First Avenue -- Seattle's Designer Strip -- Stroll Along This City's Equivalent Of New York's Seventh Avenue, Our Own `Fashion Row'

If you're looking for the work of local fashion designers, take a walk down Seattle's First Avenue. From Battery Street to Main Street, 14 shops are either owned by or stock items by local designers. The strip is becoming Seattle's version of New York's Seventh Avenue, known as "fashion row," because of the designers located there.

Scattered from trendy Belltown to Pioneer Square, nine boutiques have opened in the last five years - four in the last two.

Why First Avenue?

"There is a really cool crowd that comes down here because of the museum and the Market," says Jason Harler, co-owner of Garuda, the newest shop to open. "It's a great spot."

The clothiers say the strip is becoming "groovier and groovier." So go ahead, take a walk or hop a bus from shop to shop. The entire strip is in the free-ride zone.

1. KIKO HOUSE OF COUTURE 2416 First Ave. Opened: 1993. Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday, by appointment only (728-5080). Owner/designer: Kiko Rodriguez. Price range: $100 for a career dress, $200 for cocktail dress, wedding dresses from $350 up. Ambiance: Racks of dress samples in the front and a sewing machine in back create a works-in-progress feel. Rodriquez consults with customers to design career, evening and wedding ensembles. The Philippines native was a fashion designer in Manila for 15 years.

2. BETTINA 2224 First Ave. Opened: 1994. Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Owner/designer: Bettina Roullier, a milliner and designer, carries the work of 20 local designers including milliners, handbag designers and lace dresses, leggings and shirts by Holly Elizabeth Rice. Price range: $40 to $85 for a shirt, $106 for a lace mini dress. Ambiance: The shop brings a New York Soho salon atmosphere to the north of The Market end of First Avenue, where upscale clothing shops share the block with espresso cafes. Customers can relax on the sofa while browsing artsy, elegant, unique clothing.

3. UNO-DUO 2209 First Ave. Opened: 1989. Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Owners/designers: Donald Fletcher and Roni Vincent-Fletcher include up to four local designers at a time in their mix of clothing from national and international designers. Among the locally designed items are men's silk kimono and shibori vests by Kikuko Dewa of Ikko, men's quilted satin vests by Reymond Chapman and designs by two jewelers. Price range: Vests average $125; jewelry starts at $20. Ambiance: The inside espresso cart and sitting area create a town square feel. The clothing and accessories are an eclectic mix of trendy items and "classic with an edge," said manager Catherine Hay.

4. DARBURY STENDERU 2121 First Ave. Opened: 1992 (Opened in Fremont in 1989; added San Francisco shop in 1994.) Hours: 11:15 a.m. to 6:15 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Owner/designer: Darbury Stenderu Price range: Pants start at $140, dresses at $168. Ambiance: Her business card reads: "Darbury Stenderu speaks the tongue of the future and will continue to sow threads of beauty." If that isn't descriptive enough, the fabric wall hangings she hand dyes, prints and paints - and eventually takes down and designs into clothes - should be. Her uses brilliant colors in her unique cut velvet and silk designs.

5. GIAN DE CARO SARTORIA 2025 First Ave., Suite D Opened: 1990 (Downtown since 1988.) Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, or by appointment (448-2812). Owner/designer: Gian De Caro, tailor. Price range: Custom shirts start at $90, trousers at $295, suits average $1,700. Ambiance: De Caro dresses Bill Gates, hands out Havana cigars and, if there was any doubt that his designs are chic, the two-page spread in this month's GQ Magazine should dispel it.

6. FAST FORWARD 1918 First Ave. Opened: 1991 (Opened 1989 on Capitol Hill.) Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. Owner/designers: Harry Green includes 50 Seattle jewelers, artists, milliners and designers in his eclectic mix of art and fashion. The clothing designers include Merry Christine Rantz, known for her cotton Lycra and stretch-lace dresses, and Cicada, featuring washed rayons, silks and velvets. Price range: Shirts begin at $50, men's trousers from $75 to $100, women's dresses from $50 to $120. Ambiance: Much of the quirky, whimsical decor is for sale, made by local artists, such as the metal wall-mounted coat hooks and candelabras by Michael Molea. Seven locally designed clothing lines hang alongside national ones, men's in the front, women's in the back. Nearly half of the business is tourists looking for unique clothes.

7. BOSTON ST. 101 Stewart St. Opened: 1992 (Opened on Queen Anne Hill in 1980.) Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. Owner/designers: Cathy Aller carries more than 50 local children's clothing designers, including Peacock Rodeo, a husband-and-wife team who design reversible pants, skirts and vests in colorful patterns and Cotton Caboodle, which features solid color tops, leggings, sweats and cardigans. Price range: Tops start at $10, pants at $20. Ambiance: Colorful, whimsical outfits for the fashionable one-something crowd.

