On Tuesday April 24, 2012 John Varvatos, a mentor on the NBC show “Fashion Star” urged the buyers, Caprice Willard from Macy’s, Terron Schaefer from Saks Fifth Avenue, and Nicole Christie from H&M to purchase American Fashion Designer Kara Laricks’ women's suit that she sent down the runway. “This suit that Kara did is so new. You guys have to take another look here. Come on your crazy for not buying this. That is such a strong piece!” This is the statement John made to the buyers after both Macy’s and H&M decided not to make offer on the suits leaving Saks to decide if Kara Laricks would be safe that week or risk being eliminated. Terron from Saks then brought the suits for one hundred thousand, which allowed Kara to continue in the competition, but this is not the first time Kara sold to the high-end department store.

Since the show started seven weeks ago Kara Laricks has sold her pieces to Saks for five of those weeks. This is a big deal when you put it into this perspective, Saks Fifth Avenue carries some of America's finest designers including Alice + Olivia, Tadashi Shoji, Erin Fetherston, Sachin + Babi and more. These same designers also sell at retailers like Net-A-Porter and Neiman Marcus, which means if Kara can sell to Saks then she can sell to the other department stores Saks competes with. Also, let us not forget that these designers I mentioned above all show at New York’s Fashion Week with some of the industries finest sitting front row; so, it's safe to assume that Kara Laricks has the skill and potential to show a successful collection under the tents at Lincoln Center. With all of that being said is Kara Laricks the next fashion star, and by fashion star I’m not referring to the possibility of her winning the show but becoming the industry's next “it” designer. Kara is making the same impact designers Marc Jacobs, Alexander Wang, and Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez did when they started in the industry. She seems to fit in with the rest of the CFDA designers. Her menswear inspired pieces for women are not new but her ideas are fresh and her focus on these garments puts her in her own lane. What I really appreciate about Kara is you can see her customer is the girl that wants to add that slight high fashion editorial feel into her everyday look. Even during the first week of the show when she sent the collar and tie down the runway, risking elimination, you could tell she caters to the edgy girl.

Whether Kara Laricks wins “Fashion Star” or not, I can guarantee we will see more from this up and coming designer. What Kara Laricks has accomplished on “Fashion Star”, selling to Saks Fifth Avenue, I’m sure has not gone unnoticed by bloggers, editors, stylists, buyers and the rest of the fashion community. I am sure we will all be watching to see what this designer does next. Do you see Kara Laricks winning “Fashion Star” on NBC or becoming the next “it” designer?

  Blog Link: www.aneditorspick.blogspot.com/
Photo Credit: http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/