COLLECTIONS : On the Up and Up : Los Angeles: Donatella Girombelli keeps her line short, tight and bright.

When Donatella Girombelli showed her Genny collection here on Tuesday, war and recession seemed to dissolve in a sea of goddess-style dresses as short as swimsuits and T-shirts beaded with starfish and coral.

The clothes, co-created by Girombelli and Gianni Versace, who has worked with her since 1974, are short, tight, and bright as a tray of jewels.

Before the show, Girombelli said the recessionary economy and war have placed new demands on her. When fewer buyers and journalists attended the Italian menswear shows in January, she decided to take the fall women’s line to them.

Not that she likes the idea. “Business will go on even if people don’t come to Milan,” she said. “But buying a collection in a New York showroom is a more technical way of doing it. Fashion is a business, but we can’t afford to lose the magical quality.”

The very short skirts were the topic of conversation at one table of Blue Ribbon charity luncheoners watching her show at the Music Center. Girombelli, a 40-plus slender woman, said age is not the deciding factor. Good legs are.

The new Genny boutique at Neiman Marcus is one of 20 worldwide.