Franco Scalamandré

Franco Scalamandré (April 15, 1898 – March 4, 1988) was an Italian-born American co-founder of Scalamandré Inc., a US manufacturer of traditional textiles, decorative textile trims, wall covering, and carpeting.

He was the son of Giuseppe Scalamandré and Maria Teresa Ambrosina Scalamandré. His father was a broker of silk, and a textile importer in Calabria.

Education, immigration and founding Scalamandré Silks 1923 Scalamandré completed a doctorate in engineering from the Royal Polytechnic School of Naples, and in 1924 immigrated to the United States. In 1925 he worked as a draftsman for the Westinghouse Electric Company in Newark, New Jersey. In 1926 he began teaching drawing at the E. A. Seeley School of Decoration in Paterson, New Jersey. In 1929 Scalamandré married Flora Baranzelli a designer and painter. The same year they formed Scalamandré Silks. The Founding of the company coincided with a growing movement in the United States of restoring historic houses and furnishings. Scalamandré began recreating historic fabrics based on the collections of historic homes and museums.

Scalamandré Museum of Textiles In 1936 Scalamandré opened the Scalamandré Museum of Textiles, located in the company's Manhattan showroom. The museum displayed the company's collection of historic European and American textiles. The museum continued in operation, with a mission of showing historic textile documents to the public, often alongside the company's careful reproductions, until the late 1960s.

Work at the White House

Scalamandré was commissioned to produce silk fabric for the White House restoration during the administration of president John F. Kennedy. The completed fabric was delivered to the United States by diplomatic pouch avoiding scrutiny by the United States Customs Service and the controversy of a foreign manufactured product. Scalamandré silks were used in the Blue Room drapery, Red Room walls, drapery, and upholstery.

Subsequent refurbishments of the White House during the Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and both Bush administrations used stock and custom woven textiles from Scalamandré workshops. And the firm has provided silk lampas and silk and wool velvets to restoration projects in the United States Capitol.

Civic and design recognition Scalamandré received several design awards including the Gordon Gray Award for Achievement in Preservation from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the Thomas Jefferson Award granted by the American Society of Interior Designers. He also received numerous civic citations for his work in preserving and recreating historic American textiles including one from The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America, whose several historic properties Scalamandré's firm helped restore.