Kara Laricks called Project Runway’s producers and said, “Do you remember me, the lesbian teacher?” And they did.
Filming for Project Runway happened at the same time Kara showed her final clothing collection at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and even after a successful audition, she didn’t bail on her classes. Luckily, the producers had a new show in the works with NBC. Just like that, the former third grade school teacher was cast to be on the first season of Fashion Star, and she went on to win it all.
So how did she go from teaching elementary school to auditioning for reality TV after finishing her degree in fashion design? She became a teacher for stability and health benefits, but the need to create was always nagging at her conscience. “I would secretly cut out magazine pictures. I always wanted to create clothing.” So after twelve years of teaching, she went back to school. “I went back to school for three and a half years to finally delve into what I want to do,” she said.
I caught up with Kara at Pittsburgh’s downtown Macy’s (one of the retailers that carried her designs during the show) before she’d be hosting a small runway presentation showcasing the store’s goods, and she was as sweet as they come. In her signature uniform – a white button down under a black blazer, black bottoms, and cropped and bleached hair – she was exactly as she looks on TV.
She had nothing but positive things to say, including about her celebrity mentor on the show, Jessica Simpson. What could have sounded like an insult, Kara called her “fat and happy” and explained that she meant fat as in Simpson has rich relationships, a successful business, a family, and the width of her wallet isn’t slim.
Laricks is also positive about the national response to her coming out on television. “I got such a positive, incredible response. I get choked up thinking about it,” she said of the public’s reaction to her being gay. What was even more surprising to her was that the focus still remained on her designs, and her personal life had little effect on the support for her work during the show.
Was there any behind the scenes drama that she could dish now that the show is over? Nope. She said there was no real competition between the contestants, because the judges were able to purchase all of the items if they desired. Kara’s capsule collection was picked up by all three of the buyers – H&M, Macy’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue. “It’s as hectic as it seems, but it’s fun,” she said of the show’s fast pace to quickly produce garments for the buyers to purchase.
She laughed as she recalled her one fashion flop on the show though, “Nobody behind the scenes said that tie was a bad idea.” Ties were Kara’s first business and she pedaled them at local markets around New York for the first few years of her career. In the first episode of Fashion Star, she was nearly eliminated for her tie designs.
A tie would be a natural choice for someone whose collections are based on a mix of geometry and androgyny, but she recognizes the needs of her clients. “As much as I love masculine-inspired looks, design is about celebrating all the women that we are,” she said, “It’s hard, because as much as I’d love to work in my studio, if no one wants to buy it, you can’t keep producing art.”
Fashion Star has been criticized for being too commercial, catering too much to the needs of the clients. “That was one of my concerns,” Kara said. “I’m not necessarily a mass market designer.” She told me that when a lot of something has to be produced, design has to be compromised, and this is always a fear. She remained positive about the show though and said, “Fashion Star did honor the artist in me. It has given me the platform to create my work and the opportunity of a lifetime.”
While there are often horror stories of life never moving past reality TV and careers being pigeon-holed by a certain attachment to a show, Laricks is exempt from this category of reality star. She just presented her first eponymous Spring/Summer 2013 collection, and the debut has not gone unnoticed. It’s being sold exclusively at Saks – for those who watched the show, it was apparent this retailer was her biggest fan and her best fit.
Maybe it was Kara’s Kansas teacher background that gave her the professionalism and positivity it’s taken to succeed. She is not a starved artist anymore. In our interview, she didn’t seem to have an ounce of grit or eccentricity that’s normally laced with the notion of a New York artist. She was refreshingly uncontroversial despite her abnormal path into the fashion world. She made the show sound like a natural choice, and made it clear that she’s going to excel far beyond her Fashion Star success. “I’ve jumped into this world in an unconventional way. I don’t have another ten years to build. I’ve interned for free enough.”
