Raising the bar for shorts

Who wears short shorts -- just about anyplace? Lindsay, Nicole, Mischa, Paris and Nicky started the trend last summer, and it has since spread to the runways, the red carpet, even the office. Blame Kristen Johnson and her shorts company Johnson, a favorite with the paparazzi-trailed pack. In just one year, the designer's line has gone from being sold in three stores to 500, from being backed by her boyfriend to having a business partner.

Forget denim cutoffs and Gap circa 1986 khaki Bermudas. This summer, it's all about tailored shorts, city shorts, dressed-up shorts. Whatever you call them, they are not for the beach. And what makes Johnson's shorts so special is that they are made from vintage silk, cotton, wool plaid and houndstooth, with a loose fit and a low waistband modeled after men's trousers. The legs are cuffed and fastened with one-of-a-kind buttons. She has four basic styles that sell for $120 to $500: short shorts (the Millicent), mid-thigh (the Gertrude), Bermuda length (the Esther) and bloomer (the Louise). For fall, she's also offering printed Capri leggings, unitards and tights to wear underneath. The timing couldn't be better with all the layering in designer collections.

Johnson, 29, who has a mass of curly hair and, not surprisingly, a great pair of legs, has been obsessed with shorts since she was a kid growing up in San Diego.

In high school, she was that girl who wore dolphin shorts, and Levi's cut off and hemmed. She started collecting vintage pieces in polka dot prints or corduroy. "But they were always too short and too high-waisted," she said earlier this week at her downtown studio, which is decorated with a porcelain deer statue, a 1960s rooster wall piece and other thrift store finds. "I thought they would have been cuter if they had been more like men's trousers, hanging on the hips."

So, she started making her own about two years ago. A stylist friend borrowed a pair for a shoot with Hilary Duff, who was photographed in the shorts for the cover of Blender magazine. When the job was over, she didn't want to give them up.

Johnson started taking her samples around to stores.

"The feedback was pretty good. But there were those who said, 'Where's the rest of the collection?'"

Satine, the trendsetting 3rd Street boutique, was one of the first to place an order.