Dana Harvey

Dana Harvey owes his success as a rising star to the wings of an angel Because of their inherent humor, the Costa Mesa designer's backpacks, made of quilted metallic vinyl and shaped like angel wings, have created a buzz among the young and trendy. Wings symbolize innocence, especially amusing in a nightclub setting. And cut from quilted material like Channel bags, they take on a couture quality.

Dana Harvey owes his success as a rising star to the wings of an angel Because of their inherent humor, the Costa Mesa designer's backpacks, made of quilted metallic vinyl and shaped like angel wings, have created a buzz among the young and trendy. Wings symbolize innocence, especially amusing in a nightclub setting. And cut from quilted material like Channel bags, they take on a couture quality.

There's nothing subtle about a satin shirt. It's right at home in a gangland hangout or in a sleazy cocktail lounge. Cowboys croon in them. Mobsters look slick in them. And now young guns--who would rather look like a dangerous honey-bunny from "Pulp Fiction" than an Armani-wearing "American Gigolo"--are wearing them for dress-up. At a recent L.A.

Backpacks have become the fashionable alternative to purses this season, inspiring designers from the house of Prada to fledgling street-wear labels to come up with interpretations that reflect the individuality of its wearer. While tiny black satin packs and ones made of exotic skins have been welcomed by the well-heeled, the funkier, usually more affordable versions have endeared themselves among the young and eclectic. The rule: the more unconventional the better.

In the order of things Friday night at the McKenna Theatre on the campus of San Francisco State University, comedian Richard Riordan was sandwiched between Brett Butler, the former star of the ABC sitcom "Grace Under Fire," and Steve Dacri, a magician billed as "direct from Caesars Palace." Riordan was direct from the campaign trail, which has only gotten rockier as the Tuesday primary nears.

Sandra Harvey watched closely as a makeup artist put the finishing brush strokes on a model's pale complexion. "Darken her mole," Harvey said, before heading off to critique another model's out-of-control bouffant hairdo. For Harvey, a Newport Beach fashion designer, no detail, not even a beauty mark, was too small to escape her notice for her first fashion show to premiere her fall 1991 collection of women's sportswear.