You can't help but fall for Dennis Basso, so don't even try. He has passionately loved and pursued beautiful things and glamorous women all of his life, and with all the gusto and wide-eyed charm that he can muster, he's successfully surrounded himself with both. With a quarter century now separating him from his first collection in 1983, Basso still tells the story as if it happened yesterday. "My father loaned me $50,000 to start my business and I spent most of it staging my debut runway show. I hired all the same models Mr. Blass and Mr. de la Renta were using at the time, I hired a proper PR firm, rented out space at the Regency Hotel and managed to fill my front row with everyone from Egon von Furstenberg to Ivana and Donald Trump," he recalls. It was a high-priced gamble for a young furrier's maiden voyage, but "when Mrs Trump (then in her 30s) came into my showroom and bought seven furs, I knew I had made the right decision." It's a recipe the designer has put to good use ever since that auspicious beginning, focusing his indefatiguable energy on creating beautiful clothes and seeking out the women who should be wearing them. "I've been very fortunate that women ranging from actresses to princesses to socialites-and their daughters-enjoy my clothes and look gorgeous in them." Basso does well with iconic divas as well, with many of them (Diana Ross and Natalie Cole included) accompanying him down the runway at the finale of his shows.

Life of the Party Clockwise: Dennis with his partner in life and in design, Michael Cominotto celebrating the brand's 25th anniversary; Dennis with Valesca Guerrand-Hermes, Maris Noel Brown, Marjorie Gubelmann and Jill Roosevelt; Dennis flanked by Lipstick Jungle creator Candace Bushnell and co-star Lindsay Price.

From the age of seven Dennis says he "liked everything pretty, from home decor to grooming to fashion to personal style. I'm still fascinated by how four different women can wear the same thing and have it look entirely different on each of them." While those looks used to center around fur, Basso made an important transition two years ago when he expanded the range of garments he designed to underpin the showstopper furs worn by his runway models. Suddenly a range of day and evening wear began taking shape. While these items have still taken something of a backseat to his fur these past few seasons, with Spring 09 Basso is presenting his inaugural complete ready-to-wear collection. (See sketch above for a hint of what's to come later this month at New York's fashion week.) "I love that a wider range of women will now be able to wear Dennis Basso. And our expansion is also geographic. We're showing the collection in Russia and China this year, and have plans for stores in both countries as well as in Europe. I already have such a global clientele; it really is time that I go to them." He adds that his Madison Avenue shop welcomes a very international crowd during the summer months when many New Yorkers leave town. Their appreciation of his collection (fur and ready-to-wear) encouraged him to expand his brand with global reach. "It's really the only way you can stay competitive in today's world. There are no borders-chic women are everywhere and they respond to what I design. Of course I'm going to seek them out."

In America, Basso has already had phenomenal success with his expansion out west to Aspen, where he has a shop in the lobby of Little Nell hotel. "We host a full-blown fashion show around Christmas, benefiting a local charity and for 10 days afterward, our tiny little shop is overrun with customers. These glamorous women love being able to buy a fur and walk out into the streets of Aspen wearing it." In February Dennis will visit yet enother chic ski resort-St. Moritz, where he will set up shop at the Palace Hotel. Basso is a big advocate of trunk shows because it allows him a chance to get to know his non-New York clients on a one-to-one basis. "Of course he can't meet all of them, and one of his favorite pastimes is spotting one of his furs out in public being worn by a woman who doesn't recognize him as the designer. "I don't always go up and say something-it's not always appropriate. But I do get a kick out of it when the moment does seem right for an introduction." Indeed Basso still gets a kick out of most everything related to his business. Its a life and a lifestyle that might have been slightly outside the grasp of a precocious 6-year-old boy, but not so far out of range that the youth didn't know how to move in the right direction. He studied his mother and beloved aunts for what made them glamorous; in grade school he referred to blue and yellow as "sapphire and maize" and he drew a fashion sketch (see next page) that essentially broadcast his calling as a designer. He finally enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and decided upon fur as his medium. His approach left the entire fur industry perplexed. Rather than gravitate toward traditional shapes and elements of a coat made of fur, Basso would first design a concept and then find a fur to suit. He then cut the fur as though it were cashmere. Sophisticated draping and audacious use of the precious material immediately set him apart from his competitors and soon it wasn't just his colleagues taking notice. Suddenly, he was getting praise from the NewYork Times and counting celebrities as both clients and friends. "Can you imagine what it felt like to walk down the runway with Liza Minnelli as "New York, New York" boomed in the background? I've been very fortunate that these women have worn my clothes and helped me expand the brand in the process. But I'm just as appreciative of the young women-often daughters of my original clients-who also see something in my collections for them." Dennis describes a woman dressed in an evening gown, full hair and makeup, and serious jewelry, and what it feels like when she then slips into a full-length sable coat. He also extols the woman who wears a cashmere sweater, perfectly cut jeans, boots, and a sueded shearling vest. Both women can see themselves in his collections, and that is where the real journey has led him. After 25 years, Dennis has welcomed the chance to dress both ends of the sartorial spectrum: from "young, sporty chic" to "drop-dead glamour." "I've studied these women all of my life. They inspire me and they help influence the direction of my line." All eyes will be watching the runway in the coming weeks as Dennis Basso's show in Bryant Park reveals what the next 25 years will look like for the man who loves women who love clothes.

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