Berley Studio and Spurdle Studio were two firms that produced books of "After designs," with sketches of Paris models annotated by indications of colors, fabrics, and trims [fig. 86]. Some designers (Elizabeth Hawes and Muriel King, for example) got their start in fashion as sketchers: those who would commit models from the Paris showings to memory and then draw them afterward on commission by wholesale houses in the U.S. or elsewhere in Europe. The sketches were used by many custom dressmakers and wholesale manufacturers to style their own lines of merchandise. These drawings were not always employed to create direct copies. They were also used to inform American manufacturers of the latest Paris trends. The final American products would feature original details or twists on the Paris silhouette.

High-end retailers with custom salons (Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Bonwit Teller, Jay-Thorpe, Henri Bendel) would not only buy Paris models for reproduction, but also often had in-house designers to create originals for clients. Their work was sometimes seen in fashion magazines alongside that of the Paris couturiers. An early example of a shop that employed designers was Hickson's, Inc., a New York specialty house. In 1915, the store advertised not only Paris models," but "collaborateurs...who will meet patrons with the view of providing exclusive and unusual creations..." The advertisement went on to actually name the in-house design staff: Jean, Mr. Melville Ellis, and the Baron de Planta.(40) Other shops preferred to keep their in-house designers anonymous, conforming to an advertising style like that of Best & Company, which offered the "Newest modes...featuring the latest Parisian novelties...Including many original and distinctive effects, designed exclusively by us."(41) Bendel's also kept its custom design staff anonymous. As with much of American fashion before the mid-1930s, the individual remained submerged within the organization.

A few New York-based custom designers had important reputations during the 1920s and early 30s, such as Sophie Gimbel of Saks Fifth Avenue, Sally Milgrim, and Jessie Franklin Turner. By far the larger number, however, became known by name in the later 1930s and during the war years. People such as Fira Benenson of Bonwit Teller, Emmet Joyce of Saks, Wilson Folmar of Jay-Thorpe, Louise Barnes Gallagher, and Mabel McIlvain Downs enjoyed far more publicity after the fall of Paris in 1940 than they ever had before. Houses with large design staffs, such as Hattie Carnegie and Bergdorf Goodman, began to allow publicity to mention the names of the designers, not just of the house. Carnegie employed several designers at a time to come up with original models for her customers, both in the custom salon and in her ready-to-wearines, which she began to produce in 1928. Many of Carnegie's house designers -Norman Norell, Pauline Trigère, Jean Louis, James Galanos, Gustave Tassell, Claire McCardell -would become well known in their own right. Bergdorf Goodman counted eight designers on its staff in the 1940s, each with a different specialty. Ethel Frankau and Leslie Morris were perhaps the best known: the rest of the staff included Peggy Morris, Mark Mooring, Mary Gleason, Philip Hulitor, Alice Gleason, and John Dean.