Cole Names New President

Cole of California, the Los Angeles-based swimwear maker, has named George Green as president. He replaces Maurice Newman, who resigned Nov. 1 to become president of the Puritan division of Calvin Klein Industries and executive vice president of Calvin Klein Industries.

Green, 53, was formerly an executive with Catalina, another swimwear company. Both Cole and Catalina are part of Kayser-Roth Apparel, which in September became a division of Santa Monica-based Wickes Cos. as part of its $1-billion purchase of Gulf & Western’s consumer and industrial products group.

This is Green’s second tour of duty with Cole, where he worked from 1961 to 1969 before leaving to start his own swimwear company, Poppy Inc. After selling that business to Lanz, Green moved to Catalina as senior vice president in 1983.

Cole, which also makes sportswear, has such labels as Cole of California, Cole Juniors, the Anne Cole Collection and Adrienne Vittadini. It has more than 1,000 employees and an estimated $50 million in annual sales.