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Designer: Cynthia Rowley

by Bart Boehlert
(Page 4)

"Fashion shouldn't be an exclusive thing," says Rowley, "People should be able to see what it's about."

Rowley's approach to fashion design is as light-hearted as her plans for restoring an entire downtown building to live in. "On the roof, I'm going to have a trampoline, a lap pool, and an outdoor shower," she states, "as well as a stair banister inside that's really a slide so you can get dressed upstairs in the morning and shoot right out the front door."

Now, Rowley is working on her fall collection which will be presented in New York later this month. Her fashion show will be broadcast live on the Jumbotron, the huge video screen in Times Square. "Fashion shouldn't be an exclusive thing," says Rowley, "People should be able to see what the excitement is about." Still, the scope of the project has her terrified. "I sit up at night and scream, 'JUMBOTRON!'"

"We make fun little things," says Rowley of her new line, "things that make you happy."

Cynthia Rowley's fall collection has an "indulgence" theme. Big chocolate bars served as invitations for the show. The clothes will be based on champagne, burgundy, cognac, caviar and red roses. "We make fun little things that make you happy," says Rowley.