The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-02-01


York's most successful business
women, owes her bank account. her
three homes and international shops
and her $l5O,000 rating in Brad
streets to bridge--as played by other
women.
Thousands or American women
wear handmade lingerie because,
sixteen years ago, Louise Brown
was marooned in the Philippines in
q set Of bridge-paying women, and
could not get excited over a grand
slam.
During a trip to the islands &C.
casioned by her husbands business,
she found herself bored by the
tropics, the heat, the idle tourists,
the eternal bridge games in hotel
Hobbies. Wandering out in search
Of amusement, she stumbled on the
craft that proved gold mine for
her and revolutionized the lingerie
trade in America.
Found Her Big Chance
In the little huts, under the palm
trees. the native women were doing
the most exquisite handiwork, en-
broidering delicate traceries upon
coarse native cloth.
With that imaginative eye which
means success in business, she saw
those enbroideries transferred to
other materials, more desirable,
wrapped in tissue paper and dis
played on the tables of Fifth Ave.
shops.
She set out to realize the vision.
She studied the embroideries, had
samples made on materials she Sc
lected, and dreamed of a great
workshop in Manila, If America ac-
cepted her offering.
Mystif1ed by Stitches.
One nystifying aspect of the ma
tive handjwork was that the wom-
en- were using the exact stitches
and patterns which had made
French embroidery famous.
This curious fact was explained
when Mrs. Brown learned that the
Philippine women had first learned
their handicraft from a little band
Of French Nuns who had come to
the islands as missionaries, many
generations ago.
The priced stitches and designs
had been handed down as heir
looms from mother to daughter,
without the slightest variation, so
that the Philippine wares were
scarcely distinguishable from the
best French convent work.
Need Supervision
II found out" says Mrs. Brown,
that all the workers needed was
supervision. l personally bought
all materials and inspected the de-
signs. bringing the garments up to
European standards before l APP
preached the American market"
The first trip back to New York
was q time of tremulous hopes and
fears for Mrs. Brown. But the fears
were needless. America instantly
approved her wares, and she found
buyers waiting on her doorstep for
shipments.
She returned to Manila, and began
quantity manufacture, continually
increasing her trade until embroidery
became the fifth ranking industry of
the Philippines.
Cut-throat competition during the
war threatened the entire industry,
but it weathered the storm. Today.
10000 natives look to Mrs. Brown
for livelihood. Her initiative has
brought clothes and food to Philip.
pine families and schools for the
children.
Wins With Work
Today, her models are designed in
France, embroidered in Manila, on
material from the United States. Her
business has grown so rapidly that
she now spends most of her time
travelling between New York and
Paris and Manila. in each Of which !
cites she maintains a home. Her
son and daughter are in school near
New York
You can't go into business for
amusement and succeed she says.
1T requires constant work and
thought. / watch every detail of my
business. designing new models, OBJ
serving the American market, trying
to keep ahead of the fashion.
Is In the meantime, have found op.
portunities to chum with my son
and daughter, to dabble with sculp-
ture and to follow several sports.
But during business hours, you'll
find me in my office, working as hard
as the least sub-typist in my corps.
And bridge? Now that / have
more substantial occupation for the
daytime, / have learned to love it.
and to hold my own, even in frequent
games with such an expert as Eliza
beth Hanna"
Mrs. Alvin Edward Newman, will
entertain the Alpha Iota Latreian
Club this afternoon at her home, S406
Brookside Parkway, north drive.
Mrs Robert Manifold will be assist