Takashi Murakami has landed in Los Angeles. His latest exhibition opened at the Geffen Contemporary at the Moca where close to 100 pieces are in display, representing the versatility of his ‘superflat’ style of art.

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Barry McGee’s exhibition at the Red Dot Gallery in downtown Los Angeles features his super cool geometrics all pixelized as early 80s games — Space Invaders, Pacman, Mario Bros and more. Now if only he could’ve worked Punky Brewster in there somewhere. [read more 80s nostalgia]

After strolling through The Fillmore in San Francisco, you may end up at the bottom of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is where you can check out an exhibition of Vivienne Westwood clothing being held at the De Young center. It encompasses 30 years of her designs including the infamous The Queen With Safety Pins t-shirt as worn by The Sex Pistols. Also featured is a history of corsets, part of a dialogue between the innerwear coming out and turning outerwear. Ah, the mysteries and vagaries of fashion. This is all a very interesting and revealing exhibition.

Andrea Zittel has several installations featured at the MOCA in downtown Los Angeles at the moment. Her thematic artwork is particularly relevant for our times, running a concurrent dialog with the fashion industry and embracing the notion of modular living. Keep an eye out for the pop up structures. It’s all very inspiring.

The Merry Karndowsky Gallery in Los Angeles is currently exhibiting a series of works by Miss Vann, Junko Mizuno and Aiko Nakagawa. The art is beautiful, evocative and fun. Kinda like snowflakes on a sunny day. [left painting by Junko Mizuno; right painting by Miss Van]

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One of the best kept secrets in Los Angeles is HaHaSoSo, a woodworking company that gives you a craftmans feel upon entry. It’s like stepping into another age, as Tim Howell and his team create slabs of furniture out of predominantly recycled wood.

By now, every fashionista knows about Isabella Fiore handbags, the notorious Los Angeles based design company. They are launching a new footwear line and one of Promostyl’s illustrators landed the gig of Design director. Leave it up to Jerome Chouinard-Rousseau to propel the line to new highs. Available in July in stores, this is the best collection seen at the WSA show in Vegas, with a lot of thumbs up from the various editors in attendance. Very concise, and pulled together with an art deco mood, the detailing is exquisite. It’s a must have for 07.

Viva Margiela, viva Balenciaga. Margiela delivered with a true sensual feel, so discrete, an intimacy to the body clashing with overpowering shoulders – beautiful constructions reminiscent of Pierre Cardin. Meanwhile Balenciaga brought back an ethnic feel. I saw the che che scarves of Morocco, as well as some beautiful indigo pared with bright yellow. Bringing home a combination of modern Africa, even the pants were mystically inspired. Very nice. Beautiful deliveries of different inspirations.

Move.meant is a true Cali hip-hop group. Composed of three members from Sonoma State University, we are in California country. They bring a fresh breeze to this gender of music. Their single Higher is an amazing source of inspiration with a laid back feel, in tune with California lifestyle. On a musical level, it is well recorded and mastered with a cool undertone. We should all take note and spread the video. The art director Todd Angkasuwan delivers. The video is clean, CRISP, showing ‘style’ in Los Angeles. Colours are saturated and real. Inline with a new elegance that is key to upcoming trends. All waiting for upcoming releases. This is a must have.

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Don’t forget to drop by the Moca in downtown Los Angeles for the Skin + Bones exhibit. It explores parallel practices in fashion and architecture. You will have a chance to view some interesting pieces of couture as well as architectural models. The convertible skirt/table from Hussein Chalayan is there, as are some Victor and Rolf, Margiela, McQueen, Yohji, and Isabel Toledo creations just to name a few as well as architectural representations from Zaha Hadid, Diller, Scofidio and Renfr, Toyo Ito, and models of the upcoming Olympic National Stadium in Beijing. There is a nice balance between deconstruction, minimalism and organic designs. There is a special feature on humanitarian design which is a growing trend and addresses the nomadic aspect of architecture and fashion as represented in the work of artists such as Andrea Zittel and Shigeru Ban. A video of the Blur building closes the exhibit and should not be missed. If you can’t get there, the exhibit catalog is available online at the Moca store. It’s a great resource book for everyone’s shelf.

Living in Los Angeles and having access to the best dining experience is a luxury. To take a stroll upon the old neighborhoods and realizing the abundance of food from mother nature in Los Angeles is amazing and accessible. Fallen Fruit is a site that maps it all out. With great walks which are much better than shopping, you can hit the avocado tree instead of the Prada store.