Model Wardrobe

Once the favorite exotic of every fashion photographer and designer, former model Marie Helvin has turned designer herself. The half-American, half-Japanese beauty, who has lived in London since the mid-lOs, is bringing to the U.S. her collection of stretch dresses, bodysuits, and leggings, which is already a best-seller in Europe.

"Don't call me a designer, " she pleads. "I'm not trying to change the course offashion. I just want to make clothes that are sexy and fun, and fit every shape and size. '' Bodies don't come much more shapely than Helvin's. Photographer David Bailey, to whom she was married for 10 years, once said she had the world's most magnificent body, and at 40 she still turns heads. Her line of sexy clothes may turn some heads, too.

ROGER TREDRE