Tohos
About Tohos
Southern California resident, 38 year old Karyn
Cortani recently gets patent on industry
revolutionizing “Notched Toe” pantyhose
called Tohos These hose are Not Toeless (at
first everyone thinks they are)! Tohos are THE
WORLD’S FIRST full-foot pantyhose designed to
make the legs, feet, and toes LOOK bare
while, in fact, being totally covered (and
enhanced) by nude sheer-toe hosiery
Karyn is presently negotiating with Nordstrom
and is sure many other high-end retailers will
be just as excited.
They retail for $12 a pair Karyn thought of
the design while trying on a 70’s-style dress
and platform thong sandals of her
sister’s She thought hose would complete the
look, but when she tried stuffing the
toe-portion of the pantyhose between her toes to
accommodate the sandals, they were uncomfortable
and the toes busted out She thought “Someone
should patent some full-foot, sheer-toe
stockings just for wear with thong sandals!”
Little did she know that years later, it would
be her! Back then, she put her ideas on the
shelf, worked a while, then went to college
where her entrepreneurial side emerged At
CSUC, she went to police auctions, bought cars
below
wholesale, and sold them to fund her living
& education.
Since getting her MA, she’s been a
race car driver, a bikini model, a radio
personality, and most recently, a freelance
writer for a national magazine Remembering the
dress incident years before (and watching the
fashion of the 70’s coming back), Karyn
decided she still wanted those pantyhose, as
thong sandals of all sorts again became “in”
and her love of elegant stockings would not quit
So she went to her seamstress, to ask if it was
possible to sew a pair of pantyhose that would
accommodate thong sandals Within a day my
seamstress handed me the first Tohos prototypes!
I was so excited I put them on right there; they
were beautiful! Before I knew it, all the
women in the shop formed a ring around me and
began saying “Wow, those are great!” and
“It’s about time someone thought of that,”
and “In all my years, I’ve never seen.
,” and “Girl, you better get a patent on
those!” Karyn got similar reactions at
many LA dance clubs and everywhere she
went Prior to those heady reactions, she just
wanted a few dozen pairs for herself, but after
receiving so much positive feed back she thought
even though, "I have no money, contacts or
business knowledge, I will reach for my dreams,
regardless”
Subsequently, she presented her idea cautiously
to anyone who would listen and who had the funds
to help her get a patent Everyone told her
what a great idea she had, but no one stepped up
to the venture capitalist plate.
Then, one of her bosses (Eric Tate)
said he’d take a couple dozen pairs home to a
weekend reunion to see what women in his family
had to say When he came back to work
Monday, he told Karyn what raves the prototypes
had drawn from his many female relatives
Combined with similar results on Karyn’s end,
they decided the idea was huge, and shook hands
on it “Eric was--and still is--the
perfect partner.
” says Karyn, “he had the beginning
capital, business experience, and the
trust/friendship factor I’d been searching
for” The patent was originally denied by the
PTO (United States patent and trademark office)
as being “Not Patentable” due to a similar
design that has been in use in Japan for socks
for thousands of years (“Tabi socks”) but a
revised second submission yielded sweet fruit in
Patent form
Karyn didn’t start out this sure of herself
Her young life was tainted by dysfunctional and
debasing poverty .
Karyn says of the hard times that they
were “Just hurdles on the course of life and,
clearing them on a daily basis only made me a
stronger contender!” You’d
think that the many hardships she’s
experienced would be a mixture conducive to
anything but creative genius and subsequent
business success Karyn, however, is inspiring
proof that anyone can do anything! You go ...
Site: www.tohos.com
Category: Retail Industry >
Clothing > Undergarments
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