French fashion may be demode, having ceded domination to sportswear designers.

It was the beginning of his reign as a leading sportswear designer.

Cynthia Steffe is moving briskly through the ranks of women's sportswear designers.

"They're the modern shell," says the sportswear designer Randolph Duke.

Many of the first sportswear designers were women.

Some of the most influential American sportswear designers not mentioned above include:

Ms. George, a 28-year-old sportswear designer who has been in business five years, gave her first press showing this month.

She followed in her parents' footsteps by becoming a fashion journalist herself, and then a sportswear designer.

Even in major sportswear designers' lines, dresses are the most interesting shapes.

Today, sportswear designers in California fall into two groups.