Project Paula Hian

Her silk taffeta, ultra-mini bubble dress was showcased on billboards from Los Angeles to New York in the fall, worn by

Gossip Girls

star Taylor Momsen, Jenny Humphrey on the CW drama.

American Idol singer and mega country star Carrie Underwood was spotted in the cutesy frock, as was Academy Award winner Hilary Swank.

But despite the celebrity hoopla, free publicity, and dozens of inquiries, Manayunk designer Paula Hian sold just five of the $1,500 dresses.

"When they heard how much it cost, they were like, 'Thank you,' and click," Hian said.

"It's very disappointing, because I know people would buy it if it was Dior. If there was a big name attached to it. . . ."

Somehow, at age 42 and with 18 years in the fashion industry, Hian remains the perennial new kid in the showroom.

The clothes she makes are lightly exquisite, often ahead of trend and laden with the same couture techniques found in Dior, Balenciaga or Chanel garments. Circular pintucks cover bodices. Darts are fashioned to be hidden in swing dresses. Her clientele includes Main Line socialites and other movers and shakers, such as Gov. Rendell's other half, Judge Marjorie O. Rendell, and CBS3 news anchor Pat Ciarrocchi.

"Her pieces are one of a kind," Rendell said. She owns three Hian dresses, including the navy blue gown she wore last year for her husband's inauguration.

"Her designs are unique. She uses great fabrics."

Hian is used to this, and while the sentiment is great, the fact that it doesn't translate into sales is frustrating. She's been so on the verge of hitting it big she could taste it, like the time Jennifer Aniston wore a Paula Hian original on Friends.

Despite the fizzling of a few opportunities, she continues to work hard, waiting for her big break.

Hian showed her architectural collections for six consecutive seasons at New York's Fashion Week. She began showing her collection exclusively in Paris in 2006, and in February she debuted a sharp group of color-blocked A-line shifts, skinny pants, cloaklike jackets, and sleeveless jumpers at a two-room suite in the Westin.

Only 10 buyers came to see it.

But Hian is not giving up her passion.

"It makes me feel like I want to work harder," Hian said. "It's so much more than people just loving your clothes."

Hian has been a one-woman show for the most part; mother Ruth, a softspoken taskmaster in her 70s, fields calls and makes nice with potential buyers. But Paula Hian manages everything from keeping track of finances to the sourcing of fabrics.

She's uncompromising, yet humble. However, her inability to break through to the masses has made Hian realize she can't do everything on her own, and needs someone with a financial background who can maximize publicity and preserve exclusivity.

Nicole Miller has Bud Konheim, Douglas Hannant has Frederick Anderson. Philadelphia-born Ralph Rucci has Vivian Van Natta.

"I need my person," Hian lamented. "It's time."

Sales at Paula Hian Designs in Manayunk aren't where she wants them to be. The company barely makes a million dollars annually, Hian said. She needs five times that.

Part of her problem is that in an industry that requires tons of self-promotion, Hian feels awkward demanding that people make her a priority. She hates promoting herself beyond wearing the citrus-colored baby-doll tops she designs with jeans. (Her uniform.) Ask her about herself, her goals, her future, and her voice trails off.

But it's make-or-break time. She's giving up on sending her stuff out herself and has hired New York-based multi-showroom Pure to get her picked up in stores such as Bergdorf Goodman, Searle and Intermix.

"People say they love" Hian's fall 2008 collection, said Felicia Stokes, co-owner of Pure. "People want to see it in person. We aren't a priority call yet. It takes time."

Anne Rivers, a Bryn Mawr socialite and marketing executive, has taken Hian under her wing, too.

Rivers, a Paula Hian customer for three years, is tapping her social connections to help her find investors.

"I love her work and she's talented. . . . When I wear her clothing, people stop me in the street."

Two weeks ago, Hian hosted a cocktail party for the Young Friends of the Settlement Music School in her Manayunk loft. Women tried on outfits and vowed to come back.

Rivers also introduced Hian to a New Jersey businessman who is working on fine-tuning the company's financial plan.

The goal is to raise $5 million to raise Hian's profile and open boutiques in New York as well as Los Angeles and Paris.

Hian's resolve is not a surprise; this has been a lifelong pursuit.

As a child growing up in Penn Valley, she sketched designs from age 7. Some of those designs are near the front desk in her studio.

"I had this little diary and I drew designs of jackets and dresses," Hian said. "I wanted to use staples for closures."

Her household was filled with creativity. Mom Ruth was a photographer, dad Efrem a classical pianist turned businessman.

Graduation from Harriton High School was followed by study at Chicago's Northwestern University, majoring in art history. Artists Jean Dubuffet and Ellsworth Kelly influence her work.

In 1986, the same year she completed a yearlong program at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, she won first prize in the International Competition of Young Designers. The dress she created is in the permanent collection of the Louvre.

Her fashion career had begun.

In her early 20s, Hian worked as an assistant designer at Elie Tahari. She didn't love it. Then she worked for other design houses. She didn't love that, either.

So she left New York and moved to her parents' home to start Paula Hian Designs.

In the early years, Hian's collection of soft yet structured career-woman suits was sold at Nordstrom and other specialty stores.

Bored with the silhouettes the department stores expected of her, Hian started selling clothing exclusively at her Gay Street loft in 1998. She experimented with embroidery, metals and plastics and designed prints.

"Anything that was really unique sold really well," Hian said. "But I was arm's length from a major fashion center and nobody knew who I was. Buyers didn't want to come down."

Three years ago, Hian's pattern maker, Al D'Angelo, retired. Good pattern makers are hard to find and essential to turning sketches into ensembles. She found well-known pattern maker Josiane Bauraud in France.

In 2006, Hian moved her production there. Now she spends half the year in Saintes, a small town in western France. She works on her collection alongside artisans who also sew clothes for Lanvin, Chanel and Hermes.

Hian loves Paris, so it was easy for her to pick up and spend so much time there, but the dollar is weak and the long distance hasn't been easy for her family. So if she doesn't get major sales and support this season, her return is iffy.

But she has their support.

"Cash flow can be challenging," said David Horwich, Hian's husband. Horwich is chief of internal medicine at Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital.

"She has good days and days that are a little bit more demanding. . . . But I want her to keep networking so she can get recognized for who she is and what her brand has to offer."

Three days after Hian's presentation at the Westin, she's back in Saintes trying to squeeze several yards of black mohair fabric into one of her travel bags. Fashion season is over and she's on her way back to Philadelphia. A client wants her to make a coat for her and there is no fabric left in the Philadelphia showroom.

She's crying softly. She knows she has a lot of work ahead of her.

Now, two months later, it's starting to come together.