Zalemarks Holding Company Chairman Emeritus featured cover of Opportunist Magazine

LOS ANGELES - Nov. 29, 2013 - PRLog -- For Immeadiate Release- Los Angeles, CA

Steven Zale is what some might call a visionary. Known for his cutting-edge jewelry designs that push the envelope, he prides himself on discovering opportunities and untapped markets that others might easily overlook. He was the first designer to pair black and white diamonds, a move for which he says he was widely criticized. “I decided I was going to do something kind of daring, so I decided to put black diamonds and white diamonds together in jewelry,” he explains. “I came up with some designs and was interviewed by many industry magazines that said I was probably the worst designer they ever met and that I had no future. Everyone at the time thought the idea of putting black and white together was ridiculous and that I was devaluing the piece because white diamonds are high quality and very expensive and black diamonds are lesser quality and less expensive. They thought I was out of my mind, but I liked the stark contrast—it was my vision—and I would put it in 18 carat gold with an expensive mounting.”

Zale says the industry eventually caught on. “All the big Indian companies started manufacturing this, and once the trend caught on everybody jumped on the bandwagon. I went from moron to visionary. Or I would say inept designer to visionary—but the visionary doesn’t make the money.”

Opportunist:  You are known for creating designs that “make a statement.” Can you tell us a little about your design process?

Steven Zale: I had a talent to articulate designs that captured the brand image by not using basic methodology and pushed the envelope, so to speak, to make designs more daring and cutting edge. Those designs were then able to stand on their own concept and capture the consumer’s attention and were well received.

Opportunist: Please tell us about your various products and brands, including your celebrity-endorsed collections.

Steven Zale: I have worked with such designers as the famous Red Carpet designers Badgley Mischka, and developed bridal and fashion couture lines. It was gorgeous, very couture and upscale, and it appeared on runways in New York and Los Angeles. We promoted the brand all over the world. It wasn’t the most successful of business ventures but it was one of the most exquisitely executed examples of how to take wedding dress designs and articulate them into a beautifully executed jewelry design—from package to quality of merchandise—while upholding every aspect of a brand’s integrity.
AdditionalIy, we created the brand Demeter^® in association with supermodel Rachel Hunter. Rachel is not only a jewelry collector but we shared a vision on what this beautiful diamond and colored stone in 18 carat should look like. So we built it and sold it and it was very successful. It was sold at Nordstrom and a lot of high-end retailers and we even took it to TV and it became a label into its own brand. People said it was too expensive and it wouldn’t sell but I believe people will pay more to have better quality and that is the customer base we found.

We also have a brand called Legend of the Dragon with martial arts film star Don ‘The Dragon’ Wilson. Additionally, wecreated two brands with the Hearst Corp: Seventeen^®,inconjunction with Seventeen magazine and targeted to the teen market, and the ESQ^® brand. For Seventeen^®, I designed a junior girls’ line.  The idea with ESQ^® was to take a men’s magazine and design women’s jewelry for it. Nobody knew that a lot of women read men’s magazines. I wanted to come up with a different, creative way to market it.

.Opportunist: Can you tell us about some of your new designs?

Steven Zale: We are launching an infinity necklace brand. This is a beautiful, all natural necklace made of pearls and beads that stretch. It can be worn as a necklace, a bracelet or even a belt—and it returns back to its original shape. It’s a very unique fashion accessory. It was invented by a woman fashionistia I have great respect for, Scotti who came to me after she had received lots of interest from other home shopping type networks.  She liked that we could launch it ourselves and so here we are.

Opportunist: Are any other joint ventures in the works?

Steven Zale: In reference to the distribution, Zalemark has created CompraLuxTV Home Shopping Network. It is a distribution channel to bring to the consumer brands of quality at great pricing with outstanding customer service.  We have focused on the exploding Hispanic consumer and will migrate into English under the Lux TV brand.

Opportunist: Please tell us more.

Steven Zale: CompraLux was one of the ideas we came up with after seeing the opportunity to take products directly to the consumer. We looked at all the different markets, which are very saturated by QVC and HSN and identified the fastest growing emerging market, which is the Hispanic market. It is growing by leaps and bounds, so we figured why not bring our designers and great quality and great customer service to a market that has been very severely underserved. So, over the past 24 months we have been developing this concept. One of our shareholders funded this project to get it started, and we are now on the air and reaching over 18 million households.

Opportunist: Are the shows only in Spanish?

Steven Zale: Yes, the CompraLux shows are in Spanish and we are developing similar shows under our LuxTV brand in English. We are going all over South America and Mexico as well. There were several attempts at the Hispanic market but we did our homework very methodically and grew to know the customer and the social implications about gaining their trust. You cannot market the same to them as you do to other groups. You must prove yourself first, and once you do they become loyal, excellent customers.

Opportunist: Is there anything you would like to tell potential shareholders?

Steven Zale: Zalemark has an amazing, dedicated team that perseveres to make Zalemark a global company. We have put a lot of our own capital and sweat equity into Zalemark and it is now paying off.  Last week CompraLuxTV went on the air to over 18 million households, and we are working on more distribution deals to increase that reach many times over. Our shareholders have supported us and carried us through our R&D period and, for that loyalty, we want them to see the stock soar.

Opportunist: What else is on the horizon for 2014?

Steven Zale: We will launch brands that are now ready for market, including our Patricia Rose^™ Hollywood Retro Collection, which is a collection based on Hollywood retro designs that were co-designed by Patricia Ferri and me over the last two years. We have finished all the designs and the photography and we plan to launch in the beginning of 2014. Everyone who has previewed this brand thinks it’s the most amazing thing they have ever seen. It’s very cutting edge with a Hollywood retro yet modern flair to it.