PARIS, Jul 11, 2003/ FW/ --- Ralph Rucci is the kind of guy that the French secretly admire - a come from behind kid who worked his way to the top - the embodiment of the American spirit.

From South Philadelphia and days of welfare, to the runways of Paris Haute Couture, Ralph had a dream and he struggled to make it come true.

Today in a granite air-conditioned art gallery on Avenue Matignon, he beat the fourth day of unbearable Parisian heat, with a fresh collection that breezed into town like a cold front.

Where he excels is in his fine leather pieces, strikingly embroidered, his clear lines, and his soft touches of mink-trimmed collars and delicately plumed bell sleeves.

Or, as André Leon Talley so succinctly put it after the show, "It's wonderful to see someone who knows how to cut, and where to cut."

Ralph works mostly with earthy tones like honey, tobacco, chocolate, and peal gray, though adds bursts of bright pistachio or sage green.

"My clothes evolve from one season to the next", says Rucci. "Every collection builds on those previous and I attempt to refine and polish my work."

As the sole American invited by the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture to show in Paris, he is something of a novelty. While his collections are constructed in his New York atelier, he has been increasingly working with international embroidery houses including Lesage, Le Marie, Jean Pierre Ollier and Shagufta Khan.

The result is a fresh new take of highly wearable couture.

Diane Wolf, a collector who lives in both New York and Washington and has contributed extensively to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, drew her own conclusions. "These are very elegant clothes, very American," she commented after the show. "They are something that a woman of a certain age can wear comfortably."

And that recipe is a clear secret for success.