California Apparel News

Lingerie designer Flo Scagliotti was so enamored of her new boyshort-style panties she had to show them to everyone she met.

“I loved them so much I would flash them at parties,” said the bubbly actress-turned-designer.

A friend encouraged her to try her hand at designing her own styles, and Scagliotti asked her local dry cleaner to make the first samples. She put six pairs of her neon-trimmed panties on consignment at Xinon Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, and singer Christina Aguilera bought them all, Scagliotti said.

That was a year ago. Scagliotti has since moved her production from her dry cleaner to a contractor in downtown Los Angeles.

The company’s name, Flopi “Funderwear,” is a nod to Scagliotti’s Argentinean heritage. Flopi (pronounced “Flow-Pea”) is the nickname her family gave her in Argentina.

Several Los Angeles boutiques carry Flopi, including Oouml;u in Los Feliz, Pull My Daisy in Silverlake, Luxe de Ville in Echo Park, Fred Segal Santa Monica, and Fishnet on La Brea Boulevard.

“I’ve lived here for six years, and these are the stores I always had a crush on,” said the designer, who recruited fellow actor Joe McChesney to help with the sales and production of the collection.

McChesney provides a balance to Scagliotti’s boundless energy and creativity.

“He’s always interviewing different reps, and I’m the one who’s like, ’Dude! Let’s do fluorescents!’” she said.

Currently, the Flopi line features two camisoles and two panties styles—a boy brief and a semi-thong. A few of the panties have attached garters. Some of the camisoles and briefs feature screen prints, including illustrations of Frida Kahlo and the New York City skyline. The current collection is a “tribute to polka dots and stripes,” Scagliotti said. Several styles are trimmed in day-glo colors.

“I’m going crazy at the trim store, said Scagliotti, who sources all her fabrics and trims in downtown Los Angeles. “I never thought I’d get into sequins.”

Wholesale prices range from $10 to $20 for panties and from $15 to $20 for camisoles. The next project for Flopi is swimwear. Scagliotti is working on creating a bikini style in a shimmery spandex and a stretch fabric that looks like vinyl. “I love the fact that I can have an idea and in one day it’s done,” she said.

For information about Flopi, call (323) 281-9366, or visit www.flopi4U.com. —Alison A. Nieder