New York - La Cotonniere d'Alsace, the French producer, has debuted its first line of bedlinens aimed at the American market. The collection, called Paule Marrot has been a mainstay for years in France, but the collection shown in the Fifth Avenue showroom specifically targets America.

''American bed sizes are different of course,'' said U.S. sales manager Jeanette Lellis. ''But there is a different style for America, too. American buyers tend to prefer more florals than European buyers. In Europe there is higher demand for contemporary or geometric designs.''

The designer who adapted Marrot's work is well known in France for high-end designs of jacquards and fabrics. Lellis characterizes the patterns in the line as ''painterly. He has adapted for fabric the work of the French Impressionists,'' said Lellis.

The products in the bedlinen collection are combed cotton percale. The price for a queen-sized duvet ranged from $80 to $90. Lellis believes the patterns, which target speciality shops and high-end catalogues, will be successful.

''Specialty shops seemed to need new print lines,'' Lellis said. ''The lines available seem to be jacquards and plains. They seem to want a reasonably priced print line, designed exclusively for them. That's the niche I'm trying to get.''

Lellis believes that the market is shifting. ''Prints are coming back,'' she said. ''That's the sense I got from the New York Home Textiles Show. There have been a lot of plain linens on the market for along time. Now people are looking for florals and prints. It's a cycle.''

Cotonniere d'Alsace is a 75-year-old company, which has been family-owned since its inception. Current owner Simon Ehrenreich, the grandson of the founder, said the company's turnover is about $50 million. The company sells fabrics for upholstery, draperies, infant apparel and the contract market, among others. Its strongest export market is Scandinavia.

All of Cotonniere's production facilities are in Colmar, France, including a plant, design studio and print mill.