Where the stars go for sex appeal: Halle Berry, Britney Spears, Eric Benet, and many more--out imagemaker Dawn Haynes creates looks for the beautiful people. (culture).

When Halle Berry needed the perfect gift for her sister-girlfriend, Oprah Winfrey, she knew exactly who to call: image impresario Dawn Haynes. Haynes founded her image agency Dawn to Dusk in 1989; now, with offices in Los Angeles and New York and numerous contacts in Miami, she represents the creative people behind the scenes--hairstylists, makeup artists, personal shoppers, and wardrobe stylists--who hone sex appeal for stars of stage and screen as well as for corporate clients.

"It just kind of fell into my lap, and I've enjoyed every minute of it," Haynes says. Her entrepreneurial instincts guided her right from the start: "Off the top of my head I'd say, `OK, we want $4,000 a day, and I need a $10,000 budget.' And they'd say, `OK.'"

To do hair and makeup and styling? Haynes nods and takes another sip of her carrot-and-apple juice drink, her untamed blondish Afro in full effect. "The first impression is key," she says, "and everlasting, as we all know." True, true. And in this MTV age, where image matters more than talent, the 30-something Haynes is the queen of all she surveys. She began working with Berry's husband, R&B balladeer Eric Benet, at the start of his recording career, helping him find his inner bohemian. "I tried working with a couple of other stylists," Benet tells The Advocate, "but I'm always coming back to Dawn, because she just has a talent for getting inside the soul of the person she's working with. When she finds something for me, I say, `Danm! If I saw that, I would have gotten it for myself.'"

And Haynes doesn't just pull Armani from the rack at Barneys for her agency's clients, who include the Rock, Mary J. Blige, and Britney Spears. She provides a full service. Once Berry decided on her Elie Saab gown for her high-stakes night at the Academy Awards, Haynes designed a tuxedo for Benet in complementary hues, chose fabrics, sent a pattern to Italy for a tailor to construct, and then spent Oscar day making sure he matched his bride. "When she did win, I cried almost as hard as she did," Haynes recalls, "and the next day was even more glorious than the day before. They're not just my clients, they're my friends."

Haynes learned early that building relationships would form the backbone of her business. At 17, while she was attending Westchester High School in Los Angeles's Playa del Rey district, a friend introduced her to '80s R&B artist Teena Marie, who noticed Haynes's fashion flair and soon asked her to join her tour crew for the two summers after Haynes graduated high school. That led to work with R&B singer and former Miss America Vanessa L. Williams. Still, Haynes was entertaining thoughts of becoming ah entertainment lawyer until Williams's husband at the time, Ramon Hervey, unwittingly squashed them.

"He told me there was no way a black woman would be successful as ah entertainment attorney," Haynes says. "In a way I was happy he told me that. Then again, I would never tell another child anything to distract them from their dream. But," she adds, laughing, "I'm here now, and I don't have a lot of student loans."

Although Haynes won't reveal her partner's name, she's comfortably out and has been in a relationship with a female photographer for almost two years. "Part of the reason it's so beautiful is that she respects what I do and I respect what she does," Haynes says. "It's not like she's an attorney and doesn't understand. She's not like, `So--you're a stylist?'"

Although she was unsure about working with straight female models early in her career, before "it was OK for me to be me," Haynes says her sexuality has never been a problem. In fact, it probably helps. Who wants a straight stylist? Clearly not the boldfaced names on her expanding client list. But she's got room for one more: "Brad Pitt," she says. "They haven't seen style on him yet."

So what did Haynes pick out for Oprah? "I can't tell you," she confides, looking over the brim of her tinted sunglasses, "because Oprah doesn't know."

Jones writes Movie Scoop at E! Entertainment Online.