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68 I n 1996, when Jane Scott Hodges made the decision to take on the staid and stiff monogram and infuse it with vibrant color and bolder scale, her company, Leontine Linens, was born. New Orleans-based Leontine has since led the way with contemporary monogramming for bed and tabletop and has become an unrivaled resource for couture-quality linens, handmade by Kentucky artisans at the Eleanor Beard studio, renowned for their exquisite work. In 2002, Hodges purchased the 98-year- old heritage company, which has employed generations of Kentucky women skilled in the traditions of needlework. Made BY REBECCA SHERMAN. PHOTOGRAPHY PAUL COSTELLO. ART OF THE MONOGRAM entirely by hand, each Leontine order takes about two months to produce. This luxuriously paced way of doing business harks back to a lost old South, when time and attention prevailed. But Leontine's loyal devotees aren't all south of the Mason-Dixon line. They include top-tier designers around the country, such as Charlotte Moss, Alexa Hampton, Alex Papachristidis, David Kleinberg, Mary McDonald, and Nathan Turner. Hodges' elegant and joyful take on linens has made her a hit, and nowhere is her exuberant design style better expressed than at home in New Orleans. She and husband Philip Hodges bought their 1869 Greek Revival side-hall house in the city's historic Garden District seven years ago and renovated it with the help of interior designer Gwen Driscoll, whom Hodges has known since college. While Hodges may use vibrant color combinations in her linens, her previous homes had been decorated in neutral hues, JANE SCOTT HODGES AND LEONTINE LINENS TOOK A DATED BUT DIGNIFIED CONCEPT — THE MONOGRAM — AND INFUSED IT WITH VIBRANT COLOR AND BOLD SCALE. THE MODERN MONOGRAM WAS BORN. HERE, BOTH JANE AND LEONTINE AT HOME IN NEW ORLEANS. Jane Scott Hodges at home in New Orleans Leontine Linens monogrammed napkin.