Kara Saun, who was stopped short of the finals on Bravo’s “Project Runway” last year, is producing her own upscale eveningwear line in Los Angeles. And she just completed a pilot for an ABC sitcom, “Notes From the Underbelly.”
Saun grew up in South Carolina where she studied communications at Rutgers University, but since kindergarten she knew she wanted to sew. The passion enveloped her in high school home economics class, where she made a three-piece outfit while everyone else sewed a wrap skirt.
Her first job as a costume designer was with the television show “Malcolm in the Middle” before her big break on “Runway.” Now, with her signature line, she is trying to reconcile tough, current world events with the frivolity of expensive party clothes.
When she started planning the line, it was during the Katrina disaster. “I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. I can’t do this.”‘ It was, she acknowledges, a somber collection. “Luxury without excess,” she said.
Now she understands fashion helps people escape bad things such as war and natural disasters. But she works hard to keep a perspective.
“There are other things in life besides fashion.”
– Knight Ridder
