Newsday from New York, New York • 190

I VP, nRnnmvmEW 3 UmMmmm aamall My Sheryl Fitzgerald experience. Its preoccupation with the elements of the solar system results in custom-designed textiles that are startling in their effort, an effect that might become overwhelming in other hands. In her earlier collections Cleopatra replayed her motifs the suns, abstract fen shapes, a starburst and its tiny crescent moons in different sizes and in fabrics ranging from jacquard knits to silk jacquard, challis, beaded tulle and panne velvet. For spring they appear again, but this time theyve been toned down into shades of peach, gray, white and black in such fabrics as silk jacquard, cotton damask and mattelaaae. A white silk jacquard chemise, low-slung, with wide flanged shoulders and a side slit, has stylized gray fans curving around from the throat to the hem.

A quilted jacket in shades of peach is printed with her "female sun, and a sweater dress and vest are patterned in a Vasarely-like checkerboard print. But the thing that most sets Cleopatra apart from many of her fellow designers is the unity of her collections. When one is faced with the complete collection hanging on chrome racks in the showroom, they seem to be separate parts of a carefully planned jigsaw puzzle one in which every piece makes an individual statement, yet each perfectly complements the next. Thus, she said, the person who buy her designs has perfect freedom to mix last years sweaters with this years silk pants or last seasons quilted jacket with next seasons skirt and Mouse. "Its all part of my concept, she explains.

"The designs of my fabrics, the design of my clothing are all meant to energize the woman, to make her look and feel beautiful. Yet with all the planning that goes into a Cleopatra collection the clothing, ranging in price from $400 to $2,000, often is less expensive than that of other designers at her level. "I believe in giving quality," Cleopatra said. "I think that everything should be done juat right. The workmanship that goes into the clothing is very important, as important aa the design, and I pay a lot of attention, to that But still, I dont believe that everything has to be so very expensive.

I think that you can give quality at a good price. ms When Cleopatra Broumand goes home, her hometown newspaper writea a big article about her, just aa it would about Hill Blase, Indianas other contribution to the fhahion world. And it doesn't seem to matter a bit to the folks there that Indianapolis is her adopted home. "They always make a big rasa, Cleopatra said about the to-do her frienda back in Indianapolis kick up when she does a perwmal appearance them. "I gue ifa a very hig thing for them to have me come from there.

Its like Bill Blass; they seem to be really proud of us." Bom in Tehran, Iran, Cleopatra as she wishes to be known professionally was sent to Indianapolis as a teenager by her father, who in his love for things American had decided that hia children needed an American education. There, living with an older brother who had been sent from Iran earlier, she attended high school, where at first she had to brave the taunts of classmates who found her name and her lack of English amusing. After high school Cleopatra went to New York City to study design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. When she graduated she went into the boutique business in New York, managed a large textile film in the Mideaat, designed textiles and later accompanying her husband to China served as a consultant to the Republic of Back in New York in the late 70s, Cleopatra decided it was time to go back into the clothing business, so she opened a small made-to-order boutique on Manhat-tans East Side. Last spring she presented her first ready-to-wear collection to rave reviews.

Composed of huge sweaters and sweater dresses, cues, chemises and evening gowns many of them emblazoned with a stylised sunburst the collection caught the attention of such notables as Elizabeth Taylor, who ordered eight of Cleopatras creations and wore one to her engagement party and another to the Washington, D.C., tribute to David Ben-Gurkm. Joan Collins also has purchased her designs. Designer Cleopatra in one of her original sunburst textiles The primary inspiration for her thwigna, said Cleopatra in an interview in the Seventh Avenue showroom she has-decorated with wall hangings made from the textiles she designs, is the art, ancient and modem, that she collects. "Most of my inspirations come from art, she Mrplainad- "Hu representations of the sun in ancient art are an inspiration for the male and female suns in my textiles. Everything comes from the art that I love.

Thus, Cleopatras clothing often is an energy-filled In fahlon3.