MOGUL IN THE MAKING / Usher, nominated for Yeah! from “Confessions”

Although he’s been in the music business for more than a decade, Usher Raymond is still, at 26, a kid. But with eight Grammy nominations this year, including three for “Yeah!,” Usher is in superstar territory. He’s starting to look like a major mogul--or fantasy prom date--in all-white suits with shiny buttons, matching white hats and giant pinkie rings.

In the beginning, all it took to ready Usher for a photo shoot was a fresh ball cap. These days, he employs stylist Dawn Haynes, who keeps a cellphone to her ear 24/7. If she’s not calling Italy for a direct line to Giorgio Armani or Dolce & Gabbana, she’s dialing a carefully guarded list of custom tailors in Los Angeles who craft the shirts and pants that complement his ever-growing array of elegant jackets.

“I go to the smaller boutiques and meet with tailors and show them sketches and swatches,” Haynes says. “We’ll design something inspired by one of the classic men who walked the red carpets in the past.”

Like many young stars seeking style credibility, Usher is channeling the Golden Age of Hollywood. His tailored clothes are reminiscent of those worn by Clark Gable, Fred Astaire and even, Haynes says, Hugh Hefner--though we’ve yet to see him in silk Sulka pajamas.

“It’s important for us to keep Usher original,” she says. That’s why she’ll go the distance to have designers such as Michael Kors or Armani custom-design looks.

For a high-profile appearance at the MTV Europe Video Music Awards last year with now ex-girlfriend Naomi Campbell, it was hard to tell who was wearing more designer labels--him or her. Usher was decked out in a cream paper-thin lamb suede Gucci jacket, a brown Dolce & Gabbana shirt, Kors glen-plaid pants and a designer brooch from the Maxfield boutique in West Hollywood.

“If it’s a music-driven appearance, we try to stay a little more loose or more fashion-forward, as opposed to traditional and couture,” Haynes says. Onstage as a sultry R&B; singer, Usher may don leather pants and doff the shirt. When he’s on the arm of a supermodel or TLC singer Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, he may be in hunky boyfriend mode with a leather jacket, cozy scarf and jeans by Rock & Republic, True Religion or the custom line Jaded by Knight--which sells items from $600 to $1,600.

With success, Haynes says, Usher’s wardrobe has gotten richer. But “on any given day, Usher’s still a normal guy. He may be in jeans and a T-shirt, but the T-shirt may be Gucci.”

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HOW TO GET THE LOOK

To get his mogul-in-the-making look, sultry singer Usher

relies on the talents of many custom tailors, including the embroidered and leather applique designs of Jaded by Knight. The 6-month-old line

is the work of twentysomething Hollywood natives Mike

Knight and Noah Knight. Jackets, from $1,300 to $1,500, at H. Men, Sunset Plaza,

8646 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 652-7039.