At that time, Paris was the center of the fashion universe. American women who could afford couture made-to-order clothes and they went to Paris if they possibly could. If they couldn't go for their whole wardrobes they went for their trousseaus. During the war, there was no French fashion here in America.

You couldn't go shopping in Paris. I have some pictures of haute couture salons in Paris that were working for the Germans but that's another story.

A window to the world opened and the Americans jumped right in. What they created was what we called sportswear and the Europeans didn't pay much attention because they did not consider those casual clothes fashion.

Paris came back in 1947 when Christian Dior did his fabulous New Look collection. Suddenly, not all, but a lot of American buyers and private customers went back to Paris. American sportswear was relegated to America.

Occasionally a French designer would say, "Oh, those cotton dresses that the Americans wear in the summer, they're so nice and inexpensive."

This was the period before soccer moms; before American women were holding down jobs while taking care of families and certainly before there were no maids.

That's why you couldn't have complicated clothes in America because there was no one to help the woman into it; she had to get into it herself. In Paris there was always someone who could help you into a dress. That is one of the reasons why sportswear emerged and these are the clothes that Donald Brooks provided.

I shouldn't say he did sportswear. I should say casual clothes because that's what he did.

I remember the clothes that Carrie Donovan, the fashion editor at the New York Times, used to wear to collections on Seventh Avenue. They were almost always Donald Brooks and she always looked neat, comfortable and smart.

Donald didn't just make day clothes as we have seen. His evening dresses were always spectacular. I remember Ellin Saltzman who was another one of our brigade. Once I was at Women's Wear Daily and covering a party. Ellin was wearing a lime green dress with spangles all over it and as she danced they made a lot of noise.

Being a good reporter, I asked, "Why did you pick this dress?" and she replied, "Because my husband likes the noise". Of course not all of his dresses as we have seen were noisy; some were simple, some were just unusual prints.

To me, the high water mark that separated Donald from being merely a Seventh Avenue designer was the fact that he designed for Broadway as well.

Nobody's mentioned this yet but in 1963, he received one of his awards for incredible clothes he designed for No Strings. In order to design for Broadway shows and get credit for them you had to pass a test for the stage designers' union.

Many American designers did some stage clothes; few of them got credit because they didn't take the test and belong to the union as Donald did. It's just one of the little things he did. Another thing that is significant is that Donald's designs were always his own.

During the period after Dior brought back the French couture, American buyers from all kinds of stores, not just Orbach's, would go to Europe and buy dresses from the prevailing French couturier, bring them back and give them to favorite designers who would copy them.

I don't remember that Donald ever had a part of this. His designs were always his designs. They were basically simple, never over the top and clothes that women could wear comfortably.

You didn't need a floor plan to put them on. American fashion writers loved them and many borrowed them for their parties. When you went to a big fashion party chances are half the dresses were by Donald Brooks.

Actually, visiting his showroom was like visiting a friend. It was a far cry from the snooty salons in Paris. Later, Anne Klein, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren and others carry on the tradition but it was Donald who set the path.

By the late 1990's, American designers were recognized by the French who did see that something was changing in the world of fashion. Michael Kors and Marc Jacobs, represent a few of the American designers who were given jobs in Paris.

The cycle has come around and American design is part of the contemporary picture. The time lapse is more than 30 years but Donald Brooks showed the way.

It wasn't just the fact that he changed the way clothes were shown; the air in the showroom was different. It wasn't the rarefied atmosphere of the Paris couture salons, which some designers tried to replicate here. It was friendly and informal and it was the beginning of the democratization of fashion.

He took an old phonograph, staged a fashion show from his own collection in Mr. Rodger's office and that's how he got the job of designing for the play. He had done a few things for Ethel Merman previously but this was the first big show he did.