Scalamandré’s timeless trims, tassels, and tiebacks weave a legacy whose fine silk thread runs through the world’s most famous and fabulous homes. From frilly French fringes to bold beaded braids, we revel in the romance and see history in the making, one stitch at a time.
Scalamandré’s history is as rich and intricate as a floral-shaped curtain tieback. The company has been making luxury trims, fabrics, and wallpapers for designers, preservationists, and architects ever since its founder, Franco Scalamandré, set up shop in this block-long factory in 1929. The family-owned company, with factories around the globe, also makes vintage reproductions for virtually every historic house in America, including the White House.
Above left: Scalamandré’s rose-petal-soft silk skeins come in all colors of the rainbow and are transformed into trims and braids. Above right: A handmade mold fringe adorned along the top with fancy festoons of cords is a Scalamandré classic. The circa 1805 design was used on window treatments at Gore Place, a historic house in Waltham, Massachusetts.
In Cord Alley, a late nineteenth-century hand cord twisting wheel, which looks like a giant lollipop, spins yarns into ropes that form the basis for many Scalamandré trims.
Above left: A woman in the trim department delicately ties tiny tassels onto a handwoven-silk scalloped loop fringe. Above right: A Tulip double tieback and Hampton Court tieback embellish draperies.
Hand-lathed wooden molds, opposite below, are hand-wrapped in silk, then transformed into tassels.
Text Nancy A. Ruhling
Photography Kate Sears
To learn more about Scalamandré, see “All the Trimmings: The Poetry of Passementerie” on page 82 of the September/October 2008 issue of Victoria.
