Lionel Fuhrman

For more than three decades, Lionel Fuhrman made a career as a fabric and clothing designer in New York City and Italy. Following his graduation from the Philadelphia Textile Institute, now Philadelphia University, Lionel Fuhrman accepted a position with Pearl Embroidery, helping clothing manufacturers through the process of textile selection. Lionel Fuhrman saw to it that fabrics were processed to order, overseeing all dyeing and embroidery. He then returned the fabrics to the manufacturers for use in clothing production.

After two years of hands-on experience, Lionel Fuhrman left Pearl Embroidery to start Screen Techs, a company that offered silk-screening services to clothing manufacturers in Philadelphia and environs. Screen Techs' quick success and rapid growth propelled Lionel Fuhrman to reestablish headquarters in New York City's fabled garment district. Fuhrman partnered with another provider of silk-screening and finishing services for five years, until a fellow graduate of Philadelphia Textile Institute showed him a new, improved method to process fabric prints. Fuhrman was able to translate the technique into prints of such quality that they could have been mistaken for Pucci, the high-fashion Italian designer. This fortunate turn of events convinced Lionel Fuhrman to launch a company that created finished separates as well as printed fabrics.

The fabrics' resemblance to Pucci prints and the quality of Lionel Fuhrman's clothing captured the attention of an Italian manufacturer, who offered Fuhrman a job in New York. Fuhrman accepted the position, which entailed oversight of a line of clothing manufactured in Philadelphia from fabrics produced in Italy.

Close on the heels of this venture, another Italian manufacturer made Fuhrman an irresistible proposition: a full partnership with all production costs underwritten, provided Fuhrman relocate to Italy. Together, they formed Artemis, an upscale Italian-made line of dresses and sportswear. Fuhrman supervised every phase of fabric production in Como and clothing assembly in Carpi, Italy.

A near-fatal car crash cut short Fuhrman's Italian venture, and he was unable to work for two years. He returned to New York and eventually co-founded Wishful Thinking, a silk-screened t-shirt company. Now retired, Fuhrman resides in New York City.