Byron Lars said that his In Earnest collection for spring 2023 (which was shown as part of a collective event called Ignite the Runway) is about the “whole joy of dressing.” This is essentially the motivation behind all of Lars’s work, and he distills his sunny nature into clothes that sparkle and shine and make you smile. Take the first exit, featuring a cheeky take on shirting described as a “white Oxford boob button-down,” paired with “palazzo” jeans, that offered a sophisticated alternative to the oversize trend. Other looks were accessorized with garden mules, festooned with flowers.
Though he’s shown narrative or themed collections in the past, this season Lars was after a vibe. “We were trying to kind of conjure that 1940s Harlem hot sauce chic,” the designer said. “Hot sauce,” he elaborated, is what happens when chic things go through a Black filter. It’s like, ‘Okay that’s a little more sass than we intended, but I kind of like it!’ ”
That sass ran through the seams of pretty party dresses. The (relative) brevity of the silhouettes and their neatness looked fresh and unfussy. That’s not to say they were simple—Lars, who is of the more-is-more school of design, loves using a medley of materials in one outfit—but the looks (see-through and not) followed the lines of the body, with some dresses emphasizing the waist and others that had more volume at the hem.
Today when we’re told less is more, it’s usually in reference to sustainability, but 80 years ago this approach was tied to the war efforts. In 1942 the War Production Board put L-85 in place, an order that regulated the amount of fabric that could be used in a garment. As is so often the case, limitations didn’t curb, but encouraged, creativity. The decree meant narrower cuts and shorter hems which resulted in greater freedom of movement for women, some of whom would later organize as The Little Below the Knee Club to protest the longer lengths Christian Dior popularized with the New Look. (Funny, Lars’s closing look had a fit-and-flare silhouette.) Today, when there are no restrictions on dress, women are fighting to hold on to their reproductive rights. One step forward, two steps back seems to be the current pace of things in the world at large. Lars’s designs are encouragement to break out of that pattern and trip the light fantastic.
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