Jason Asch-wearing, appro-priately, a vintage Hawaiian

shirt-leads the way into thetiny, windowless office that isthe headquarters of DiamondFoam & Fabric, He steps aroundand over the bolts and cuttingsthat cover every horizontal surface,But never mind the perfectlypleasant mess: Asch has foundwhat he's looking for, Proudlyholding up a worn but still hand-some claret-colored, Jazz-Agejacquard smoking jacket, heexplains: "I bought this at theflea market in Glendale, And weturned it into upholstery fabric, "

Asch's customers can now pur-chase the reproduced vintagepattern, along with a few thousandother home-furnishing fabricsstocked here, to cover their chairs

WHAT'S IN STORE

Diamond Foam & Fabric isL.A.'s hoHest sourcefor unusual fabric finds

Upstairs at DiamondShe was born in Sweden and chris-tened Ann-Sofie Lakso, but you cancall her Fred. It's the name by whichthe model-turned-shopkeeper isknown at Upstairs at Diamond, the ......., "'"home furnishings store she opened tlast fall in space provided by Jason ,'_"* '-.Asch. From Fortuny lamps, scarves, 'and bags, to handwoven Europeanlinens and luxurious throws, to theintriguing collection of vintagemetallic trim for pillows, curtains,or lamp shades (Lakso's personalfavorite), everything in store here i;

speaks of elegance" simplicity, ~and old-fashioned workmanship, :"Something handmade means alot, " explains Fred.

of the legendary Chateau Marmontin Hollywood are currently beingreupholstered in Diamond fabrics).Selection, customer service, andexceptional value are the pillarson which Asch has built his busi-ness, Classic Motown blaststhrough the three adjoining build-ings that make up the store asdetermined shoppers snip swatchafter swatch from the tloor-to-'ceiling bolts with scissors Aschprovides, "We can lose 20, maybe30 pairs in a month," he says,"but the scissors are a way of

personalizing what we do,"A big-name local designer steps

up, clients in tow, and makesintroductions, "This is the famousJason," she says, Jason Asch,taking his cue, does not disappoint."Where's that new paisley?" hecalls out to anyone who may belistening, He leads the conserva-tively dressed clients down anarrow aisle, issuing assurancesover his shoulder: "We've gotwhat you're looking for, And waittill you see the colors! "

From Italian tomatoes toBelgian cupids, Jason Asch

rules, See Resources,

74

and sofas, ottomans and cushions,An inveterate scavenger with arefined sensibility, Asch scoursflea markets the world over forpieces of luxurious old upholsteryfabric, vintage drapery panels,once-precious women's scarves,He delivers these documents toone of the several top mills withwhich heworks closely; the millsreplicate the patterns and manu-facture them for contemporaryupholstery, Filling out the stockat Diamond (woven fabrics arethe house specialty) is a closelyedited collection of patterns themills themselves generate, oftenin colors-lime green, orange,pink-that no one but the decid-edly extroverted Asch woulddare to order. Some 20 percentof all the fabrics here are imported,the bounty of Asch's regular tripsto major European markets,

Credited with luring many clois-tered LA Westsiders, includinglots of celebrities, east of LaCienega Boulevard, DiamondFoam & Fabric is renowned forproviding one-stop shoppingfor do-it-yourselfers, profes-

, sional designers, and enter-tainment industry set dec-orators seeking to do a house,a movie set, or a hotel (parts

Jeffrey Hirsch