"L.A. Times".

Byline: --ANDR�% LEON TALLEY

"We wanted to sweep up before you came," exclaimed Kate and Laura Mulleavy, greeting me in their penthouse-floor atelier in downtown Los Angeles. On the polished concrete floor, large industrial brooms and giant dustpans had been quickly abandoned so the three of us could wax enthusiastic over the inspirations for Rodarte's extraordinary fall collection of poetic decay, which earned the dream-weaving sisters a CFDA Swarovski Award for Womenswear nomination (third time is a charm, dear ones!).

"We loved the idea of Japanese schoolgirls and Asian horror films," said Kate, dressed in a gray hooded zip sweatshirt. Drawing on the elegance of Kabuki theater, as well as the stylized violence of one of their favorite Korean films, A Tale of Two Sisters, they created a fusion of sensuous texture and volume. Corps de ballet, also a major inspiration, took the angst off the draped clothes that looked as if they had been stained with beet juice to resemble blood.

"Surprisingly, this is our most popular collection with the buyers," said Laura, in a similar gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans. There is great innovation and charm in the sisters' exciting handwoven sweaters and Spidey stockings. On a worktable were a dozen carefully folded cardigans in vivid colors and textures. And under a mannequin's beautiful coat (whose fabric was turned inside out to create vintage, frayed nuance) was a great drawstring-waist skirt of multicolored horizontal knit. Drama is their unmistakable signature. How beautiful were the metallic gauzy lace dresses with tulle tutus, like Degas' s bronze ballerina sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. The gold dress and the pale-green were outstanding, as was the dramatic gossamer finale draped, twisted, and knotted Madame Gres --style on a tulle torso.

The Mulleavys have an awesome library of movies, everything from the Lord of the Rings trilogy to Bailey On , in which David Bailey interviews Andy Warhol, Cecil Beaton, and Luchino Visconti. Because dance was such an inspiration, I asked them if they had ever seen Vanessa Redgrave' s wonderful portrayal of Isadora Duncan in The Loves of Isadora . Kate duly noted the title. But when they had never even heard of Bernardo Bertolucci' s The Conformist , I rushed right out to Virgin to buy them a copy.

WILD, WILD WEST

Los Angeles Fashion Week, held at the Smashbox Studios in Culver City, is, at best, like a chaotic reality-TV program in progress. A moment of pleasant surprise or two came from Londoner Julia Clancey, showing for the first time in America, with her simple silk shantung sheath dress embroidered with a collar of black jet beads and her patent leather cape with scalloped hem, worn over a short matching skirt.