Wealth management entrepreneur Alexandra Lebenthal, a regular at New York City charity galas, has a closet full of ball gowns. Her favorites among them are designs by Manhattan couturier Kim Hicks. Her reasons are simple enough: the feminine designs, the quality of the materials — many of which are imported from France — the to-a-T fit, and the way her husband beams at her when she’s wearing a gown by Ms. Hicks. She also knows she won’t be seeing anyone else wearing the same dress. “Stepping into Kim’s gowns is like stepping into grand architecture,” Ms. Lebenthal said.

The experience comes at a price — $7,000 to $20,000 for one gown — but Ms. Lebenthal, and a growing number of social New York women, say the investment is worth it: The designer works round the clock to ensure the fit of a dress, one that will be wearable and flattering for years to come. Ms. Hicks is in the business for the long haul, too. She has a timeless sense of glamour, citing Christian Dior and Balenciaga as inspirations. For nearly a decade, she has worked quietly, shying from the spotlight. But as the orders pile up, the spotlight is now finding her.

Perhaps it is because Ms. Hicks’s approach is a refreshing reversal of trends in the fashion business: the rise of disposable and mass-market fashion, and the abundance of black-tie gowns that get attention but that neither fit nor flatter the wearer. “I love some of the crazy stuff, but in reality people don’t really look good. I ask clients, ‘How do they want to feel?'” Ms. Hicks said. “Some want that pow-wow, drop-dead glamour and others just want to be elegant and beautiful. I work to make them look beautiful, no matter their age or their size.”

The way she does business is exceptional; Everything about the Kim Hicks dress-making process is intense and intimate.”Kim is as close to offering the workmanship of the Paris couture houses, as available in America,” a New York City wardrobe consultant who sends many clients to Ms. Hicks, David Ingram, said.

“I love coming over here and just looking,” Ms. Lebenthal said in Ms. Hicks’s studio, glancing at racks of gowns, bolts of French and Italian fabric, the designer’s sketches, and collages of magazine cuttings and photographs that have inspired Ms. Hicks over the years.

The process begins at Bergdorf Goodman with customers looking at samples and books of swatches of fabrics. During the first meeting with the couturier, a client talks with Ms. Hicks about the event the dress is intended for and has her measurements taken.

After a fitting in the muslin, Ms. Hicks makes the patterns, and then the fabric is cut to make the dress. Details of a design emerge as a dress is created. “I construct the dress from the inside out,” Ms. Hicks said.

Accentuating a woman’s own best traits is the basis of any of Ms. Hicks’s designs, said the financial journalist Maria Bartiromo. “I have curves, and she designs clothes that are just right for my body,” Ms. Bartiromo said.

Since Ms. Hicks attends her share of galas, wearing her own designs, she understands the demands of such an occasion and can discuss them with her clients. The designer explains to them the importance of craftsmanship — the advantage of a corset, the beauty of a seam, and the quality of a lace. She advises clients on legwear, shoes, and jewelry. She makes sure clients know how to walk and how to get into a car in their dresses. She shares her own stories of attending charity balls, and makes sure that young women — such as the group of 20-something bridesmaids that recently came to her — know how to handle their new finery.

Growing up in Michigan, Ms. Hicks did not intend to enter the fashion world. She enjoyed math and sewing, and she had planned to go to Harvard. When her sister brought home a catalog from Parsons design school, however, she changed her mind.

At Parsons, Ms. Hicks was the only student in her class interested in specializing in European-style couture — encouraged in this venture by instructors who recognized her talent. She won a Golden Thimble Award, an honor also bestowed on Parsons graduates such as Marc Jacobs, Michael Vollbracht, and Cynthia Steffe.

Right out of school, she worked for couture designer Arnold Scaasi, and went on to several jobs for other designers — including Badgley Mischka and Donna Karan — until she decided to strike out on her own. Her bosses always admired her abilities in sewing and pattern making.

Like many clients, the chairwoman of the Kaufman Center, Bethany Millard, learned about Ms. Hicks through a friend. “This friend looked absolutely stunning. I asked her who she was wearing, and it was Kim,” Ms. Millard said. Ms. Millard’s first purchase was a form-fitting gown with a strapless green velvet bodice, and a long silk skirt covered in peacock feathers. She is saving it to wear to the Kaufman Center gala this spring. “She’s such an artist,” Ms. Millard said. “Her colors and combinations are so different and original. That’s the way I perceive my sense of style as well.”

With nearly 10 years of experience on her own, Ms. Hicks said she now feels confident that she understands her client, and is ready to find a backer to expand her business. She envisions an atelier where she can bring in more people to help her make the clothes, leaving her time to work with clients and design, and perhaps develop a ready-to-wear line. “Often my clients want to buy more clothes from me, but I just don’t have the time right now,” Ms. Hicks said.

During a recent breakfast meeting, the designer told a client, Virginia Davies, about a lavender organza fabric with floral embroidery. “Okay, I want to see it,” Ms. Davies replied, noting she may soon attend an inaugural ball. ” If Obama wins, I’ll need a blowout dress.”