Quick Facts
Biography
Werner G. Scharff (July 7, 1916 – August 17, 2006) was an American arts patron and fashion designer. He was the co-founder and chairman of Lanz Incorporated, a leading designer and manufacturer of dresses and nightgowns. As a major Venice landowner, Scharff is widely recognized as a pioneer of Venice Beach in the City of Angeles and for devoting his life to the founding and supporting of some of the area's largest murals and contributed to the development and expansion of the city. Some of his major investments include the Cadillac Hotel, Beach House on Ocean Front Walk, L.A. Louver, and James Beach Cafe. He gained fame and wealth for designing the Lanz flannel granny nightgown, which became a staple of women’s college dormitories in the late 1950s.
Life and Entrepreneurial Activities
Early life
Born on July 7, 1916 in Lindau, Germany, Scharff was the youngest of three brothers. His father, who was a grocer, died when he was only ten, which turned his early life into turmoil, forcing him to leave school and join the family's grocery business. By the time he was twenty, Scharff was deeply involved in his family business. Although the Scharff family struggled financially, he decided to use all of their savings to move to New York in 1937 with his brother Kurt to start a new business.
1937-1980
Scharff along with his brother Kurt, moved to New York as political refugees, where they met an Austrian retailer, Sepp Lanz, an émigré who was running a store that sold Austrian-style clothes and sleepwear. Lanz suggested the brothers join his business and team to run the retail store. Later that year, Scharff discovered that there was a demand for Austrian-style clothes in the California region.
In 1938, they moved to California to open another location on Wilshire Boulevard and sold Austrian-inspired ski clothes and sleepwear. The idea to start the business was risky for an immigrant from Germany during the war until Hedy Lamarr, an American film actress wore their designer clothes in her movie, Ziegfeld Girl. The company received film credits which placed it on the fashion map.
Lanz and Scharff's vision for the company greatly differed. In 1946, the brothers bought the business from Lanz and focused on manufacturing. In the same year, Scharff recognized the growing popularity of the company and encouraged nearby clothing retailers to start selling their line of clothes in their stores, which resulted in the majority of sales. The company also established a wholesale business with other department stores throughout the world.
Lanz flannel granny nightgown
In 1953, Scharff was preparing to design and unveil a new kind of a nightgown, "the granny gown," made of inexpensive cotton flannel, which went on to become the Lanz Incorporated’s signature product. It was based on a dress that Scharff's landlady had worn. The gown soon became a popular cover-up for women in the late 1950s. The popularity of Lanz of Salzburg line, eventually helped the company to reorganize and expand to 30 retail stores and establish a manufacturing division. Wendy Wasserstein, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright is known to have worn a Lanz nightgown while writing.
Personal life
Werner G. Scharff was married three times and was divorced twice. Also, the children whom Scharff had with his first wife, Eleanor Mace, were Peter Scharff and Alexis Scharff. The child whom Scharff had with his second wife, Alexandra Scharff is Christopher Scharff. He then married his third wife Simone Hormel Scharff, who had children from her previous marriage, including Smoky (Gregory) Hormel, an extremely accomplished and renowned guitarist and Angel Hormel and Christopher Hormel.
Death
In the early 2000s Scharff was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. He died at his home in Santa Monica, California on August 17, 2006, due to complications of Parkinson’s disease.