Recession Wears Thin; Designer to Close Shop : Consolidation: D.N. Evans will move operations to Los Angeles. Closure suggests that even the well-heeled are not immune to the slowdown.

One of Orange County’s most exclusive fashion designers plans to close her store on Coast Highway after 18 years of outfitting local society--a victim of the lingering recession.

D.N. Evans, who has draped the county’s affluent women for years in $3,500 custom-designed gowns, has decided to consolidate her business with a second store on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, said Michael Evans, who owns the store along with his wife.

Last spring, another prominent clothing designer, Amen Wardy, closed his store in Fashion Island in Newport Beach. The closures are another sign that the recession is affecting the spending habits of Orange County’s wealthy as well as the less affluent.

Evans said Tuesday that the Sunset Boulevard store, which opened a year ago, has been a success, attracting a number of Hollywood celebrities.

But sales at the Laguna Beach store have not recovered since falling off after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August, 1990.

“We were hoping to be able to continue to have both operations, but during the current recession a lot of the clientele haven’t been able to support it,” Evans explained.

The move will be completed by the end of the year.

The Laguna Beach shop weathered earlier recessions, including the 1981-82 downturn. But the current recession has hit the local real estate industry particularly hard, Evans said, noting that developers’ wives were among his best customers.

The D.N. Evans store sells ready-to-wear outfits for about $1,800, custom-designed outfits for $3,500 and up, and entire seasonal wardrobes for about $10,000. Although Evans won’t name names, the stores’ customers have included “a lot of princesses and movie stars.”

D.N. Evans designed the white satin bridal gown--complete with embroidered teardrops on the bodice--for musician Patti Scialfa’s wedding to rock star Bruce Springsteen.

Although best known for bridal and evening wear, D.N. Evans also designs sportswear.

Mary Rubinstein, co-owner of the Mi Place apparel store in Laguna Niguel, said she is sorry to see D.N. Evans leaving.

“I’m sad. I was sad when Amen Wardy closed,” Rubinstein said.

“There aren’t a lot of people who do custom designing, and that’s becoming a lost art.”

Rubinstein said it remains to be seen whether D.N. Evans’ Orange County customers will follow the designer to Los Angeles.

“Half of my women (customers) have never been to Beverly Hills” for shopping, she said.

“They are more likely to go to Palm Springs or Hawaii.”