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Meet the Designer: Jane Scott Hodges More Than Thread Count: Start digging through the attic - Grandma's monogrammed sheets just got a whole lot cooler  Image courtesy Leontine Linens There's something undeniably romantic about monograms. Seeing your initials entwined with those of your intended's on bedding, bath towels and dinner napkins is both a confirmation of your wedding vows and an important first step in setting up a new household and establishing your independence. "It's an incredibly personal thing," says Jane Scott Hodges, owner of Georgetown, Ky.-based Leontine Linens. "It's something you choose that reflects your personality, and is made for you and only for you." Years ago, there were many made-to-order linens companies, many of which were headquartered in New England or the Southeast. In recent years, however, with the decline of the domestic textiles industry, monograms have become more of a rarefied business. Hodges, however would like to change that. Back in the late 1990s, she and her husband, Philip, took over a struggling linens company and began reintroducing women to the pleasures of personalized linens. "It's not staid and it's not necessarily what your grandmother had, though you can certainly have that if you want," Hodges says. "There's a lot of room for self expression." HOMESTYLE: Over the last decade, you have revived a business that almost disappeared in this country. How did you get started? JANE SCOTT HODGES: It began after I got engaged to my husband. This was in the early 1990s. I started trying to put my trousseau together and found that I wasn't having much luck finding beautiful pieces. I was living in New Orleans then, but I'm from Kentucky. Anyway, the year before I got married, I went back to Kentucky and ended up finding this historic company in a small town two hours south of Lexington that was doing really beautiful made-to-order work. HS: How old is the company? JSH: It was founded in the 1920s by this amazing person, Eleanor Beard. She was a woman in the area who was married to a man who owned a lot of farmland that he rented out to different tenants. One of the tenants used to pay his rent in wool and Eleanor decided to find a way to use it. So she crafted some pieces and sent them up to New York. That was the beginning of what ultimately became a fairly big business. During the Depression, she employed over a thousand women. HS: She had a factory that employed a thousand women? JSH: No, it was mainly a cottage-based industry. Rural Kentucky has a tradition of quilting and sewing. It's almost like the Murano district of Venice where everyone makes glass in their homes. Women would pick up the fabric, take it home, quilt it to Eleanor's specifications and return it for cash money, which was difficult to come by in the Depression. She also had a small studio where people worked. HS: What did they make? JSH: Everything - quilts, bedding, towels, napkins, nightgowns, baby layettes, accessories. And the work was just beautiful. By the time I found them, however, they had kind of fallen on hard times. The quality was still excellent but the women who were running the company - Mrs. Beard died many years ago - didn't really know how to market the product or get it out into the world. After I got married, I acted as their rep in New Orleans for a while. It was just something I did on the side to make money. It wasn't enough to save them, however, and they finally announced they were going to close. I flew up basically to say goodbye and at the last minute they asked me if I would consider taking over the company. At first I said no, but after I talked it over with my husband, Philip, I changed my mind. HS: Why? JSH: It just seemed like a great fit. I know the product, I know marketing and advertising and I know Kentucky. We moved back here in 2002, bought an old house not too far from my parents and have been doing this ever since. HS: Is everything still made in Kentucky? JSH: Absolutely. We have a studio with about 25 sewers. Some of them have been working for the company for over 50 years. HS: Have you updated the line? JSH: The heart of the business is still monograms and borders, some of which are new and some of which are re-interpreted versions of traditional styles. We've also introduced a lot of different colors. You can order our linens in over 150 different colors. HS: How are the linens sold? JSH: We have one store in New Orleans on Magazine Street but we're mainly a home-based company. We have sales reps in five cities - New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles - and they literally go into people's homes and talk to them and find out what they need and put together orders. We also do trunk shows in different cities and have a Web site - leontinelinens.com - that allows customers to view all the different styles and colors and provides contact information. HS: It all sounds expensive - is it? JSH: I would describe it as fair. We have a nice entry-level price point and it goes up from there. A king size coverlet, for example, is about $400. HS: What are the fabrics? JSH: Mainly Egyptian cotton and a few cashmere items. HS: What's the hardest part of your job? JSH: I basically got into this without knowing where it would go. My husband, who has a business background, probably understood it better than I did. I'm the sales girl, the product girl. I'm not the MBA behind a desk. It's not my talent. You have to understand what you can and can't do. HS: Do you miss New Orleans? JSH: Sometimes. We still spend time there because of the store. But you can't replicate a New Orleans life in Kentucky. Our life today is 180 degrees from what it was when we lived there. But I wouldn't change a thing. |
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