Covered head to toe in silk and color

Dressed in a deep-blue silk manteau and a white head scarf printed with a bright flower design, Mahla Zamani insists that she is not presiding over a fashion revolution in Iran. "Now, don't make this a political story," the fashion designer warns with a smile, as she steps into her workshops in a nondescript building in downtown Tehran.

There, amid cutting tables and mannequins pinned with her creations, Mrs. Zamani draws from traditional Persian designs to inject color and style into women's exterior garments, which for years have embraced one default mode: black.

"Every dress is a moving museum, and every country with a civilization has a specific, traditional dress," says Zamani, noting that Iran's history stretches back for several millenniums. She makes her point with a lineup of dolls decked out in period Persian clothes.

"This is 400 years ago, and look at the dress," coos Zamani, fingering the fine green silk of a doll labeled "Qashqai Woman." "Just look at the color! Even then they made shoes the same as the dress...."

"Revolution" is a loaded term in the Islamic republic, but there is no denying the spread of Zamani's fashion empire, as she helps usher in a new period of modern Iranian dress.

Since 2000, Zamani has overseen five women-only fashion shows in Iran. She created the first Persian fashion magazine, Lotus (www.lotus-journal.com), a high- quality quarterly that graces Iranian newspaper kiosks like a local version of Vogue, even though it is sufficiently sensitive to require approval one issue at a time by the Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Culture.

Zamani launched her new "Lotus" clothing line a few months ago, not long after Iran's supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told a group of students that Iran should develop a national dress.

Taking that as an indirect stamp of approval - one that can be used to deflect criticism from hard-liners on Iran's turbulent political and cultural scene - Zamani printed the ayatollah's words near the front of the latest issue of Lotus.

"I and you, as Iranians - what kind of dress do we have?" asked Iran's leader, noting that after the Islamic Revolution, when he was president, he had set up a government commission to come up with a national costume. The effort stopped at the conclusion of his term.

"Of course, I do not say that the design of this outfit must return to 500 years ago, not at all," Ayatollah Khamenei told students in Hamedan Province, adding that it was "fine" to "change your hairstyle, to wear a different outfit, and change the way you are walking.... But do it yourself, and do not follow [European and American trends]."

That is what Zamani, a former banker, says she has been working on for more than decade.

Since those words were spoken in Hamedan, she has seen renewed interest in her designs - and new clients that include government institutions.

"I want my people to be Iranian, to think about their past," says Zamani, whose repertoire includes bridal dresses, airline uniforms, and even recent orders for a type of uniform for women members of parliament.

All are loose-fitting and made with luxurious silks and satins. Bold colors characterize most, but one discreet rendition of the black chador includes a dose of bright orange hidden beneath the black outer layer and subtle trim, plain or with black flowers.

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