Denny Rabineau and his wife Judy have successfully grown their women’s apparel company, Average Joe Inc., into a $16 million enterprise. Not bad after nine years in business.

Their Mica-brand dresses are on the racks of every top store in Los Angeles, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret, and numerous upscale boutiques.

Now comes the big leap.

The Rabineaus next month are kicking off an advertising campaign that they hope will take their Mica brand name to the next level.

Starting Sept. 20, a giant ad featuring a model in a Mica dress will be plastered on the exterior of the Beverly Center. The campaign will also include Mica ads in trade magazines like Women’s Wear Daily, as well as a billboard planned in New York’s Times Square, Denny Rabineau said.

“We are coming on our 10-year anniversary in March, and we have never advertised,” he said. “I have known people like Tommy Hilfiger for years and I saw it work for them. It is money well spent.”

The campaign is modest by industry standards. Costing in the low six figures, it does not include any TV spots. So don’t expect Mica to overtake Hilfiger or Donna Karan any time soon. But for the Rabineaus, the campaign is a move that could catapult their L.A.-based company to another level.

“It is the start of building Mica as a brand name,” said Sheri Mobley, president of Mobley Marketing Communications in Los Angeles, which is running the campaign. “They want to eventually license their name and go international. This is the next logical step for them.”

Adds Denny Rabineau: “Everyone wants something branded. If you advertise properly you can go far. We are trying to become a force in Los Angeles.”

Becoming a “force” in the fashion industry is rarely a slow and steady process.

And Average Joe’s growth has been no exception. It spiked three years ago when the Rabineaus introduced what turned out to be their signature Mica dress a simple design made out of paper-thin material that looks vintage and comes in various prints. (Mica is named after the Rabineaus’ younger son.)

“That’s how it is in this business,” said Judy. “You can be up and down overnight.”

Indeed, the industry is not for the faint of heart, and the Rabineaus are seasoned veterans. For 15 years, Denny Rabineau had been a partner in Great Escapes, a blue jeans and sportswear manufacturing company, before deciding to sell out to his partner. He tried doing concert promotions for a while, but it wasn’t for him. Then he borrowed money from a friend and started Average Joe.

The company used leftover material from dresses to make tube tops and elastic hair bands, which was the mainstay of their business in the beginning. Their clients included Miller’s Outpost and Paul Harris, an Indianapolis clothing chain. Then they came up with the Mica signature dress, and growth accelerated.

Alanna Chaffin, a spokeswoman for the California Mart in downtown L.A., where apparel manufacturers showcase their wares, said Mica has prospered by finding a niche.

“They have created a very unique position for themselves. They bridge the gap between high fashion and price,” she said. “Their clothing is more affordable and is still a good quality.”

Mica dresses retail for anywhere from $129 to $229.

Another key, Chaffin said, is that the Rabineaus “are on the edge of the fashion trends. They have a lot of experience and know their way around the industry. The fit is incredible and the cut is appealing to lots of different body types.”

To keep up, Judy Rabineau travels to Paris twice a year and attends the Premiere Vision show, where she buys fabric designs. Fabric designs not the fabrics themselves, but just the designs to be printed on the fabrics run anywhere from $350 to $650 apiece. Each fabric design is an original.

The Rabineaus then take those designs to a contractor who reproduces the design onto fabric, which is then made into dresses.

Judy Rabineau also spends a great deal of time traveling to the company’s four showrooms in Los Angeles, New York, Dallas and Atlanta. The showrooms are where designers display their wares for hungry buyers looking for the latest trend.

“We work hard, very hard,” said Judy. “There is an extreme amount of pressure in this business. Within an hour you can be up and down a hundred times. One bad cut on an order can cost you $10,000.”