Of Highest Design.

With an attention to elaborate and ornate detail, an L.A. company is at the forefront of the specialized, competitive Catholic cleric garment business

EVEN Catholic priests have a sense of fashion. When it comes to the elaborate vestments worn by clerics in the church, style, quality and individuality are in great demand.

"Each pastor has his own preference," said Father Ken Deasy of St. Agatha Catholic Church in Los Angeles.

That's where Chagall Design Ltd. fills a niche. The 10-year-old company headquartered in downtown L.A.'s Fashion District custom-designs and manufactures garments worn by Roman Catholic priests, deacons, bishops and archbishops across the country.

They can vary widely in design, from a liturgical vestment that has brocade around the collar and an embroidered image of St. Joseph on the front to a Gothic chasuble made of damask with a gold brocade galloon. Price ranges from $135 to $1,500.

Variety of products

The company also makes large banners trimmed in brocade and embroidered for churches celebrating anniversaries or a saint's birthday. "We are known for high quality, quick turn-around and the best prices around," said Mannix Delfino, the company's vice president.

Much of the work is done on the 9th floor of the Gerry Building, an art deco structure next to the California Mart. With about 6,000 square feet, the company employs a handful of tailors and seamstresses.

The company was started in 1991 by Jacques de Groot, a native of Belgium who began a similar business in 1961 called International Vestments in Montreal.

De Groot said there are three or four companies in the United States that custom-design, manufacture and sell vestments. Other than a few companies in Canada, the bulk of vestment makers are in Europe.

After being in business three years, de Groot moved International Vestments to Santa Monica, enticed by the area's warm weather.

At its peak, International Vestments employed 12 full-time workers and had revenues of more than $1 million a year. After decades of traveling the United States, visiting just about every church and parish, de Groot sold out in 1986.

For a few years, he tried out the life of a retiree, but by the early 1990s, the 63-year-old entrepreneur was bored. Coincidentally, the new owners of International Vestments had gone out of business two years before.

Returning to the industry

De Groot seized on the opportunity by starting Chagall Design, getting back many of his International Vestments clients. Renting his first office space at the California Mart, he started exactly where he left off.

"To make this a successful business, you have to know the fathers and build a relationship with them," de Groot explained.

In 1995, de Groot brought in his new wife, Mannix Delfino, to help him run the company. Although she knew little about the vestments business, she had worked as an executive for a variety of companies around the world and knew how to sew.

That came in handy her first day on the job when de Groot was out of town on sales calls, and Delfino got an order for a chasuble. With no one else in the office and small work area, she sat down at the sewing machine.

"A lot of this business is word of mouth, which is a very big thing," said de Groot, sitting at a conference table surrounded by an array of ornate vestments festooned in rich brocades and satin piping. An embroidered banner of the Virgin of Guadalupe hangs on the wall.

Besides good contacts, the company publishes a color catalog that is distributed with the Kennedy Directory, the official directory of all the Roman Catholic parishes and institutions in the United States.

Convention business

Another important sales call is the annual Religious Education Congress held at the Anaheim Convention Center every February. Chagall Design writes up as much as $150,000 worth of business in three days, de Groot said.

The emphasis is on designing vestments that are custom-designed for each pastor's needs. Father Deasy of St. Agatha's in Los Angeles has a parish comprising of low to middle-income members who are primarily Latinos and African-Americans. He is on a tight budget and doesn't buy a lot of garments. But when he does have a few disposable dollars, he goes to Chagall Design.

"This vestment business can be quite expensive, just like fashion is expensive," he said. "At Chagall they know I'm not from an affluent parish. They show me their fabrics and 'what they can do that will tie in with my congregation. Last year I ordered a dark green chasuble with a characterization of Juan Diego (the shepherd who first saw the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico) on the back. I asked if they could make the skin color that would appeal to Latinos and African Americans."

Also knowing his financial situation, they allowed him to pay for the chasuble in installments without paying interest.

Spotlight

Chagall Design Ltd.

Year Founded: 1991

Core Business: Making religious garments

Revenue in 1996: $200,000

Revenue in 2000: $1.5 million

Employees in 1996: 2

Employees in 2001: 12

Goal: Increase revenues to $10 million in the next five years and sell the company

Driving Force: Clients who need top-quality garments that are custom made and don't take long to manufacture