Mark Eisen

Two days after his New York debut, designer Mark Eisen is in his showroom, chain-smoking Marlboros, gulping cappuccino from a cardboard container and modestly shrugging off praise. "What took Mark Eisen so long to hit Seventh Avenue?" demanded Women's Wear Daily, the rag-trade bible. Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys and Neiman Marcus are among the chichi emporiums showering Eisen with orders.

Two days after his New York debut, designer Mark Eisen is in his showroom, chain-smoking Marlboros, gulping cappuccino from a cardboard container and modestly shrugging off praise. "What took Mark Eisen so long to hit Seventh Avenue?" demanded Women's Wear Daily, the rag-trade bible. Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys and Neiman Marcus are among the chichi emporiums showering Eisen with orders.

Fall '91 designer collections are arriving in local stores, and every top name in the business is shipping a plaid suit. Italy's Valentino, who shows his collections in Paris, uses brilliant quilted silk fabric for his version. One colorful option in violet, turquoise and white plaid sells for $3,645. It will be at the Valentino boutique in Beverly Hills this fall. He pairs it with updated ethnic jewelry--a mix of silver and semiprecious stones--that will also be at the boutique.

In a bold move that challenges an outmoded stereotype, five Los Angeles designers showed their fall fashion collections in Manhattan Tuesday, right along with the biggest names from Seventh Avenue. Rosemary Brantley, Mark Eisen, Karl Logan, Antony Moorcroft and Glenn Williams sent their styles down the runway at the Manhattan Theatre Center, just days after most Los Angeles designers showed their fall collections in California. "I wanted to include California designs that the New York fashion press would take seriously," said Joie Davidow, editor-in-chief of L.A. Style magazine, which sponsored the show featuring tailored sportswear.

If bigger means better, Brea shoppers should be all set. After months of construction and an all-night move, a brand new Nordstrom opens today at Brea Mall. The store has 184,000 square feet, and replaces the 9-year-old Nordstrom store at Brea. The new, $17.5-million store about doubles the previous store's area of 104,000 square feet. Among its features: an upgraded designer area, with labels like Andrea Behar, Karl Logan and Mark Eisen.

Fashion has long been dominated by a small group of pricey New York designers, but fall '91 may signal a change. A new generation of designers is attracting attention. Their names aren't as familiar as Bill Blass, Ralph Lauren or Donna Karan, but their talents have admirers hailing them as the hope of America's fashion future. Zang Toi, Gordon Henderson and Todd Oldham are among the East Coast newcomers; Mark Eisen and Eva Chun are two who work here in Los Angeles.

The Show: Anything But Love, ABC, 9:30 p.m. Wednesdays. The Setup: Hannah Miller (Jamie Lee Curtis) weasels her way onto the staff of a Chicago city magazine where the boss lady, Catherine Hughes (Ann Magnuson) keeps the neophyte journalist double-checking her facts. Veteran staffer offers Miller helpful Ps and Qs , while viewers wait for romance to bloom between them.

THE MOVIE: "The Player" THE SETUP: Ambitious movie studio executive Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins, pictured) inadvertently murders a screenwriter. The incident rumples Mill's suit, but it doesn't hurt his career. He woos the screenwriter's girlfriend, June Gudmundsdottir (Greta Scacchi), rises past his studio nemesis, Larry Levy (Peter Gallagher), and ends up the studio's chief honcho in this wicked dissection of Hollywood ethics. THE LOOK: Fast-track Hollywood nailed down tight.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will trim a second line of women's apparel by the end of this year as it struggles with a growing inventory of ladies wear despite a drive to offer more fashion for price-conscious shoppers. The world's largest retailer said Monday that it would reduce by an undisclosed amount the number of U.S. stores selling a fashion line by designer Mark Eisen, which it unveiled last year as part of a drive to match successful low-price designer labels at rivals like Target Corp.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday that a high-level apparel executive resigned after a transition to more-trendy items from low-priced basics failed to boost clothing sales. Claire Watts, executive vice president of apparel merchandising, stepped down Thursday to "pursue other interests," said Sarah Clark, a spokeswoman for the world's largest retailer. Watts officially will leave the Bentonville, Ark., retailer next week. She was unavailable Friday for comment.

Last year Mark Eisen was a real estate developer. Now he's a fashion designer. And while some fashion cities wouldn't stand for such a thing from any respectable name in the business, Eisen is just the latest in a growing list in Los Angeles who never went to fashion school or apprenticed for a big design company. Instead, at age 29, he set up shop on his kitchen table, convinced that he knew another way. You might not call his style original.