NEW SOURCE FOR RAW MATERIALS

If you’ve seen “Project Runway,” you know Mood -- the fabric mecca in New York’s garment district that contestants pick through each week on the hit Bravo show. Now Mood has opened an 11,000-square-foot outpost here in the Mid-Wilshire area, and it’s already causing a small sensation.

Owner Philip Sauma expects the store’s fabulous array of fabrics from designers such as Jean Paul Gaultier, Oscar de la Renta and Roberto Cavalli to be a draw for L.A.’s growing pool of designers. And of course, hobbyists too.

“Zac Posen bought some of his fabric for his first collection here,” Sauma says of the New York wunderkind. “Same with Proenza Schouler, when they were in school and also for their first couple of collections.”

So L.A.’s next fashion star may not be far from Mood’s front door.

Mood, 6151 W. Pico Blvd. (at La Cienega Boulevard), Los Angeles, (323) 653-6663.

-- Melissa Magsaysay