Roseann Forde
"I met Lisa Mainardi in the mid ‘90s when we served on the Color Table of the International Fabric & Fashion exhibition. IFFE was a major trade show held at the Javits Center every spring and fall which drew fiber and textile innovators, garment manufacturers and retailers from all over the world. The committee created seasonal color and trend direction which we presented on the first day of the show. Lisa was the creative director of Cotton, Inc. and I was the creative director of DuPont Textile Fibers, which made us competitors. However, we worked well together and eventually became friends. When the committee head abruptly left, Lisa was chosen to take the lead—a rather daunting responsibility, especially for one so young. However, Lisa did not hesitate and proceeded to rename the group to the American Trend & Color Committee and she put together a committee made up of approximately twenty five of the leading color/trend professionals in the trade. Naturally, there were a lot of strong egos working in the same room, but under Lisa's leadership, the meetings were productive, informative and even fun with beautiful end results that were highly valued by the industry.
A few years later I watched Lisa take a small art show—INPRINTS NY and grow it into a major event called DIRECTION, which proved to be a smashing success from day one. It soon became the #1 textile design show in the United States. It was truly the talk of the entire garment center. She also went on a global search scouting for talent to lead seminars on lifestyle, art, cultural trends and even wellness. Lisa through her networking and brainstorming was on the cutting edge of trend and constantly adding new enhanced features to the show from galleries and giant displays to information centers on sustainability, digital printing and groundbreaking forums highlighting new textile, dye and fiber innovations. I had the honor of having my own space at DIRECTION and working with Lisa on color and trend forecasts and seminars each season. This event held each August, January and April proved to be extremely helpful to my business as I procured several prestigious new clients through same.
The evening before each show opening, all the exhibitors would bring their boards, banners, artwork, colors, prints, books, etc., to set up. So here we were—many of us in competing businesses—happily setting up our booths and enjoying the lovely spread of dinner and goodies Lisa would provide. She always went out of her way to make everyone feel welcome and at home and was great at connecting people to each other. The atmosphere was festive, congenial and even family like. After the show Lisa provided each exhibitor with a list of all visitors to the show with their contact information and details. This was truly unheard of for a trade show to do but Lisa really cared about the success of our businesses. In addition Lisa had students working as interns and receiving invaluable training and insight. She would hold student competitions, student displays and even housed students in their own booths in a show within the larger show. The experience with DIRECTION season after season is one I will always remember with appreciation and I credit Lisa for her vision, attention to detail and dedication."
— Roseann Forde
Color & Trend Forecaster/Consultant
Former Creative Director, Dupont