(Filed Under wholesale Hosiery News). Launched in August 2013, hosiery producer Vanea is a successor company to Z International, which closed in 2013. The new firm has been growing steadily and will exhibit at Magic in August.

Israel Dieguez, who now runs Vanea, started at Z International in 2000. “I learned the business side by side with my mentor Joanna Lee (Z’s president),” he wrote in an email note to BODY. “I learned the in’s and out’s of the hosiery industry, and ran her operations for 12 years until, sadly, she passed away late 2011. While there was uncertainty with the future for Z, I took the reins and successfully kept the company working for almost two years. I then decided to purchase the inventory, retain the employees and start my own company, Vanea LLC.”

Dieguez named the company “in honor of my late wife, Vanessa, who also passed away early 2011. Vane was her nick name. The logo is also a nod to her. The name Vanessa means butterfly, the flower petals were added because she was an amazing florist. Vanessa made me the man I am today and I wanted to pay tribute to her.” He emphasized that the “passion and drive, both Joanna and Vanessa instilled in me” helped him overcome the challenges of starting the new firm.

His sister Elvy Dieguez also now works at Vanea as production manager.

Today the firm sells hosiery, “bodysuits/ body stockings, t-shirts, accessories like leg and arm warmers, footies, shoe and sandal support pads.” Customers include “Brooklyn Industries, A&E stores, The Sock man, Gypsy Warrior, Wicked Orleans, Bra*Tenders and other local costume designers for Broadway plays. We also sell to local and nationwide boutiques. We do a fair mix of private label, and Vanea branded items.” He added that the company sometimes uses the Z International brand. “We’re working on regaining relationships with some of the larger retailers we worked with before as Z International.”

On its website the firm displays 164 products, ranging in retail price from $7 for an arm warmer, to $8 for anklets, to knee-highs from $9 to $13, to tights from $9 to $18.

Asked what sets his firm apart, Dieguez noted Vanea offers a wide range of services “including private label packaging, fast shipping, local delivery, in house manufacturing capabilities. We offer a vast variety of styles and sizes that can meet any demographic market, from the wall street broker looking for sophisticated sheers to the young teen style diva who just wants to stand out.”

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Published 07-09-2015 by Nick Monjo