Dana Dartez has sold her 50% stake in the 26 Red Sugar junior’s apparel company she founded to become head designer for the Roxy brand at Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc.
Dartez, 34, president and designer of 26Red Sugar, which she began in 1996, sold her stake for an undisclosed sum to Azita Manufacturing, Irvine, which already held the other half of the firm.
26 Red Sugar, an offshoot of the 26 Red men’s surfwear company where Dartez formerly worked, employs approximately 20 people.
Jay Mohseni, president of Azita Manufacturing, says he was sorry to see Dartez leave.
“Dana has put together a strong design team for Sugar and they will continue to execute her vision until we find a suitable replacement.”
Dartez moves into a position at Quiksilver being vacated by Lissa Zwalen, who was promoted to vice president of design for the Roxy line, vacant since the departure of Adrienne Ernst in October. Ernst left for a position as senior vice president of design and product development at retailer The Wet Seal Inc. in Foothill Ranch.
Her move to Quiksilver was in part because Dartez wanted to work under the structure of a major corporation where she already has many friends, she said.
“It’s a dream that was too good to come true,” she said.
Dartez, who got her start in the fashion industry as a sales representative in Texas for the Stussy brand, was one of seven nominees for the 1998 Rising Star Award at the CaliforniaMart’s Designer of the Year gala in Beverly Hills.
Dartez leaves 26 Red Sugar with designs that will carry them through the first three quarters of 2000.
