Former elementary school teacher Kara Laricks has enjoyed acclaim as a fashion designer. Photo credit: Kara Laricks

Many talented educators have earned acclaim in fields other than education. One outstanding example of this is Kara Laricks, a former fourth grade elementary schoolteacher who is also an acclaimed fashion designer.

Kara hails originally from Overland Park, Kansas. She earned her Bachelor’s degree Elementary Education and Teaching from the University of Kansas in 1995. In 2000, she completed the requirements for her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the same institution.

Once she completed her education, Kara taught fourth grade for ten years. “I love teaching,” she once expressed in an interview for Curve Magazine. “I love that career.” The talented teacher says she always told her students to be true to themselves. Finally, she decided to take own advice and pursue her dream of a career in fashion.

But teaching is not her only passion. Kara once said that she has loved design ever since she was a child. To further that interest, she enrolled at the Academy of Art University on a scholarship from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). She earned her Master’s of Fine Arts degree in Fashion Design there in 2008. That year, the artistic academic was selected as one of nine MFA students to present their senior collection at New York Fashion Week in Fall, 2008.

In 2012, at the age of 38, Kara became a contestant on the first season of the reality show Fashion Star, where her designs garnered her the first place trophy. Rolling Stone Magazine credited the show with embracing the avant garde designer and commended the buyers, especially Macy’s, for thinking outside the box and selecting Kara. The former teacher was awarded a grand prize of $6 million of purchases by Macy’s, H&M, and Saks Fifth Avenue.