Red Roses from H. R.

"H.R. does it again!" exulted a Russeks dress ad in the New York Times. "A kiss from Henry.'' squealed an Arnold Constable cosmetics ad.

H.R. and Henry are the same man--Henry Rosenfeld, 35, an Austrian immigrant's son. In the last four years, while established dress manufacturers groaned about shortages of materials and profits, Rosenfeld has grown into one of the nation's biggest dressmakers. Last year's gross: $8,000,000 without benefit of his new cosmetics business. His dresses, simply tailored and well-cut, look expensive. But what makes women snatch them from the racks are the prices: $10.95 to $19.95.

All of this has been as much of a surprise to Henry Rosenfeld as to many competitors. Pinched by higher material and labor costs, they had to move into higher price lines or turn out merchandise that looks far cheaper than the price tags say. Henry has no magic formula except mass production and the fashion trick of making the small-budgeted woman like what she sees in the mirror.

A onetime shipping clerk in Manhattan's swarming garment center, Rosenfeld worked up to a $40,000 salary running someone else's clothing business, Bedford Dress, Inc., before he decided to strike out for himself with $50,000 in savings. The time, 1942, was a bad one for a newcomer to break into the clothing field. But Henry was lucky and shrewd. Dressmakers had heard that OPA planned to reduce prices on dress materials by imposing ceilings. So nickel-wise manufacturers wiggled out of tentative contracts with suppliers. Rosenfeld was smarter--he took a loss by accepting every yard contracted for. Grateful cloth manufacturers did not forget this. When materials grew scarce, Rosenfeld got first choice.

He plugged his red rose label instead of being merely an anonymous cheap dressmaker for stores with their own labels, got out the dresses, shortages or no. This year Rosenfeld expects to make 2,000,000 dresses in the 500 Rosenfeld models, sell them in 12,000 U.S. stores.

Last week, the young man was also going west. He was negotiating for a surplus aircraft plant at San Diego, where he plans to employ 3,000 people to make California sport clothes.

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