Roth Wings

In T-shirt and ripped jeans, Christian Francis Roth looks more like someone who customizes skateboards than silk camisoles. Giving new meaning to the term "young designer," the twentyyear-old Roth is establishing himself as a Schiaparelli for the nineties. Starting at fourteen and apprenticed along the way to Koos van den Akker, Roth is now a master of the sartorial pun. Pinstripes rain onto applique umbrellas, and, in one of his cleverest designs, a smoking jacket's lapel notch "puffs" on a white-bordered breast pocket. His wit also extends to a Warholian embrace of everyday objects, from M&M buttons to prints based on the Universal Product Code.

But only the imagery is mass-market.

Roth and his one seamstress can work on a single appliqued jacket for three days. And fashion's elite takes Roth's subversive humor quite seriously: Geoffrey Beene sends fan mail, Saks showcased him in its windows in July, and New York's new Martha International boutique, opening this month, will carry an exclusive line. If Roth's oddball elegance surprises, why not?

After all, he draws inspiration from the Seagram's Building, tattoo books, and Charles Addams. -AMY FINE COLLINS