LA MOODS

In Los Angeles, it’s a question of light. Sharp at midday, fading to pastel at sunset. The riveting shades of the California sky create more than a visual backdrop for our lives. They’re much of what inspire our fashion. Our East-meets-West mode of dress combines elements of the tropics, the Orient and life at the beach. It’s a seductively simple style--soft, earthy and, as L.A. designer Leon Max likes to call it, “very pure.” California designers trap those moods in their free, colorful collections. The hand-woven, hand-dyed pieces by Susan Baraz, the fantasy patio looks of Bonnie Strauss and the more structured sophistication of David Hayes only hint at the spectrum of fashion born and worn in Los Angeles. And people everywhere now emulate what they perceive to be quintessential Southern California. When Paris designer Claude Montana visited here recently, he wore a denim jacket over a sweat jacket and a cotton T-shirt--all teamed with very elegant leather pants. “It’s the L.A. look,” he explained. “And I always wear it back home. I like to look comfortable and be comfortable, the way people are here.” Which explains, at least in part, why this city’s style has swept around the world--even without benefit of our light. STYLED BY KAREN LAWSON, CLOUTIER COORDINATED BY KARLA DEBERGH HAIR, MAKEUP BY JAYSON JEFFERYS, A LA MODE ACCESSORIES FROM BONWIT TELLER JEWELRY FROM NEW STONE AGE