8. LOCAL BRILLIANCE 1535 First Ave. Opened: 1985 Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday Owner/designers: Renata Tatman carries clothing, jewelry and accessories by 25 local designers, including Siren Blue dresses and separates in textured fabrics, such as a two-tone striped velour, and Tatman's own signature line, featuring 1940s-inspired dresses with details such as scalloped or shawl collars. Price range: Shirts and pants start at $60, dresses at $100. Ambiance: Tatman opened the shop 10 years ago to sell the wares of local designers because local retailers refused to try her clothing line. All of the lines are by Seattle and Portland designers. It is truly a boutique, Seattle style.

9. DITA BOUTIQUE 1525 First Ave. Opened: 1992 (Opened on Capitol Hill in 1972.) Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Owner/designers: Smadar Friedlander carries three local designers including Akimbo, whose designs have flowing lines and a sophisticated fit in cottons, wools and linens. Price range: Tops start at $75, skirts $100, jackets $150. Ambiance: Friedlander opened 23 years ago stocked with natural fibers and unique looks as a department-store alternative. She's retained that boutique setting, including a fitting area where she pins and alters.

10. GARUDA CLOTHIER 1336 First Ave. Opened: 1994 Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Owners/designer: Jason Harler, Jon Rosson and Jared Harler. Jason Harler designs women's and men's clothing. Price range: Pants, shirts, dresses, jackets $40-$150. Ambiance: It's a cross between Salvador Dali-esque and industrial chic, with exposed concrete beams and a goldfish, Herb, swimming in a glass head atop the front counter. The clothes have cutting edge detailing: PVC black plastic trim on a silver Lurex men's V-neck pullover; shirt-sleeve buttons running from elbow to cuff.

11. ARDOUR 1115 First Ave. Opened: 1993 Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Owner/designers: Dayna Grubb features Seattle designer Mae Fern Schroeder, who designs blouses, skirts and dresses with hand-covered linen or antique mother of pearl buttons, and jewelry designer Victoria Haven. Price range: Hourglass-shaped blouses $160, cropped skirts $172, earrings start at $26. Ambiance: It's like stepping into a chic country clothing store. Grubb calls it an extension of her closet, a place to find unique designs in all natural fibers from California, Chicago and New York as well as Seattle.

12. RAGAZZI'S FLYING SHUTTLE 607 First Ave. Opened: 1983 (Current owners bought the business last year.) Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Owners/designers: JoAnn and Anna Williams carry 30 local clothing, accessory and jewelry designers, including the sister's own Ragazzi clothing line, which they began designing 12 years ago. Price range: Pants start at $80, jackets $210, scarves at $100. Ambiance: The Williamses arrived at clothing design from an art background, and the store layout reflects that. The eye is drawn to the brilliant colors and rich textures of scarves hung like pieces of art around the store. The clothes are classically elegant in contemporary colors and styles.

13. WE HATS 105 First Ave. S. Opened: 1979 Hours: 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Owner/designers: Leone Ewoldt and her two assistants design many of the soft hats and hats to order. Price range: An EcoSpun cuffed pillbox hat costs $16, a cat-in-the-hat style $87.50. Abiance: It's a place for people to try on hats, act silly, and maybe buy one, partly because of the fun they've had. When Ewoldt first opened the store, she'd stay after hours to make hats and people would rattle the door to get in. She let them in, and has closed at midnight on weekends since.

14. DESIGN PRODUCTS CLOTHING 208 First Ave. S. Opened: 1974 Hours: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday. Owner/designers: Owner Vicki Tsuchida includes two Seattle designers, Deliane Klein, who custom tailors a line of clothing in linens, rayons, silks and wools, and the Janell line of handpainted silk scarves. Price range: Lined skirts start at $130, dresses $180, jackets $240; scarves start at $120. Ambiance: The boutique is filled with racks of a wide variety of clothing styles, reflecting the clientele. The store attracts a mix of tourists, Pioneer Square residents, people in the arts - an upscale, adventuresome woman.

------------------- SHOPS PARTICIPATING ------------------- Many of the shops listed below will be participating in "The Oz Ball" fashion show, from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. March 18 at the Newmark Building, Second Avenue and Union Street. The event is billed as a night of "fashion, lust and desire." Tickets are $7 in advance, $10 at the door, to benefit Reflex Magazine, a visual arts publication. For details call 682-7688.