Major fabric manufacturer relocates to Cape Coral
A major fabric manufacturer has moved its local office to Cape Coral from downtown Fort Myers.
Prismatek International, a European fabric manufacturer offering trade fabrics to major manufacturers, will have a grand opening at its new Cape location at 4804 Cape Coral Street on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 2 to 4 p.m.
The main events will be its first-ever warehouse sale and the fifth annual StellaPINK Fashion Show, which was organized by a12-year-old fashion designer from Cape Coral.
Prismatek, family owned by Dieter and Anke Konvek, is an exclusive distributor and offers a full line of European fabrics and lighting through a network of sales reps and showrooms to the hospitality and high-end residential market in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.
Among its clients are MGM Grand, Hilton, Disney Resorts, Caeser’s Palace, Wynn Resorts and more.
The company opened its fabric business in 1989 in Palmdale and moved to Fort Myers three years ago when the Konveks bought it, who then merged their lighting business, which was started in Cape Coral in 2007 before moving it to Fort Myers, merging with the fabrics division, and moving back to Cape Coral.
“Our products are sold purely to the trade with three customer groups, interior designers, furniture architecture, and retailers,” Konvek said.
As for the fashion show, it came about when Prismatek contacted Savannah Harmon, a student at Oasis Middle School and the founder of StellaPINK, if she wanted to hold a fashion show for the grand opening.
“We’re using all their fabrics to make all kinds of stuff. They donated the fabric so they let her come in and pick whatever she wanted,” said Stacey Harmon, Savannah’s mom. “She was like a kid in a candy store. She was like ‘I don’t know, hand me stuff.'”
StellaPINK, a website that was launched in 2010 to give advice to girls so they have more confidence when it comes to “fashion, friendship and fun,” was also started to bring awareness to breast cancer, is named after a cartoon character Savannah and her mother created in hopes of making a TV show.
“I had a big passion for fashion and I felt I could make more friends and find more common interests in all of us,” Savannah said. “The group I was in became best friends.”
Savannah, then 8, held her first fashion show to help spread awareness of breast cancer. It was a natural for her to hold her shows in October, since it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and its official color of pink matched the company name.
Since then, she has had numerous hits on her website and donations to breast cancer research have exceeded $1,200. Her fashion shows, which have featured everything from everyday fabrics to duct tape, have also given young girls the opportunity to model for the first time. More than a dozen will take part this time.
After the show, Savannah said she is going to put the website on the back burner so she can concentrate on school, sports and becoming a normal teenager.
This event is free and open to the public. There will be a raffle and pink lemonade and pink champagne will be served. Donations will be accepted.
Savannah has been recognized in magazines and newspapers, and has been featured on Fox 4 Rising and Morning Blend for her fashion designs and a belt she invented with plastic slots to fill with personal pictures called the BFF belts.
Following the duct tape show, Savannah was invited by the Sidney Berne Davis Art Center to be among the finest designers in Southwest Florida and walk the stage at Art Walks the Runway held every December.
She said she hopes to get on “Project Runway” one day and show Heidi Klum a thing or two, provided she could still play volleyball.
“It would be cool, but that’s a little overwhelming. She’s just trying to build a foundation, then hopefully she’ll have something to pull out of her pocket,” Stacey said. “She has always had a knack for it.”