California Apparel News

Always a purveyor of quality and originality, Juan Carlos Obando surprised yet again for the showing of his Spring 2008 collection. The Colombian-born designer presented his collection with an intimate luncheon on Oct. 16 at Craft restaurant in Los Angeles’ Century City district. Mannequins displayed the elegant 13-piece collection, which was handmade by Obando. “For the first time I feel really accomplished,” he said. “I did everything by myself—from draping to sewing and steaming,” he explained. Obando, an art director and fashion designer, tells a story with each collection. For this collection he created a screenplay titled “La Fura” to illustrate the mythological story of Persephone’s abduction into the underworld. “The whole idea is that you are the studio and I am the producer and I am selling you a movie,” explained Obando. His collection is Persephone’s wardrobe, and each ensemble portrays a different scene in the movie. The fabrics represent different textures and colors in the story such as the sun, water and tree roots, which translated as knots decorating the necklines of dresses and shoulders of jackets. Obando used his signature hanger dress as a model for each design and experimented with different fabrics and colors. He expanded from silk and waxed cotton into lace, sequins and lameacute;. A black gown was stunning in a cashmere lace with sequin and lace sleeves. A gold lameacute; hanger dress had vertical pleats and a subtle sheen, and a black chiffon gown had a hidden belt and elegant draped back. Chic, yet wearable, a black, waxed cotton coat had a wide collar that was elegant in its simplicity. Obando’s designs have won him nominations for the Fashion Innovator Award for the past two seasons at the Los Angeles Fashion Awards. Still, the designer remained modest. “I wanted to simply have lunch and talk,” he said. —N. Jayne Seward