Hanky Panky
It began with a hanky.
Parsons-trained designer, Gale Epstein, had long been repurposing vintage clothing for her Recycled by Gale line when, in 1977, her unconventional eye landed on embroidered cotton handkerchiefs. Making a bra-and-bikini set for her friend Lida Orzeck, she was intrigued by the idea of turning the modest Victorian-era fabric into a more empowering statement.
Orzeck saw an opportunity in her beautifully tailored gift. As did Lord & Taylor’s Buyer, placing an order of 144 sets. And the rest, as they say, is history – quite literally, an original version of the set lives in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s permanent collection.
In 1986, Hanky Panky changed underwear history by inventing a thong that achieved the unimaginable; it could not be felt. In 2004, when the WSJ called their patented signature fabric 'lace butter', a legend began.
