When you walk into Cecile on Front Street you can't help but notice the names of well-known designers and their collections but there is one name that is bound to catch a Bermudians eye -- Michelle Fray.

After years of determination and much hard work, this young Bermudian's designs -- a collection of 40's-style dresses in warm colours -- now line the floor of this popular boutique.

Miss Fray, who is in her mid-20's, started sewing for friends and relatives but always new she wanted to have her own collection sold in stores both locally and in the US.

After completing her debut collection in September, she sent out invitations for a viewing to local retailers, and following those effort formed her alliance with Cecile, which operates three outlets across the Island.

"I chose Cecile because it is an exclusive boutique that sells the finest designer apparel,'' Miss Fray said.

She added: "It took me two months to design this collection; I have actually been working on it since January of this year (1997) and it was completed in September.

"The sewing was done overseas and there are 20 pieces all together, in three separate styles. The colours are chocolate, cherry and charcoal.'' Miss Fray describes the dresses as being timeless, elegant, and beautifully crafted.

She added: "The lines flow, the seaming is intricate and the colours are complimentary. The look is very 40's -- fitted and flowy. They are knee-length and extremely slimming.

"When I design I think about shapes and colours not people and sizes, it's only afterwards that I encompass the shapes into bodies. For example, this collection is triangular.'' "There is a more architectural feel to my work,'' Miss Fray said.

On how it feels to be the first local designer to have her clothes line sold in a store she added: "It is really overwhelming. This is my first collection and it's a summation of all my years of hard work and college. But it has been very exhausting.'' Miss Fray added that having to work with a pattern maker and sewing contractor who were in the US, all the while living in Bermuda, did make it more difficult to oversee production of the line.

"But luckily, they were experienced people who did and excellent job implementing my designs.'' To other young local designers having the same dreams and aspirations Miss Fray counsels: "I would encourage more local designers to really push to develop a line and get it in to a store that is interested.

"A lot of local designers have fallen short because they don't know where to go next, and then there is the financial side of it. That is the biggest set back for most local designers -- but I also had family support.'' And on her future plans she added she is looking forward to her next collection -- which is presently in the works.

"I hope to be expanding my collection in the future with a much broader range of styles of dress.'' Buyer for Cecile, Julia Hamshere, said: "Miss Fray approached us and said she felt her dresses suited our store. She thought they had the quality and style that represented our customers both young and old. We got the collection just before Christmas.

"All the dresses have the same theme, they're very classic, elegant with very clean tailoring. It's a good Bermuda winter dress because it is very stylish without being overstyled, and it is easy to wear.'' Miss Hamshere said that the dresses are well priced, the materials are of good quality and they are well made.

"Quite often you see reports about young Bermudian designers and this is the first time, to my knowledge, that a young Bermudian designer has had a collection made for retail -- someone outside of a store that makes their own clothes.

"We are glad that we are able to encourage her and we hope people will support her through us. We also hope her collection will grow and diversify with each season,'' she said.

"I absolutely encourage more stores to pay closer attention to local designers, if their collection is commercially feasible. We are honoured and pleased to have Michelle's collection. I think the dresses will be a big success.'' Miss Hamshere concluded by saying that it is also important for local designers to get critical feedback for the collection to grow.