Directives West founders show buyers what's hot.

The muscle-bound, Speedo-clad male models were getting the crowd's attention. But the real attraction at the Directives West fashion show last week was a pair of 40-something women who have managed to amass a striking amount of influence in apparel circles - Sandy Potter and Sandy Richman.

While the two have never been designers or runway models themselves, their 16-year-old retail consulting firm has emerged as one of the West Coast's leaders when it comes to predicting what those models - and as a result, consumers - are likely to be wearing.

That's why some 600 department-store buyers, fashion directors and corporate executives from across the country crowded into downtown's California Mart last week for Directives West annual fashion show, where 150 new styles were on display - ranging from slinky swimsuits to clingy capri pants.

"They are extremely reliable for California trends," Don Niemann, merchandise manager for Florida-based Bealls department store, said of Directives West. "We've used them for 15 years. They keep us in line with names that we're not familiar with."

Added Bill Moll, senior vice president/general merchandise manager of Macy's West, a division of Ohio-based Federated Department Stores Inc.: "L.A. is famous for new vendors to emerge and die out quickly, and (Directives West) keeps us up to date about who's up and coming and who's fading away."

This year, that means romantic looks for junior girls, with sheer dresses, short skirts and peasant tops, and a so-called "casual professional" look for women, with longer, fuller skirts and soft sweaters and cardigans. Women's business suits are humdrum for now, but how long that will last is difficult to pinpoint in the capricious California market.

How do Potter and Richman know what will sell a year from now? Much of it comes down to experience. Richman, who founded the firm, was a buyer and divisional director for Bullock's. Potter also worked at Bullock's and later helped establish the contemporary Red Bag department at Robinson's, before joining Directives in the early '90s.

"We know our customer and their individual needs, but sometimes we just go by a gut feeling," said Potter.

It probably helps that the two spend quite a bit of time on the road, scouting the clothing market from New York to Europe. They then sell their findings to department-store buyers.

Directives West provides clients, which include Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sears and Wal-Mart, with weekly bulletins on clothing trends and monthly reports on retail activity, seasonal forecasts on colors, fabrics and product development.

Thanks to a flurry of consolidation in the department-store industry - which has seen the demise of such chains as Bullock's, I. Magnin and Buffum's - there is less room for manufacturers to misjudge fashion trends and bring the wrong styles to market.

"There are less buyers out there, but they have more buying power," Richman said. "And 10 years ago, we didn't have Wal-Mart on every corner so that's raised some competitive pricing issues."

Directives West is one of a mere handful of local apparel consulting firms, and is the largest in terms of dollar sales, according to industry sources.

"They're in constant contact with the retailers. They can be in these people's faces more than we can," said Lisa Downs, a sales representative for Los Angeles-based Paris Blues, a denim company for junior women. "It's extremely competitive out there. We're a dime a dozen. With Directives, they'll take pictures of our clothes, send out newsletters and constantly sell them on us."