A Perfect Fit : Fashion: Some models do more than just try on clothes for a living. They lend their “ideal” figures and expertise to designers.

Pick up a slick fashion magazine, watch a world-class runway show and what do you see? Models so famous their names are household words. But hidden behind the scenes is another breed of model--men, women and children whose “ideal” measurements help shape the clothes in the magazines and on the runways.

“Fit models,” dressmakers’ forms come to life, are the unsung heroes of the industry. Designers and pattern makers could not function without them, but few consumers realize that these live bodies have influenced every aspect of every garment they buy--including underwear and uniforms. Top fit models can earn $100,000 a year in Los Angeles and twice that much in New York, but there is no formal training, and virtually everyone falls into the field by chance.

The essential equipment--specific measurements and a well-proportioned torso--is handed out at birth. If they don’t lose or gain an inch, fit models can ply the profession for years.

But the right body is not enough. Successful fit models must also resemble a manufacturer’s ideal customer, have a keen sense of style and an uncanny eye for detail. They must quickly become experts who can diplomatically tell designers and pattern makers what is right and wrong with every inch of a garment.

While a small number of manufacturers will hire a secretary or production assistant to double as a fit model, most companies prefer a professional. Explains Francine Browner, president of Los Angeles-based Rue de Reves: “I want a fit model who is a fit model, not one who answers phones. Many times we’ve had a person working here who could substitute, but she couldn’t give us the feedback we need.”

The company’s “star,” as Browner calls her, is Sigute Lownds, a 33-year-old actress and former dancer who has what many manufacturers consider an ideal figure: 5 feet, 6 1/2 inches arranged in a 36-27-38 1/2 configuration.

“We never get complaints about the fit of our garments. That is what makes her a success for us,” says Browner. “She epitomizes our customer. A fit model has to be a combination of the best figure in the world and also be able to accommodate the flaws an average person might have.”

Lownds--a fit model for seven years, five of them with Rue de Reves--free-lances her services to 10 accounts, including Componix, Judy Knapp and various divisions of Jonathan Martin. For Browner, Lownds’ free-lance status is a plus: “The fact that she doesn’t have just our point of view makes her more valuable to us. It gives her knowledge of what is going on in the industry.”

A fit model’s knowledge is as important as her measurements. Lownds, who works a five-day week, cramming in five to eight accounts and 100 to 150 garments a day, explains:

“This is a profession and you have to act like a professional. It means busting your butt to do as many garments as the pattern maker gives you, and then on to your next account. You’re constantly moving and you constantly have to be aware of what you feel and what you see in the mirror. People start to trust you and your opinions--you can change the style of a garment. The responsibility is immense.”

Her list of job-related necessities includes a reliable car, a car phone and a dependable answering machine, which she checks every hour.

“People underrate the power of a fit model,” says 15-year veteran Dran May, whose accounts include Enchante and a maternity line--where she fits with a special pillow she helped develop.

“A manufacturer has to have a consistent fit the consumer can identify with,” May explains. “There is nothing worse than going into a store, buying a pair of pants and returning a month later (for an identical pair) and finding the fit is off--because the manufacturer is fitting on his wife or his secretary.”

After years of experience, models such as May are savvy. “We know about threads, about patterns, about placement and proportions. In my case, there are companies that will not pass a garment until I come in and say it’s OK, because over the years their garments have sold.”

For Jennifer Joanou, a young Los Angeles designer with a studio and shop on La Brea Avenue, fit was once a problem. “I thought maybe it was me or my pattern maker,” she recalls. It turned out to be her model. “There was something off, but it wasn’t visible to the eye.”

Joanou laughs at the misconception held by some customers that she is her own fit model. “I’m a teeny-weeny Size 2 with a body that isn’t in proportion to my legs.” Instead, she relies on Mayra Fornos, whom she describes as average size with a really great figure.

A former Los Angeles Rams cheerleader, Fornos fell into the profession when a friend, a cheerleader cum fit model, asked her to substitute while she was on vacation. “It was a transformation for me,” says Fornos, who has helped shape Guess jeans.

Two years ago, when she had more jobs than she could handle while attending law school, Fornos started Models! Models! in Culver City.

One of her early discoveries, Yvette Sturgeon, was between careers when Fornos spotted her at a party.

“I had never heard of a fit model before. I thought it was incredible that you could try on clothes all day--especially if you’re a clothes horse,” says Sturgeon, a junior sportswear model who has learned to fiddle with at least one measurement: “If you need a bigger waistline, you can always eat before an interview. If they like you, they will compensate for the difference.”

To maintain her professional standing, Sturgeon reads trade publications and listens carefully to what pattern makers say. She also exercises regularly, knowing she will be “measured from head to toe every three months or any time there is a new pattern maker.”

After three years, she has 16 accounts, including Yes Clothing Co., and numerous fit model perks--such as lavish presents and clothes that are either free or discounted.

Although she frequently must explain her work, assuring people she did not say “foot model,” Sturgeon is ecstatic about her unexpected luck: “My lifestyle has changed drastically. First I got a Mercedes, then I got a car phone. My car is like my office now. And I’ve moved into a really nice loft apartment.”

Such success stories come with the territory. But for Nancy Kruse, a large-size fit model, there is an added bonus.

“I’m a consultant, which is much more rewarding than other forms of modeling,” explains Kruse, who also does runway work.

She considers it part of the job to let her employers know “the average large-size woman is not sitting on her couch in a muumuu, watching Oprah Winfrey and eating Twinkies. These women have careers and they care about how they look.”

Her employers, who include Paul Stanley and St. John, “are counting on me and my input. It’s still a case of testing the waters in large sizes.”

Fit models have their personal touches--one wears Eternity, “because everyone tells me how good I smell”; another insists on manicured nails, “because I’m always pointing to something;” yet another brushes her teeth between appointments, “because I get so close to people.”

For Kruse it is her bras: “I must have 40 or 50 in different colors and patterns. I try to match whatever I’m wearing. I started collecting them because people see me so often in my underwear.”

But the best part of the job is the clothes: “I’ve been large-size ever since I was a baby. When I would go shopping with my grandmother, I would always ask her, ‘Why can’t I have cute clothes? Why can’t they just make them bigger?’ ”

Now Kruse has so many pretty clothes, they have overtaken her apartment. They are everywhere--even on racks in her living room. “I’m making up for lost time,” says the woman who served as fit model for them all. “I feel like a kid in a candy store.”