Style: Geisha Glam

Who could've predicted that the relatively stodgy world of literary fiction would spawn a fashion trendlet? Serious fashionistas worth their sea salt are putting down Harper's Bazaar, pulling on the Blahniks, and tromping on down to the local library for a copy of Memoirs of a Geisha. The 1997 blockbuster best-seller by Arthur Golden introduced readers to the mysterious world of Kyoto, Japan, teahouses and the art of kimono — and now seems to be the major influence behind the fashion world's obsession with all things Asian.

Eastern-inspired style can be seen everywhere from the runways (Jean Paul Gaultier's Eastern-flavored spring collection) to shoe shops (9 & Co.'s wooden-thong summer-sandal line). Also establishing fashion's Asian influence are Malaysian supermodel Ling, 24, who stars in Prescriptives' new lipstick ad, and Devon Aoki, 16, of Eurasian parentage, who is doing her first big campaign for Chanel. Then there's Madonna, who, in addition to appearing at the Grammys in a cherry-colored kimono, emulated the Geisha character Hatsumomo in her video for ''Nothing Really Matters.''

What's fueling this Orient expression? ''Before, people looked at [Eastern ways] as hocus-pocus or witchcraft, but it's much more accepted now,'' says Helen Lee, former Ford model, owner of NYC's Helen Lee Day Spa, and author of the just-out The Tao of Beauty (Broadway Books). ''There's an Asian way of viewing health and beauty that takes Western methods a step further, working from the inside out.'' Golden, who spent 10 years writing and researching Geisha, thinks fashion fans are facing east because ''Japanese clothing is accessible. It doesn't accentuate the lines of the body, so anybody can wear it.''

In the face of such built-in consumer appeal, Nine West director of public relations Jodi Fisher predicts that ''[Asian chic] will definitely be around for the summer'' — which amounts to practically an eternity in fashion cycles. Meanwhile, one of the few authors in history to have inspired a widespread fashion trend is chuckling to himself. ''The thought I kept having was, my goodness, if it wasn't for me,'' says Golden, ''Madonna would be wearing something else.''

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