The Cupertino Courier

Business

Creator of Tohos puts her best foot forward

By Cody Kraatz

Feb. 16 was Karyn Cortani's lucky day.

She has been trying for four years to get her patented women's pantyhose--called Tohos--into stores. She has come close to deals with Macy's, QVC and Good Morning America to sell and promote the hose, which are unique because they have a notch next to the big toe where a sandal strap would go.

"I have been so close so many other times, but no cigar," she said.

Then she went to the Feb. 16 casting call for the PBS series Everyday Edisons at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center to pitch the product to a panel of judges.

She was one of 50 finalists selected from a pool of about 2,500 hopefuls, and after a thorough vetting by the show's lawyers to make sure she's not hiding anything, she expects she will get on the air.

"It was killer. I don't think I can ever remember having so much fun in one day," she said.

She discovered the concept when she wanted to wear platform thong sandals from the 1970s to a friend's wedding. Because it was a formal affair, she wanted to wear stockings, but they didn't work with the sandals.

She went to a seamstress when she couldn't find a product, and the woman sewed up something that resembled Japanese Tabi socks. When she tried them on in the shop, she realized there could be some demand.

"I had this ring of ladies around me wanting to know what I was trying on," she said. Although the seamstress prepared the first prototypes, it was Cortani, with a financial investment from a former employer, who went through the complicated patenting process.

When she's not promoting Tohos, Cortani works as a production assistant at KMVT in Mountain View, choosing show themes, finding interesting people to be guests and managing a crew. She recently moved to Sunnyvale from Southern California because her husband landed a local job.

Cortani was actually rejected at the casting call the first time she went before a five-member panel of judges from national retailers. She had two minutes to present Tohos, and then had to spend a half-hour in a "results room."

People tried to make conversation, but she was not in the mood as she watched for her name on a large screen to see if she was rejected or accepted.

"It was really tense," she said.

When she saw her name in the rejection list, she was dejected until she found out she could line up to try again before another panel of judges.

"I was about ready to cry. The wind went out of my sails," she said. But when she returned from her second trial and saw that she was approved, her energy returned. It had been a 12-hour day, starting with a half day of volunteering at the event.

She expects to know by the end of July whether she passed the show's lawyers' scrutiny and can go on the show.

For more information visit www.tohos.com or www.everydayedisons.com.