Frances Kozen
Supports the Apparel Industry

Fran Kozen, extension associate, supports the Apparel Industry Outreach Program. In this capacity she has organized workshops on CAD introduction for apparel manufacturers, conducted a survey of NYS apparel manufacturers, written and edited for the Topstitch Newsletter, and worked to develop the SmallBiz Website to improve access to Cornell resources for small business. She assisted with development of the Cutting Edge curriculum, particularly sourcing and testing of materials.

An area of interest to Ms. Kozen is youth science education as it relates to textiles and apparel. She is collaborating with Charlotte Coffman and Suzanne Loker to develop distance education resources and to design programs for expanding interest in visual digital imaging, making use of resources for apparel design, including the 3-D Body Scanner, and industry standard computer software Photoshop and Illustrator.

Ms. Kozen is the author of Fiber Facts , a Cornell Cooperative Extension publication describing properties, uses, and care of common apparel and home furnishing fabrics. She often responds to requests for textile information that come to the Department of Textiles and Apparel.

Some questions you might ask Fran Kozen:

• How do I go about sourcing materials for my apparel business?

• What small business resources might be most helpful to me in starting or growing a small soft goods business?