……………..Some of you may know that for my last [didn’t know that at the time] spring Linea collection I was planning to do a lemon print group. Many ask where did the inspiration come from…..This time the answer was simple…..Chantal, her husband Mike and their two teenage children were going to Italy on vacation. I gave Chantal Linea summer samples to bring plus lots of accessories [all of the Roman coin jewelry]. I knew that in Venice, Rome and Positano women dressed, not formally, but in beautiful resort clothes, and Chantal would need them. When she returned she brought me presents with a lemon theme…..soaps…and a place mat were two of them……Then I remembered on one of the trips Jac and I took to Positano she bought her mother a short sleeve cotton tee shirt with a botanical print of lemons on it [above]. Did I still have it? I did! An idea was born. I had the place mat print reproduced with some changes. I enlarged it and had the names changed to towns I had visited along the Amalfi coast. Then I had the tee shirt print reproduced. I designed a two tiered pull-on short skirt in a very light weight cotton with stretch and lined the skirt in a very light cotton batiste so it was light and cool. I also designed a pair of zip front Capri pants in the same cotton…..The tee went with both bottoms, or everything could be worn on its’ own…..The samples were made and I have them, but alas QVC dropped the line and never bought the Lemon pieces…….Later on in the year it surprised me to see lemon prints and themes popping up on several lines????!!!!! Had they all gone to Positano? LOL….The next time Chantal goes to Italy she can borrow them!
