AbGab

Those who remember fondly the cult British sitcom “Absolutely Fabulous” may want to know: Edina’s in town. Well, not Edina exactly, but close enough: Former fashion public relations tycoon Lynne Franks, the real-life inspiration for the show, has come to L.A. to stay.

First aired in November 1992 in the U.K. and in July 1994 on the Comedy Central cable channel in the U.S., “AbFab” was an instant hit with sophisticated audiences attuned to its virulent tone and parodic excesses of every sort perpetrated by the shrill Edina and her bitchy consort, Patsy.

At first glance, the tanned and voluptuous woman basking in the sun on a flowered rooftop terrace in Venice bears little resemblance to “AbFab’s” hysterical, selfish, whining and bullying star.

“Clearly, the character is based on me,” says Franks as she sprawls contentedly in a lounge chair. “But it is not me. I was quite hurt when the show came out.”

While she admits to similar lifestyles--both she and Edina work in public relations, are Buddhists and have two children--Franks says her personality differs vastly from Edina’s. She says she was never as vapid and self-centered, did not imbibe Bollinger champagne from morning to night, had a “fantastic” relationship with her own mother and daughter, and never had a sex-mad, alcoholic and anorexic best friend. And while she did (in a pinch) leave her car on the pavement next to London’s Harvey Nichols department store, “I was never fond of Lacroix,” she points out. “I preferred Chanel.”

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For all her distress at being confused with the monstrous character, Franks chose to name her autobiography “Absolutely Now!” (Overlook Press, 1998). “The ‘AbFab’ connection is a vehicle to open doors to talk about things I really want to talk about,” she says. “And the British press would have made the connection anyway.”

Launched this summer across the United States, “Absolutely Now!” is an earnest account of Franks’ attempt to morph from a frenetic consumer into an ethical philosopher. It spans her spiritual and geographic journey across the continents and into New Age, Buddhism, crystals, Celtic religions and trance dancing, interspersing her peregrinations with musings on feminism, environmental activism and socially responsible business.

At her three-story loft awash in mint green, orange and cobalt blue, Franks is nervous and somewhat diffident, apparently still reeling from the shock of the last few weeks. At 50, her life--like her loft--appears to be a constant work-in-progress. In May, she left the familiar confines of London for the uncharted territory of Los Angeles. In the month that followed, she lost her father, flew home for his funeral, broke up with her partner of two years and threw herself into a whirlwind social life while frantically preparing her book launch and setting up her new business.

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Such commotion would floor the common mortal. For Franks, it’s almost--but not quite--all in a day’s work. A celebrity in her own right during the 1970s and 1980s, the public relations maven extraordinaire started her own agency from her kitchen table before the age of 30, expanding in the next 20 years to a staff of 50. She launched the Spice Girls and London Fashion Week and orchestrated Swatch’s British invasion. She worked with designers Katherine Hamnet, Vivienne Westwood, Tommy Hilfiger, John Galliano, Jean-Paul Gaultier and Calvin Klein and hobnobbed with singers Boy George, Sinead O’Connor and Chrissie Hynde. She partied hard and indulged in all the excesses of the time. She also became a Buddhist and engaged in cause-related marketing on behalf of the Amazon rain forest, Fashion Aid, Greenpeace, AIDS awareness and international charities.

The British press dubbed her the PR guru. She had fame, fortune, a husband, two children and countless friends.

In short, she had it all.

And then she left it all.

In 1992, Franks threw over her business, husband, dream house and the trappings of success to roam the world for five years in search of her inner truth. Those years took her to the 1995 U.N. women’s conference in Beijing, to India, to ancient Celtic sites in Ireland and Britain and to Africa.

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“It was a matter of survival,” she says. “I’d forgotten what it was like to be a human being, because I was too busy being a human doing.”

On the sixth year, she moved to L.A.

She chose the city for its weather, its lifestyle and its possibilities.

“I’d been coming here for years,” she says. “It was time to create a vehicle to start manifesting my projects. For good or for bad, L.A. is the communications center of the 21st century.”

Lynne Franks LA is the first office to open under the aegis of Global Fusion, a form of “new marketing” she devised to establish commercially viable and ethically responsible partnerships among the media, business and society.

One of Franks’ ambitions is to develop L.A. Fashion Fusion, an annual version of the Paris, London and Tokyo fashion weeks, with a twist.

“The idea first sparked when I read in the Los Angeles Times that Vidal Sassoon thought it would be a great idea to have a fashion week here,” she says.

She’s hoping for a debut in September or April. Fashion Fusion would give pride of place to local designers and manufacturers of sportswear, streetwear, and tribal and ethnic clothing, she says. Her goal: to support the California clothing industry, promote tourism and raise money for community charities, with particular emphasis on the creative education of lower-income children.

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“There’s a distinctive L.A. style which influences fashion all over the world,” Franks says. “Active sportswear is put together in a unique way. I don’t think any other city in the world is as dedicated to the cult of the body.”

The “street gangster” look, which originated here, has invaded the Paris catwalks, she says, and jeans (Levi Strauss, Gap and Guess are all based in California) have invaded the world.

“There’s definitely a different look because of the climate,” she says. “It’s not as casual as Australia, more casual than San Francisco, but not as formal as Europe or the East Coast. Dressing here is an art. It’s a fashion challenge.”

Another of Franks’ pet projects is Street Style, a cooperative venture aimed at teaching homeless and destitute women to produce fashion accessories under the aegis of Patricia Shelhammer’s Family Assistance Program workshop in West Hollywood. Conceived by top designers, the items would be sold in retail stores with a high percentage of the profits going back to the artisans.

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Another idea is to create television programming featuring global fashion and lifestyles based on craftspeople practicing traditional skills.

“It’s the concept of fusion through culture,” Franks says, “and fashion is part of our culture.”

When she’s not seeking sponsors for her Los Angeles-based projects, Franks works with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization promoting micro-finance ventures in Bangladesh, Bosnia, Latin America and Africa, linking fashion and economic development to empower women.

She also travels the world as a guest speaker at conferences on women and development, ethical business, the feminization of business and future consumer lifestyles.

“I’m paid to be a futurist,” she says. “I’ve always had vision, but I’ve never been a dreamer. I manifested my dreams.”

Despite all her efforts, Franks may not have changed as deeply as she believes. She is still imperious, driven and high strung. She wants to do 1,000 things at once. She hangs onto her cell phone as if to a lifeline. She thrives on human contact, rapid friendships and phone calls that start at 6 a.m.

She works in her kitchen, surrounded by the soothing smells of aromatherapy.

“I’m back at the kitchen table where I started,” she says, “but this time, I want to make sure I don’t lose the plot.”

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Lynne Franks will sign copies of her book on Aug. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica, and Aug. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at the Bodhi Tree in West Hollywood.