Inglewood woman imports Spanish lace to make veils and masks

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- For the past four years, one Inglewood woman has been importing Spanish lace to sell veils to women in her community. But since the pandemic, she's shifted from selling veils to making masks.

Mantillas are traditional Spanish lace veils worn by women on special occasions to show reverence.

Inglewood resident Nancy Oregel, who works as a sonographer at a local hospital, started her business Zuri's Collections in 2016, selling the lace to women at her church.

"I contacted a couple of the vendors and we started importing them here in the USA," Oregel said.

Working at a hospital and seeing the city beginning to reopen, Nancy said she saw a need for masks and thought of matching the masks with the traditional veils.

"Just like the way that we match our mantillas with our dresses or with our skirts," Oregel said. "We wanted them to match as well."

Nancy recruited her friend from church, Hilda Flores who she knew was an experienced seamstress, to help make the masks.

Hilda said when she was 11-years-old she would make her own outfits and clothing for her family.

Nancy said with quarantining in place, she's thinking of her community and doesn't want people to feel forgotten.

"Everybody's been staying away from their grandparents, staying away from them because we don't want to take the illness to them," Oregel said. "And sometimes we might forget that they are there and we have to remember that these elderly, they have a lot of teachings."

Nancy said she serves a small community and currently only sells her products on her website. But, she said if her business continues to grow, a storefront could be a possibility in the future.

Click here to share "Be Localish" ideas and submit your favorite business to be featured.

Follow Ashley on social media:
Facebook.com/abc7ashleym
Twitter.com/abc7ashleym
Instagram.com/abc7ashleym