The Return of Cardinali
Marilyn Lewis at Church's party for her Cardinali label.
Marilyn Lewis dressed women as different as Nancy Reagan, Marlo Thomas and Dyan Cannon. Thomas wore Lewis’ Cardinali label on her hit TV show That Girl. In 1965, Cannon asked Lewis to throw something together for Cannon’s first date with movie star Cary Grant, a date which turned into one of Hollywood’s most celebrated marriages.
Lewis, now 80, closed Cardinali in 1977 to concentrate on restaurant design and management. She and husband, Harry Lewis, started the Hamburger Hamlet restaurant chain as well as the L.A. iconic eatery Kate Mantilini.
Through the years, Lewis kept an archive of her Cardinali designs, which she described as both avant-garde and ladylike. She and Los Angeles boutique owner Diane Merrick put many of these mint-condition pieces up for sale at Church, a boutique which curates avant garde and high fashion at 7277 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood, Calif.
Church held an intimate party for the Cardinali label on Sept. 20. I was lucky enough to get a 20-minute tour of the archives led by Lewis herself. Tour stops included Cardinali’s six-pocket coats which looked cutting edge enough to be worn by hipsters in Los Angeles’ bohemian Echo Park neighborhood. It also featured a piece said to be worn by Thomas during her "That Girl" days. A heavy bow topped off a gown made out of dutchess satin. There was a glamorous metallic piece with palazzo pants favored by Cannon.
Lewis felt that these pieces were still so contemporary that she did not want to put them in a museum. “I wanted them to dance now,” she said of her collection. "I wanted them to be on the streets.”
One of Cardinali's "That Girl" dresses.
