FUTURE CLASSICS : Four Top Models Preview the New Fall Fashions

THE NEW HIGH-RISE HEMLINES WOULD BE ENOUGH TO SET THIS FALL’S designs apart from those of seasons past. But knees are not the only news. What adds a power punch to autumn styles are the rich variety of textures, colors and shapes, and the unexpected wit that designers use to set the mood: fur dinner suits, jeweled boots, cashmere halters with silky harem skirts, tufted taffeta dresses. Stretch fabrics--satin, wool, silk--go from day to night. Necklines plunge, waistlines soar, hip lines pouf. The action is all above the knee, and every outfit is a tribute to a woman’s curves. But deciding which curves to emphasize is a matter of personal choice. Even top fashion models--like the four on these pages--find that some of the new looks suit them better than others. On the opposite page, clockwise from upper left, the four beauties who preview the new fall clothes: Victoria Kennedy and Charlotte Lewis from Eastwest Model Management, Sandra Canning from Elite and Wendy Rossmeyer from Wilhelmina West.

Hair by Keoni / Cloutier; makeup by Beth Katz / Cloutier; styling by Beth Bickson.

VICTORIA KENNEDY

Kennedy got her start in commercials while attending Professional Children’s School in New York City. From there, it was an easy jump to modeling, which she’s been doing ever since. Last year, in Paris, she modeled for Azzedine Alaia, Yohji Yamamoto and Comme des Garcons. Kennedy spent the summer of ’87 in Los Angeles, “checking things out; it’s friendlier here than in New York.” Opposite, Kennedy wears a Donna Karan pantsuit that has a shapely sort of swagger. The zip-front jacket with elasticized waistline, $675, and softly pleated trousers, $385, are of beige pebbled crepe. Donna Karan clip earrings are $170. All from Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills. Suede high-heel pumps and hosiery by Donna Karan. Above, the olive taffeta dress, $235, by Bonnie Strauss, with portrait neckline, cinched waist and short, swingy skirt, is from Bullock’s, South Coast Plaza. Richelieu pearl necklace, $15, and earrings, $10, are at select Bullock’s stores. Top left, Kennedy’s shape is emphasized by Tom and Linda Platt’s lipstick-red, puckered nylon dress, $850, at Saks Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills. Debra Fine Yohai’s gold bow earrings, $66, are from Buffalo, Tarzana. Bottom left, Spitalnick shapes curly black Soukara fur into a V-neck fitted jacket, $505, and slim skirt, $290, at select Broadway stores.

CHARLOTTE LEWIS

“I love L.A.,” says the waif-like Lewis, who moved here from London about a month ago. She started modeling at 14, but she stopped at 16 when she met Roman Polanski, who directed her in “Pirates.” He told her that she should stop modeling and study acting. “So I did,” she says, and went on to make “The Golden Child.” “Now I’m modeling again because I’m an only child and I have a mother to support. I’m not greedy, just determined.” Above, Lewis wears Karl Lagerfeld’s Shetland wool suit, $1,840, which has a short-cropped jacket with broadtail collar and a slim skirt. Lagerfeld’s black turtleneck, $420, and suit are at Maxfield, Los Angeles, and Neiman-Marcus, Beverly Hills. Hat and gloves are by Lagerfeld. Opposite, Mary Ann Restivo’s perfect little wool crepe dress that goes from day into evening, $330, is at select Robinson’s stores.

WENDY ROSSMEYER

At 5-feet-11 and 135 pounds, Florida-born Rossmeyer says, “I’ll never be really thin” because she has “too much muscle. I ride my bike everywhere, play volleyball, tennis and water-ski.” Rossmeyer’s first modeling job--at age 14--was for Vogue magazine. Since then, she’s been around the world, but she says she likes Los Angeles best because she’s “a beach person at heart.” Opposite, Rossmeyer shows the new suit look by Calvin Klein: a very long wool jacket, $665, with a very short, high-waisted skirt, $185, and imported silk Radzemire blouse, $475, all at I. Magnin, Beverly Hills. Gloves and hosiery are by Calvin Klein. Top right, Claude Montana’s one-button jacket practically hits the hemline of the double-zipper skirt. Suit, $1,140, is at Neiman-Marcus, Beverly Hills. Gloves are by Claude Montana. Bottom right, Mary Ann Restivo’s brown-and-black wool suit has a long, notch-lapel jacket, $464, and short, slim skirt, $206, worn with a cashmere turtleneck, $330. All at select Robinson’s stores. Movado watch, circa 1940, is $750 at Arlene Altman Designs in Theodore, Beverly Hills. Below, a halter that’s not for sunning. It’s Michael Kors’ cashmere evening top, $330, worn with a short wool-and-sharkskin bubble, $650, at select Nordstrom stores.

SANDRA CANNING

Canning, who grew up in the Virgin Islands, moved to Los Angeles in February, 1986, “with $200, three suitcases and lots of dreams,” she says. Her plan was to launch a career in fashion retailing, but her sister, Lisa, an L.A. disc jockey, suggested that she try modeling. Now Canning is a top model here and in New York. A fledgling actress, she has appeared in music videos and in the movie “Dragnet.” Above, Canning wears Yves Saint Laurent’s hot-orange, silk satin “nugget suit,” strewn with fake stones. The jacket, $4,280, and skirt, $950, are at Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Boutique, Beverly Hills. Hat, gloves and jeweled boots are by Yves Saint Laurent. Opposite, designer Ronald Mann calls this his “sofa dress” because the skirt is tufted like a settee. The shimmering silk taffeta strapless dress with shirred torso is $3,000 at select Bullocks Wilshire stores. Right, Jean Paul Gaultier’s red plaid suit has an hourglass-shape jacket, about $1,070, and matching straight skirt, about $310, from Neiman-Marcus, Beverly Hills. Lycra cream-colored gloves and mock turtleneck by Jean Paul Gaultier.