IN REVIEW / DESIGNERS : Galanos: Confident Couturier

Now that First Lady Nancy Reagan has returned to civilian life in Southern California, Los Angeles designer James Galanos, one of her favorites, has not had to adjust.

“My name was established before Mrs. Reagan went to the White House,” he says in his polite and correct manner.

Galanos has been described as a shy man, and he does seem a bit so. But he is also a confident man who is not afraid to speak his mind. He walked into Amen Wardy, the Beverly Hills shop where he made a personal appearance earlier this summer, with a bounce in his step.

Even on this 85-degree day, he is dressed impeccably in a gray wool double-breasted suit. The designer is standing in the midst of his latest collection--three long racks of some of the prettiest, most expensive, best-made clothes in America. He has the U.S. exclusive on some of the same fabrics the French couturiers use. Every bead, ribbon and button has been sewn on by hand. Prices range from $6,000 for a daytime dress to $11,000 for an elaborate evening gown.

For more than 30 years, the Los Angeles-based designer has shown his lines in New York, not Los Angeles, and done so in July and January, or thereabouts, not April and October, along with the other New York designers.

He gave up fashion shows all together about four years ago, replacing them with a 12-week whistle-stop nationwide tour he makes twice a year, presenting his clothes in specialty stores that carry them.

Despite his unusual approach, he has a definite following and knows many of his nationwide customers by name.

Galanos’ clothes never took on a California look. “You make clothes that have a reason for being and travel the world. If you design with one locality in mind, you’re provincial. We’re certainly not that. Half my clothes are never worn in California.”

Galanos’ customers include New Yorker Brooke Astor and Angeleno Candy Spelling.