Ashleigh Verrier has been designing for several years now. But last night she showed her first runway collection in the Salon in Bryant Park.

"I hope that when our customers see this collection for the first time, they'll feel that it's a little bit more grown up than last season," Ms. Verrier, 26, said.

She found the inspiration for her Fall 2008 collection in an unlikely spot: "The theme of Russia came through a trip I took to Tokyo, believe it or not," she said. She witnessed young Japanese women sporting ladylike outfits, but it was their use of fur headbands that reminded Ms. Verrier of Russian czarinas and their Hollywood counterpart, Julie Christie in "Doctor Zhivago."

"This past year I've done a lot of growing up," Ms. Verrier says. "Now that we've been in business for three years, it's put myself in a different mindset [where] I'm becoming confident with the decisions I have to make. Hopefully, the result is in the clothes."