BYRON LARS FW22 : clothes you can dance in

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Designers Fashion Shows

NYFW is back, and this season we took a look at a unique presentation that combined fashion, and movement. StylePointe is an annual event that brings together designers and choreographers for a presentation of fashion, and dance. This season featured a collection by veteran designer Byron Lars. During the presentation members of professional dancers perform new choreographic works while wearing pieces from the collections. The collection was presented on September 7th, at Dixon Place on New York City’s Lower East Side.

The presentation featured pieces from his fall 2021 collection, accessorized by designer Sheila Gray with pieces from her Collection. The Collection is part of his new venture called “In Earnest”. We are pleased to present our interview with Byron Earnest Lars.

Byron Lars: Photographed by R. Anthony Morrison

Posh: Byron, how long have you been designing, and have you always lived in NY?

Byron: I’ve been designing for over 30 years, I’m originally from California but I’ve lived n New York all my adult life. We just started this new iteration “In Earnest”. It was started with my former assistant over the pandemic,  now we’re business partners.
Posh: This is a unique way to present a collection, how did this collaboration come about?

Byron: Stylepointe contacted us, and it seemed to make perfect sense to me. I think clothes you can dance in are clothes you can live in. If you can have that kind of movement, and freedom of movement, then that’s probably clothes that should be in the world. If you don’t have it then you probably need to rethink some things. It was like a litmus test for the clothes.


Posh: What are some of the things that inspire you as a designer?

Byron: What inspires me the most is the customer that wears the clothes. Women inspire me, and how they wear the clothes. It’s about the lives they’re living, and that I’m making clothes that speak to them. Clothes that really facilitate their best life.

Posh: What are some of the style choices you’ve seen women make that inspire you?

Byron: Too many ways to capture here. some that I can mention are game-changing. Like when a woman wears a dress as a layering piece. The dress may come with a slip under it, I love when they just ditch the slip and put it with a pair of jeans. When they make precious things less precious and integrate the high with low which is just modern language now.

Posh: So what would you suggest to someone who is interested in the fashion industry

Byron: I would suggest, if it’s at all possible, getting employment in the industry. It’s kind of like learning on somebody else’s dime. You can never prepare for it until you are actually in it. They would be well advised to get at least a glimpse behind the velvet rope by getting a job in it. It would help just to learn the nuts and bolts of it all

Byron Lars with models: Photographed by R. Anthony Morrison