New york fashion designer

Fabrice Simon, a fashion designer whose sparkling evening wear symbolized the glamour of the 1980s, recently died of AIDS in New York. He was 47.

Known professionally by simply his first name, Fabrice dressed actresses, models and socialites in show-stopping gowns that were elaborately beaded and jeweled. Among the notables who wore his gowns are Iman, Whitney Houston, Natalie Cole, Beverly Johnson, Ivana Trump, Shirley MacLaine, Christie Brinkley and Kathleen Turner.

In 1981, Fabrice, who studied textile design and fashion illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, won a special Coty Fashion Critics Award for his beaded dresses.

He also designed non-traditional formal wear for men, which included silk T-shirts worn with suspenders and boldly checked jackets.

Four years ago, Fabrice quit dressmaking and returned to painting, which he considered to be his first love. His paintings, color-drenched abstracts that could easily be envisioned as patterns for beadwork, were exhibited last year in New York and Palm Beach, FL.

Survivors include his sister, Brigitte Steibel, and his brother, Andre Simon.

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