Mirror, Mirror: Paula Hian casts her lot with light knitwear

Much of the clothing in Paula Hian's spring collection is right on trend. Ethereal sheer blouses with feather details are paired with miniskirts and pleated shorts. A red and white cap-sleeved dress is divine, thanks to the exposed zipper.

But while these kinds of pieces make up the bulk of Hian's 2010 offerings, they are not the center of the designer's hard-to-focus attention. Mixed in with the whimsical wovens is her new obsession: lightweight knits.

"Knits are the answer," Hian recently declared over salads during a stopover in town. The Philly-area native spends most of the year in France designing and manufacturing the collection she sells out of her Manayunk showroom.

"I have a good feeling about this. To me, knitwear is much more modern. You can look dressed up wearing a jacket and a skirt and be comfortable at the same time."

That's a good bet.

Like Hian, many designers are getting cozy with knits. The medium lets them create one-of-a-kind patterns, they stretch to fit - a plus for a growing population - and because knitwear is cheaper to produce than many other fabrics, customers can enjoy designer pieces at generally lower price points. (While a Paula Hian Design retails from $400 to $4,000, pieces from the knitwear collection range from $199 to $800.) It's a tactic many runway designers use: Infuse collections with a variety of price options. Knitwear is Hian's attempt at meeting her customer's new financial needs.

And her own.

Despite her 20 years making clothes, a career that has included runway shows at New York Fashion Week, presentations in Paris, and some celebrity recognition - the latest shout-out by actress Katie Cassidy when she wore her chain-link-design sheath on Melrose Place last year - Hian can't seem to get the recognition that would catapult her from fairly unknown status to Tory Burch standing.

It's been three years since she began designing and manufacturing her collection in Paris, and while several of her pieces have been picked up by a handful of international boutiques, the company has yet to make a profit while operating there.

Don't blame her designs, always very high-fashion but often two or three years ahead of the mainstream. What Hian presents on the runway, coincidentally, gets shown by bigger-name designers years later - when the ideas then take off.

In fall 2004, for example, Hian created a collection of dresses, jumpsuits, and pants with hand-painted designs. The following season, Hian said, Yves St. Laurent used hand-painting on his fabrics.

As part of her spring 2006 collection, Hian designed a belted trench coat fashioned from clear plastic; the edges were trimmed in purple silk. Within the next couple of years, Chanel, Sonia Rykiel, and Zac Posen showed a similar look that was featured in national and international fashion magazines.

Even Hian acknowledged that the style stars had yet to align for her. "Something is off," she said. "I can't quite put my finger on it."

This time, Hian, 44, is hoping she's right on time. Of the 80 pieces in her spring grouping, 30 are knit. If the line takes off, next year even more of her collection will be knitwear.

Considering that she's making such a big investment in knits, it's interesting that knitwear happened to Hian by accident. First, the Paris factory that was helping her manufacture her woven lines bought a knitwear factory in Port-Brillet. (This is the same factory that produces knitwear pieces for Dior, Oscar de la Renta, and Balenciaga.)

Curious, Hian decided to make a chunky-knit dress, a navy-blue off-the-shoulder creation with a bubble skirt. The piece didn't make the fall 2009 collection, but Hian was hooked. She had more freedom to create textures that she envisioned. For example, last year she wanted to incorporate denim pique - a nubby version of the indigo fabric - into her collection. But she realized she could replicate the same look with knitwear, which would be cheaper and easier to manufacture.

It is important that Hian make headway in her latest attempt at reinvention.

At the helm of a private company, Hian won't talk about sales. But it's easy to see from the pieces of past seasons still remaining in her showroom that selling should be her top priority. After 10 years at the Manayunk building on Gay Street, she's considering selling it.

Fashion is constantly changing and Hian has managed to change with it. Knitwear, she says, will help her stay in the game. But whether she can be the next Missoni or St. John - knitwear at its high-fashion best - remains to be seen.