Forget Beige! : ‘Cause Lars Sure Has

New York designer Byron Lars knows how to get retail roaring--dish out fun fashion and hold the boring beige suits.

In one year, the 27-year-old from El Cerrito has become a design hero--thanks to witty women’s wear based on mundane concepts.

True to form, his 40-piece spring collection, shown at Nordstrom last week , was loaded with wry surprises. The show-stoppers included a $350 cotton “shirt skirt” (it has sleeves that tie under a white collar at the waist) and a $425 two-pocket (one over each breast) black denim bustier dress (pictured).

Lars’ meteoric rise started last spring with seven zany dresses based on baseball uniforms that were featured in Henri Bendel’s New York windows. And he can thank the recession for getting him a foot in the door.

“If it weren’t for a sluggish economy, there’s no way that half the young designers would be making it the way they are,” he says. “If you have nothing, you can take a risk and make something fun. The big fashion moguls have to be safe. They have to cut more beige suits.”