Juan Carlos Obando

Many of the spring clothes designers are showing this week have a tactile appeal. Maybe it's a signal that we're searching for more depth in fashion, something to touch and feel, not just to look at and discard after one season. Of course, it also helps to justify a high price tag -- because you can actually see the work. The new summer suit as a trend came into focus at Carolina Herrera on Monday, where a sinewy rope-weave raffia vest was paired with linen shorts. Herrera's collection had an organic sensibility and was free of any strict theme.

Many big-name L.A.-based designers - Rodarte, Gregory Parkinson, Rachel Zoe, Barbara Tfank, Skaist-Taylor and Juan Carlos Obando among them - have already shown their fall 2012 collections at New York Fashion Week. Now in the middle of Los Angeles Fashion Week, it seems like a good time to meet other designers and labels that are shaping the L.A. fashion scene and giving it global reach. Of Two Minds The look: L.A.'s answer to Isabel Marant. The goods: Designer Sunjoo Moon marries Parisian chic and West Coast cool for a world-traveler vibe seen in fur vests, maxi-length dresses done in relaxed 1970s silhouettes, cozy knits and trousers festooned with subtle tribal patterns.

Many big-name L.A.-based designers - Rodarte, Gregory Parkinson, Rachel Zoe, Barbara Tfank, Skaist-Taylor and Juan Carlos Obando among them - have already shown their fall 2012 collections at New York Fashion Week. Now in the middle of Los Angeles Fashion Week, it seems like a good time to meet other designers and labels that are shaping the L.A. fashion scene and giving it global reach. Of Two Minds The look: L.A.'s answer to Isabel Marant. The goods: Designer Sunjoo Moon marries Parisian chic and West Coast cool for a world-traveler vibe seen in fur vests, maxi-length dresses done in relaxed 1970s silhouettes, cozy knits and trousers festooned with subtle tribal patterns.

Each season, the action on the catwalk is only part of the New York Fashion Week drama, and the fashion flock's descent on Manhattan last week for the group hug formally known as the spring-summer 2010 collections was no exception. Below are some of the most memorable and talked about "off runway" moments and musings. Fashion's Night Out Juan Carlos Obando gave salsa lessons, Third Eye Blind performed at Nine West, Rosie O'Donnell ragged on pricey purses (and the price of the shirt she was wearing)

Each season, the action on the catwalk is only part of the New York Fashion Week drama, and the fashion flock's descent on Manhattan last week for the group hug formally known as the spring-summer 2010 collections was no exception. Below are some of the most memorable and talked about "off runway" moments and musings. Fashion's Night Out Juan Carlos Obando gave salsa lessons, Third Eye Blind performed at Nine West, Rosie O'Donnell ragged on pricey purses (and the price of the shirt she was wearing)

NOT everyone's gotten the memo yet, but the dress code from Echo Park nightclubs to Culver City galleries is changing. A renewed elegance is replacing L.A.'s relaxed signature style, thanks in part to a rising school of designers bent on creating clothes as sophisticated as they are beautifully made. The city's restaurant, architecture and art scenes have grown up, motivating women who once would have gone everywhere in jeans to up their game.

THE runway in the Lightbox theater may be small but the dreams are big. Fashion designer Juan Carlos Obando, a native of Baranquilla, Colombia, who came to L.A. via Miami, spent the early part of his career as an art director, working with Saatchi & Saatchi and Young & Rubicam to develop campaigns such as Toyota's "Let Imagination Run Your Life." Well, he did. Last year, at 27, he gave it all up to launch a clothing line at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios.

Just when you thought this town's capacity for awards shows was busting at the seams, along came the L.A. Fashion Awards to address the city's fashion industry leaders and achievers. Now in its third year, the event at the Orpheum Theatre attracted everyone from past season reality-TV stars to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who gave the night's opening remarks. Seven awards were handed out throughout the night.

IT'S about time. Los Angeles is, without a doubt, the most-watched fashion city on the planet. We make more clothes, and sell more clothes, than any other place in the country. The world's top designers and fashion photographers find their inspiration here. The L.A. design community is hitting a stride we haven't seen in years. Our surf, sport and denim industries clothe the world. And do we even have to mention the Hollywood fashion machine?

Andrew Gn Designer This Paris-based designer made quite an impression when he visited L.A. for the first time last month with his spring collection, inspired by the late style maker Tony Duquette. Gn (hard G, rhymes with "sin") already is a favorite with East Coast socialites; here, celebrity stylists for Jessica Alba, Cate Blanchett and Kate Bosworth are eating the designer up. Gn had never visited Duquette's Beverly Hills estate until retailer Tracey Ross hosted a dinner for him there.

Many of the spring clothes designers are showing this week have a tactile appeal. Maybe it's a signal that we're searching for more depth in fashion, something to touch and feel, not just to look at and discard after one season. Of course, it also helps to justify a high price tag -- because you can actually see the work. The new summer suit as a trend came into focus at Carolina Herrera on Monday, where a sinewy rope-weave raffia vest was paired with linen shorts. Herrera's collection had an organic sensibility and was free of any strict theme.

NOT everyone's gotten the memo yet, but the dress code from Echo Park nightclubs to Culver City galleries is changing. A renewed elegance is replacing L.A.'s relaxed signature style, thanks in part to a rising school of designers bent on creating clothes as sophisticated as they are beautifully made. The city's restaurant, architecture and art scenes have grown up, motivating women who once would have gone everywhere in jeans to up their game.

THE runway in the Lightbox theater may be small but the dreams are big. Fashion designer Juan Carlos Obando, a native of Baranquilla, Colombia, who came to L.A. via Miami, spent the early part of his career as an art director, working with Saatchi & Saatchi and Young & Rubicam to develop campaigns such as Toyota's "Let Imagination Run Your Life." Well, he did. Last year, at 27, he gave it all up to launch a clothing line at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios.

  In New York, Los Angeles fashion has come of age. New York Fashion Week, which kicked off Wednesday with more than 300 fashion shows and presentations scheduled to take place in the coming days, is not just a platform for New York designers to gain media attention and retail orders. It's a showcase for designers from all over the world - and, notably this year, Los Angeles, which now has a breadth of talent to rival any major fashion city. Twenty years ago, Los Angeles had a reputation for producing clothing that was casual, comfortable and wearable, but not necessarily innovative or runway-worthy.

It's a rainy day in Los Angeles and Juan Carlos Obando is padding around his apartment in a hooded sweat shirt, plaid shorts and shearling slippers, putting the final touches on a spectacular clear-sequin cocktail dress sprouting chiffon "feather" wings on the back. The dress alone took a month and a half to finish, and there's also an electric blue chiffon coat painstakingly tucked and sewn to look like fur, and a spidery black mini dress constructed from three layers of cashmere lace singed under a high heat to give it shine.