Fusion Specialties is an American company and manufacturer of

mannequins A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. Pr ...

. Founded in

Huntington Beach, California Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

in 1986 by Jim Talaric and Jim Barber, the company pioneered new methods of manufacture using

polymer A polymer (; Greek '' poly-'', "many" + ''-mer'', "part") is a substance or material consisting of very large molecules called macromolecules, composed of many repeating subunits. Due to their broad spectrum of properties, both synthetic a ...

s (an urethane

elastomer An elastomer is a polymer with viscoelasticity (i.e. both viscosity and elasticity) and with weak intermolecular forces, generally low Young's modulus and high failure strain compared with other materials. The term, a portmanteau of ''elastic p ...

) rather than fiberglass, as well as the 2010s trend to begin having lines of fuller-figured and more natural body sizes. Talaric is considered a "trendsetter in manufacturing and durability" of mannequins, who followed in the footsteps of

Adel Rootstein Adel Rootstein (1930 – 20 September 1992) was a British mannequin designer responsible for premium designs that are sold worldwide. Early life Rootstein was born in Warmbaths, South Africa in 1930. She married the industrial designer Richar ...

, an earlier pioneer in mannequin manufacturing. Judy Townsend, a collector and broker of antique mannequins, has called Talaric "the Henry Ford" of mannequin manufacturing; while "Rootstein is the Rolls-Royce". The company won their first big retail client,

The Limited The Limited was an American clothing retailer that operated retail stores between the early 1960s and the late 2010s. After 2007, it became a brand, originally owned by the private equity firm Sun Capital Partners, now owned by another private equ ...

, in 1990. The company moved from California to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

in 1991, at a time that it employed 35 people. By 2006, the company was producing more than 50,000 mannequins per year, with 110 employees, and their clients included

Victoria's Secret Victoria's Secret is an American lingerie, clothing, and beauty retailer known for high visibility marketing and branding, starting with a popular catalog and followed by an annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed Angels. As the largest ret ...

Banana Republic In political science, the term banana republic describes a politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon the export of natural resources. In 1904, the American author O. Henry coined the term to describe Honduras and neighboring ...

REI Rei or REI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Rei, a story arc of the anime ''Higurashi When They Cry'' *Rei, a shapeshifting godlike dragon in the Australian webcomic series ''Vainglorious'' *Rei I, II and III, episodes of ''Neon Genesis Eva ...

, Chico's,

The Gap The Gap may refer to: Places Australia * The Gap, New South Wales, a locality near Wagga Wagga, New South Wales * The Gap, Northern Territory, a suburb of Alice Springs, Northern Territory * The Gap, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland ...

, and

Old Navy Old Navy is an American clothing and accessories retailing company owned by multinational corporation Gap Inc. It has corporate operations in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The largest of the Old Navy stores are its ...

. Retail industry DDI Magazine said that, "If they're not the largest n the industry they're certainly one of the largest." In 2007, the company was acquired by

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a ty ...

firm Blue Sage Capital of Austin, Texas. , the company makes a variety of custom-designed mannequins to fit the particular

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

product line Product may refer to: Business * Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem. * Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution Mathematics * Produ ...

s of designers and stores, a practice that has substantially reduced costs for large

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

s, as well as played a role in the industry changes that no longer require the specialty mannequin dresser job. It employs several fine-art trained artists as sculptors to make the many custom models they produce for various clothing product retailers. The company is currently owned by "Noa Brands Global, a holding company headquartered in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Spain." The company manufactures in China, Mexico and

Lafayette, Colorado The City of Lafayette () is a home rule municipality located in southeastern Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 24,453 at the 2010 United States Census. Geography Lafayette is located in southeastern Boulder Coun ...

References

Clothing companies of the United States Companies based in Boulder County, Colorado 1986 establishments in California Clothing companies established in 1986 American companies established in 1986 {{US-company-stub