets.
Tickets to the luncheon cost $75, and sponsorship opportunities are available. Call (213) 627-6173 for more information.
