Vera Neumann Vintage Scarf – Vintage Clothing Score!

Posted by admin on April 17, 2010

One of the most famous designer names in vintage scarves is the woman known as Vera, who is Vera Neumann.  Vera’s scarves are highly sought after until this day, and they are strikingly beautiful. 

In 1946 Vera began to design, along with her hubby George Neumann under the company they founded together, Printex. Printex used a silk-screen process to get Vera’s designs onto the fabric.  Their first item they marketed was linen place mats.

After WWII, silk was available at cheap prices due to the fact that there was a surplus of it since it was what was used for parachutes during the war.  Vera and George began to buy the silk, and produce scarves from their tiny apartment in New York.

Vera appeared on their items, making it iconic and somewhat a status symbol.  The company grew and did leave the loft apartment for a larger facility that housed the design studio and factory.

In the heyday, as many as 600 designs were created by Vera and her staff of designers.  Bold colors in florals and geometric prints were common and they loved polka dots!  If it wasn’t bold colored, it was most likely black and white.

In the 60’s, clothing came into the line as well as linens for the home.   The now famous Perry Ellis worked for Vera in the early 70’s as a merchandise manager turned designer.  In 1976 Vera awarded Perry Ellis with his own division in the company, Portfolio.  The remained there for 3 years until he left to start his own company.  Who knew!

In the later years, Vera sold the company to a large manufacturing company called Manhattan Industries.  She continued to work there, even after George died.

Finding and identifing Vera items can be tricky as they are more and more rare. 

Here are some tips:

• For scarves, look at the label;  they used different styles but they all have Vera on them.  Some have a little red ladybug on there as well.
• If your scarf does not have a label, check the corners for Vera to appear in the print itself
• On Vera clothing, which is usually an all over print, check for a tiny Vera signature someplace on the print.