Verena

The lace that graces Verena Designs lingerie and loungewear seems as if it was spun out of the clouds themselves. But, bringing these handmade, one-of-a-kind creations to life requires a labor of love that is unmatched anywhere in the world. This venise or guipure lace begins, quite literally, on Verena's drawing board. There she designs the complex and intricate shapes and patterns that have become the Verena Designs trademark. Taking advantage of modern textile equipment, these individual patterns are embroidered onto a cloth backing, creating an attractive three-dimensional profile that begs to be touched. Then, the backing is disintegrated away, creating lace without mesh (guipure) in French. Originally, this was accomplished with chemicals; today, the cloth is "melted away" using a water-based method. Then, the skills that no machine can learn take over the process. Verena's hand-picked and specially trained team of modern-day craftswomen turn these small lace pieces into stunning collages of lacework hand-cutting and sewing as many as a dozen individual sections into a seamless work of art, and marrying them to Verena's full line of sleepwear.