Discovered Laces Grace Nostalgic Lingerie
If Diane Samandi cared solely about function, she would probably still be designing junior blouses.
As it is, she’s immersed in the kind of nostalgic negligees she labels “entrance makers”--not sleep gear.
She’s also savoring what could be her least practical designs to date: a limited collection of delicate peignoirs she created from antique, re-embroidered French laces.
Earlier this year, Samandi, who co-owns the Santa Monica-based Jonquil lingerie firm with her husband, Iraj, discovered the laces, which were made during the 1920s and 1930s in Calais and Lyon. She was invited by a failing New York lingerie firm to see the laces, which it had been storing for decades.
Bought on the Spot
“They were all packed in boxes and wrapped in tissue, in perfect condition,” says Samandi, 32. “I had other appointments that day, but I never left until late that night.” She says she bought half the laces on the spot for $3,000--and the rest the next day.
The result is a group of 25 peignoir sets, priced $550 to $1,050, which she designed for Neiman-Marcus, Beverly Hills. The designer made an appearance there recently.
The negligees range from Victorian innocent to sleekly modern. But the overriding inspiration, she says, were memories of a great aunt who once lived with her family in Sherman Oaks. The woman was a silent-movie actress, whose Hollywood memorabilia intrigued the future designer.
“She had beautiful negligees that I used to look at in her drawers. She gave me some of those pieces when I was 10. I used to love to dress up in them,” Samandi recalls.
“This lace seemed like the perfect medium for that kind of Old Hollywood glamour.”
The limited collection includes no more than three pieces in each style--nothing in quantity.
Samandi says both the machinery and handwork required for these rare laces no longer exists. “Lace is made in a much coarser way these days. It’s much more mechanical.
“This is a lost art.”
Romantic Clothing
Samandi has long been drawn to romantic clothing. While attending high school in the San Fernando Valley, she worked in a boutique that specialized in antique laces. She later studied design at L.A. Trade Tech and briefly worked for a blouse firm before deciding to indulge her lingerie fantasy.
Worked at Home
She moved back in with her parents, turning their dining room into a work area, until Jonquil took hold. Her regular Jonquil line, sold in stores nationwide, is priced from $150 to $700.
Samandi regards the limited collection as a one-time excursion into past glamour. No telling when the next call, from nowhere, will arrive with news of someone’s treasured lace stash for sale.
Until then, she says: “I’m just about out of lace.”
