About us

Lesley Coidan & Diana Vernon both have over 35 years experience in design and beading.

Lesley, for 16 years from 1973-1989, initially with Daphne Randall, ran ‘Spangles’, a couture beading company in Ganton Street, off Carnaby Street in the West End of London. It was an exciting period in fashion, just after the heyday of the ‘swinging sixties’, and she worked for most of the top designers of the day, among them Bill Gibb, Hartnell, Bruce Oldfield, Jacques Azagury, Belleville Sassoon, Hachi and Jasper Conran.
Her atelier worked many of the Royal costumes, and some of the Royal Wedding dress bead embroidery. In addition she did substantial beading and embroidery commissions for film, theatre and television work. Her credits include ‘Evil under the Sun’ , ‘Death on the Nile’ , a Bond film and light entertainment for the BBC, and beading Muhammad Ali’s dressing gown which he wore for the fight ‘Rumble in the Jungle’. She also taught at The London College of Fashion’, where she originally trained. From her studio she & Diana worked together on a ‘Limited Edition’ range of exclusive evening wear, and on the film ‘Supergirl’, and were commissioned by Elizabeth Emmanuel to embroider Elizabeth Taylor’s last wedding dress

Diana originally trained in weave, print and knit, and an early commission was for the film ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’. It was while making knitwear for Bill Gibb that she began beading on knitwear, and then continued to specialise in all beading techniques, embroidery, threading and wiring. She has taught for Liberty Sewing School, The Royal School of Needlework, The London College of Fashion and the Embroiderers Guild, and is a visiting lecturer on beading techniques for the Embroiderers Guild . Her work has been exhibited at the British Crafts Council. She is also the author of ‘Beading’, a Country Living Needlework book. Her credits include bead embroidery for Thierry Mugler’s ‘Chimera’ dress for Mr Pearl for the Paris Couture, and Theatre beading work for ‘The Lion King’, and ‘Anything Goes’ for Anthony Powell at The National Theatre.

Lesley and Diana’s recent theatre and film commissions include beading costumes for
‘Spamalot’, ‘Sister Act’, and Sophia Loren for the film ‘Nine’.