Katayone Adeli

OCCUPATION Fashion designer, whose no-hype line is now in 200 stores

GOAL To create fresh, subtle classics that endure for all seasons

QUOTE "I see fashion as improving on what's already good"

At a moment when fashion designers increasingly steal the flashbulbs for themselves, Katayone Adeli is a rare designer who has survived--and thrived--on word of mouth alone. She does no advertising for her line, holds no runway shows and shuns the press and the party circuit. Yet last year her 2 1/2-year-old label did $20 million in sales and netted her a nomination for the Perry Ellis Award for new talent given by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. "The customer has found me," she says. "It has definitely become a cult following." One enthusiast is Gwyneth Paltrow, who recently trilled to Vogue, "I try to get every pair of pants Katayone Adeli makes."

What's the draw? Simple, painstakingly hewn, often monochromatic pieces that remain constant from one season to the next. "I don't think customers have to be walking billboards for me," she says. As for her clientele, they are "smart girls or really skinny guys." Adeli, 33, was born in Iran and tagged along with her mother to the family tailor to watch him stitch clothes out of fine European textiles. Now living in New York City, she looks for ideas in flea markets or thrift stores, a sketch pad always handy. "I can walk around the city and still be working," she says. "I like to keep in touch with what's happening on the street."

--By Jodie Morse