
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 14, 1995                   TAG: 9505160126
SECTION: HOMES                    PAGE: E-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLYNE VARKONYI FORT LAUDERDALE SUN-SENTINEL
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

LARRY LASLO TAKES SOME RISKS

While many of the new collections stressed safe neutral colors and traditional designs at the recent International Home Furnishings Market, Laslo continues to be an avant-garde designer who puts more than a little tongue in his chic.

Laslo, who did his first collection for Directional last October, introduced Laslo Act II - a high-style look that recalls the glamour of Hollywood in the '30s and '40s. He calls them Harlow, Diva and Norma Jean.

``If I can't wear it, I don't like it,'' says Laslo, who uses ready-to-wear for much of his inspiration. You might call what he does ready-to-sit. For example:

Stiletto, a group of dining chairs with thin, sharply pointed legs, recalls the stiletto heels fashionable in the 1950s. They are made in sexy black patent leather with silver nail head accents. A small chrome handle on the back of the chair makes it easy to pull out without marking it with fingerprints. ``I love a chair you can just use Windex to clean,'' he says.

His new fabrics include a houndstooth check enlarged 10 times (Laslo's ``Chanel suit''), a woven silk tinged with metal and a satin-feeling silk with art deco motifs. He also loves animal prints - tiger, leopard, ocelot, zebra and wombat.

Colors range from basic black, taupe and beige to sizzling hot pink, acid green, cobalt blue, magenta and turquoise.

by CNB