Before you buy the clothes off the racks at the store, someone decides to put them there. Kal Ruttenstein is the “senior vice president for fashion direction” at Bloomingdale’s, which means that he has the ability to trigger trends and launch designers’ careers. He’s pretty sure “Hairspray” will be a big hit, so he’s got boutiques ready with sportswear inspired by the musical and a plan for gigantic cans of Aqua Net on the sidewalks spraying something yet to be determined. Hopefully this won’t be a miss like the time he told Gloria Vanderbilt no one would want to wear jeans with her name on the rear. But despite a couple of faux pas and accusations of knock-off designs over the years, he commands respect in the sometimes fickle fashion industry.