Varying Paths to Designs That Endure : David Hayes

Designer David Hayes is having a great time these days. When he presented his spring collection at Bullocks Wilshire, he let it be known that he’s still dressing First Lady Nancy Reagan, at least some of the time--”She’s going into longer jackets and slightly bigger shoulders for spring.”

And if that’s not enough, he says, he recently moved into his “dream house”--a re-created Italian villa nestled in the hills above Los Angeles. He sits up there and watches his list of celebrity clients grow.

Hayes is something of a celebrity now. When he arrived at Bullocks Wilshire, he found a picture of himself the size of a movie poster announcing his appearance. A woman carried it to him, told him her name was Tanja with a j and teased him: “Don’t you leave the store before you sign this.”

“Lots of people come up to me and ask for autographs now,” Hayes says. “I kind of like it.” But some things never change. His spring collection is classic--knife-pleated skirts, blouson tops, short jackets and palazzo pantsuits for evening. He says he is altering his style just a bit, but to prove it he shows you a slightly wider collar on a blouse or a slightly leaner evening chemise.

“I guess in my heart I don’t really want to change my style,” he says. “Or I would.”

Luiz Archer

Luiz Archer is the phoenix of the fashion biz. And he’s rising again today at Neiman-Marcus. Archer’s first fashion incarnation was as a custom designer, dressing L.A. social types for fancy evenings out. That led a bigwig manufacturer to be interested in producing a ready-to-wear line from Archer’s designs. But the idea never developed.

Now Archer is producing a collection of 25 pieces on his own. And as a separate project, he’s designing the first fashion collection for Pierre Deux, using only the famous French-country fabrics.

The Pierre Deux styles will be for day. But, Archer says: “I more appreciate the evening look. For day, a woman needs to look feminine, casual and relaxed. For evening, she needs more pizazz.”

At Neiman-Marcus, his cocktail and dinner dresses have beaded shoulders and necklines, scarfs or accordion-pleated backs that fill with air when you walk.

“I think evening clothes themselves should be the main accessories,” he says. “Things have gotten too glitzy, too glittered, too sequined. For a dress with a jeweled neckline, all you need is a pair of earrings.” He says the thing for evening is still a basic black dress.

Archer believes that his kind of conservative dressing style is more in fashion than it has been in years because young women and older women don’t dress alike these days. “A more mature woman knows not to wear leggings and a balloon top. They want clothes that go with their personal status, sophistication, chic. Younger women don’t have those qualities yet. My clothes wouldn’t appeal to them.

Archer is at Neiman-Marcus in Beverly Hills from noon to 4 p.m. today.

Eric Bovy

Eric Bovy designs clothes to the music of Prince and takes inspiration from French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier who put men in dresses for spring.

But despite the radical resources that he calls on for input, Bovy’s styles come out looking rather conservative. He presented his second-ever collection--a group of suits in linens and linen tweeds, long, man-tailored shirts and classic pants--at Bullock’s recently.

“I’m not trying to innovate a look or follow one,” he says. “I’m more interested in making comfortable clothes.”

He doesn’t mind that younger and older women wear the same clothes.

“But they should wear them in two different ways,” he says. “Accessories play an important role.”

A younger woman could wear the tails of her oversize shirt untucked, under a suit, with the jacket sleeves pushed up to the elbows, with a pin on the jacket and with little flat-heel shoes and bare legs. An older woman should tuck in the shirt, leave the jacket sleeves long, wear hosiery and sophisticated jewelry, he suggests.

For Bovy, the most important item in a spring wardrobe is a skirt that bares the knees. He recommends it for women of all ages--”As long as they feel comfortable.”