Missouri textile and fashion experts instrumental in building Salvadoran apparel industry

Stars Design Group

CEO Bret Schnitker and chief strategy officer (CSO) Emily Lane joined a delegation of textile and apparel experts invited to El Salvador to advise Salvadoran counterparts on marketing strategies, developing business opportunities, supply chain efficiencies and sourcing in the CAFTA region.

SAINT LOUIS, Mo — Stars Design Group, a global fashion design & production house based  in Saint Louis, Missouri, is providing support to the U.S. government Commercial Law  Development Program (CLDP) in El Salvador.  

In February, 2020, CEO Bret Schnitker and chief strategy officer (CSO) Emily Lane joined a  delegation of textile and apparel experts invited to El Salvador to advise Salvadoran  counterparts on marketing strategies, developing business opportunities, supply chain  efficiencies and sourcing in the CAFTA region.  

The work supports the CLDP Textile Competitiveness Program, designed to assist the  Salvadoran textile industry with integration into U.S. commerce, and global competitiveness. 

Other Missouri representatives in the delegation included Mary Ruppert-Stroescu, Sam Fox  School of Design and Visual Arts; Jon Elmuccio, Evolution St. Louis; and Jung Ha-Brookshire,  Department of Textile and Apparel Management at the University of Missouri.  

Ha-Brookshire has been instrumental in developing El Salvador’s first five-year textile and  apparel management curriculum at the Catholic University of El Salvador (UNICAES). 

Schnitker and Lane have become actively involved in the Textile Competitiveness program,  developing Business Threads, an apparel industry podcast distributed through the CLDP to  professionals in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala; teaching multiple virtual professional  development courses; and providing ongoing support and consulting to Salvadoran textile  companies.  

Siobhan Siaca, CLDP Attorney-Advisor, praised Schnitker and Lane’s work saying Their rich  experiences in the textile & apparel industry, coupled with their diligent work ethic and  innovative approach to problem solving make them an exceptional team that consistently  create high quality, effective tools for their clients.” 

Interviews with Stars Design Group leadership and images of the delegation in El Salvador are  available upon request.  

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About Stars Design Group 

Stars Design Group is a global fashion design & production house based in Saint Louis,  Missouri, with offices in the USA and India. Stars Design  Group combines technology with talent to develop innovative apparel programs from design to  delivery for retailers and brands in need of an infrastructure of highly experienced personnel.