Adolfo : First Friends and Front-Seaters at Fall Show

As sure as there is a September heat wave, so is there Adolfo’s fall fashion show--and the inevitable front-row lineup.

The First Friends, as they are now known, occupied front row, stage left at Saks Fifth Avenue’s semi-annual show in Beverly Hills. Other seats, of course, were filled by equally fashionable, equally social types. But for now, perhaps for this one last time, all eyes were fixed on the little group of Nancy and Ronald Reagan’s social set.

Although front seats on the opposite side of the runway offered equally good viewing of the clothes, they didn’t have quite the same cachet.

As has been the tradition during the eight years of the Reagan Administration, Nancy Reagan, an ardent Adolfo wearer, didn’t show up. But her friends did, including Betsy Bloomingdale, Harriet Deutsch, Marion Jorgensen, Lee Annenberg and Betty Wilson.

If any fashion trends could be discerned among the group, they are: Nearly all of them wore white leather shoes, and three of them--Annenberg, Chardee Trainer and Erlenne Sprague--wore Kelly green dresses or suits.

It’s anybody’s guess what will happen to the front row next spring, after Ronald Reagan has left the White House and Adolfo shows his next collection. But some suspect that Nancy Reagan, civilian, will join the lineup again.

“We don’t know, but we hope,” offered Harriet Deutsch.

Adolfo, who worked backstage in white jeans, black loafers and a checkered shirt and tie, would only venture to say Mrs. Reagan used to come to see his shows “before”--meaning before she moved to Washington.

As for the fall collection, it includes Adolfo’s usual array of knitted suits; this time available with a pants option. “Wide, but not exaggerated,” is how the designer likes trousers. “Just pleasantly full,” he elaborated. “Nice.”

Evening clothes as well, many in the Chanel tradition, come with a choice of bottoms for versatility. The same black cardigan, for instance, can be purchased with a pleated skirt, a dirndl skirt or pajama pants.

One of the most elaborate evening outfits is a beaded sweater in the season’s all-important grape motif worn over a black slip dress.

Although he remains the model of discretion, Adolfo did let it leak that he was feeling a bit nostalgic about the end of the Reagan era.

“I move on, but I will always cherish private memories, which I don’t like to share with anybody,” he said quietly. “There’s so much communication today, you just need to keep it to yourself.”