By Design : Two Firsts: One by Klein, One for Beene

You’re nobody till somebody sells it to you wholesale. That was made painfully clear to us this week when we heard that Calvin Klein’s fall-winter collection was being shown to tout le Hollywood--not in a store (that happens at Neiman Marcus later this month), but in a private suite at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. What’s more, said our source, the merchandise was being sold at cost.

But when we tried to invite ourself to the party, guess what?

“I’m afraid all of the appointments are booked up,” said Elizabeth Rogers, Klein’s West Coast public relations rep and Hollywood liaison, reached Tuesday by phone at the hotel. Sure, designers have their favorite clients, but even those familiar with the fashion world’s courtship of Hollywood deemed this arrangement unprecedented.

One insider speculated that the move was an attempt “to build a customer base” before Calvin Klein’s Rodeo Drive boutique opens for business at a not-yet disclosed date. Still another was sure that the extra-early preview of the fall collection would irritate the Wilshire Boulevard retailers--such as Saks Fifth Avenue, I. Magnin, Barneys New York and Neiman Marcus--that carry the Klein line.

Executives at Neiman Marcus’ Dallas buying offices could not be reached for comment, but Beverly Morgan, spokeswoman for the Beverly Hills store, said she hadn’t heard about the Klein sale. “I’m sure we’re fine with it,” she added.

Rogers said the collection had never been sold in this manner. “What it is, basically,” she stammered, “is a preview. We’re showing it privately, before it hits the trunk-show circuit, to celebrities who like to wear Calvin Klein and those we’d like to wear Calvin Klein.”

Meg Ryan, Anjelica Huston, Patricia Arquette, Goldie Hawn and Natalie Cole had already stopped by, she said. So, apparently, had assorted studio execs and high-powered agents. All of whom know a deal when they see one.

Rogers bristled, however, when asked about the deep discount--typically offered only when the season has ended. “This is a private event--it’s not to be written about. We’d rather not comment about what’s going on here.”

His Excellence: A New York designer who actually likes L.A.? Geoffrey Beene, in town this week to accept the LACMA Costume Council’s first Award of Excellence, has even named his next collection “Santa Monica.”

Sitting at a shady table on the balcony of the museum’s Bing Theater, where his fall collection was shown Monday, Beene reminisced about the glamorous turban-wearing aunt he visited in Los Angeles each summer, starting at age 14. He refreshed some of those memories over the weekend, he said, with a stroll through Santa Monica. “My aunt would wear short-sleeved blouses, printed pants and high, cork wedgies”--a look he’s incorporating for next spring’s collection.

“My clothes are never retro,” Beene said, “but good things are never retro.” Nor will the spring collection contain anything too fragile. Think of two of Beene’s best-known clients, Glenn Close and Paloma Picasso, and you get the idea.

A Marriage of Convenience: From now on, the marketing, selling and development of Fred Hayman Beverly Hills Fragrance Collections will be in the hands of Ilia Lekach, chairman and CEO of Pompano, Fla.-based Parlux Fragrances Inc.

“It is very hard for a small company to sell to department stores these days,” Lekach said this week. By merging Parlux, which sells Vicky Tiel, Animale Parfums and Todd Oldham (due in March), with Fred Hayman Fragrances (273 and Touch), Lekach has nearly doubled Parlux’s worldwide wholesale volume to more than $50 million.

By licensing his name, Hayman becomes a major shareholder in Parlux. It’s an arrangement that makes both parties fairly giddy with excitement. “I did an analysis of the company,” Lekach said, “then I went courting. It’s a perfect marriage.” For his part, Hayman said he’s happy to let Parlux expand international sales while he concentrates on his Beverly Hills boutique.

Wish List: We can only hope that when Bloomingdale’s hits Beverly Hills--rumor has it, on the parking lot next to R.J.’s on Beverly Drive, north of Wilshire Boulevard--our dreams of a Fantasy Department Store will come true. At our FDS (an unfortunate acronym), we’d never have to wait 15 minutes for a clerk to retrieve a pair of Size 8 shoes, only to be presented with a Size 8 1/2. At our FDS, we would never have to listen to salesclerks discuss tedious luncheon plans before tallying our purchases. At our FDS, we wouldn’t have to squat in a dimly lit corner to hunt for the right size kids’ tights while salesclerks argue about whose turn it is for a break. It’s the customer’s turn for a break, OK? There, we feel better now.

Blinded by the Light: Forget bonding. Forget teeth whiteners. We hear the best way to make your smile seem brighter is to make your gums redder. It sounds gruesome, but a local beauty swears by a dentifrice rouge called Email Diamant. She asks anyone going to France to bring it back for her, or she orders it for $10 from Boyd’s cosmetics in New York City. Anything for beauty . . .

Lunchables: Surprise visitor at the New Yorker’s soiree at Bistro Garden in honor of Fragrance Week, hosted by West Coast editor Caroline Graham, was Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-N.Y.), who--despite being the subject of the magazine’s criticism--was charming to one and all . . . Rome-based jeweler Bulgari introduced its new Chandra collection of white porcelain with 18-karat gold jewelry at the Bel-Air Hotel, leaving us to ponder whether to buy the $500 ring or the $23,000 necklace . . . We hear that Mr. Inside Out’s favorite “Mod Squad”-er, Peggy Lipton, is the possible replacement for Isabella Rossellini at Lancome.

* Inside Out is published Thursdays.