Q&A With Designer John Varvatos: What's Next for NBC's "Fashion Star"?

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by Ann Binlot

Published: May 17, 2012

NBC’s “Fashion Star” set a new bar for reality fashion design competitions, with bass-thumping runway shows, an entertaining and inspiring cast of designers, and the opportunity for viewers to buy the winning designs from H&M, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Macy’s, just moments after each episode aired. The season one finale was broadcast on Tuesday – so what’s next for the reality fashion design competition? ARTINFO caught up with one “Fashion Star” mentor, designer John Varvatos, at the Donor of the Day Celebration, and chatted with him about the show’s future, winner Kara Laricks, and how to thrive in the fashion industry.

So “Fashion Star” just wrapped up Tuesday night. How does it feel?

We shot it last summer, but it’s exciting because we just got picked up for another season and we just had a call today talking about how to make it even better, more interesting, more focused — all the things that you learn in life with anything you do. It’s amazing how many fans we have from the show already. It’s really shocking to me in a way, but people get addicted to those kinds of things.

You’ve called Nzimiro Oputa your “brother from another mother.” Any chance you hired him to work with you?

No, but I love Nzimiro, he’s a good guy. There’s some other talented people that were in the competition as well, and I definitely will be talking to Nzimiro. We’ve talked a bit. We wanted to wait until the show was over, but he’s trying to figure out what he’s going to do next, and he’s got some opportunities. He had a lot of fans.

Especially to come from an engineering background and go into fashion design. I thought that was really amazing.

There were some good stories in there too, right?

Yeah, Kara, the winner, she was great too. You were a big fan of hers.

She’s a true talent. I saw it from the first time I was with her.

And after her flub during the first show, when she just designed an accessory instead of a whole look, and she came back to win it.

That was ballsy to show a collar and a tie.

I just think she didn’t know any better.

She didn’t, and that’s what’s so exciting about her and even about the show. There’s people who are very plugged into the industry, and there’s people who are just passionate and talented, and they’re not business people. They don’t know.

Are you coming back next season?

I’m planning on it. I’ve been asked to come back and we had a call today about it and I’m definitely trying to figure my schedule out, but I’d like to do another season.

Will the next season still have all the bells and whistles — the backup dancers, fireworks, and motorcycles — of season one?

We’re going to have some. It’s going to be much more tuned in to the designers, the mentors, creating. It can’t be stagnant. It really is, in the end, about the clothes. People want to know about the designers. So all that’s important. Those bells and whistles are important, I don’t know about the trapezes and everything else. Those weren’t my thing.

I think of you as the true expert on the show because you really paid your dues and you know what the fashion industry is like.

Well, thank you. It was fun working with Jessica and Nicole, and I think that in the second season there will definitely be more dynamics between the designers. Even though we had a lot of it filmed, we have 14 designers; it’s a lot to get on the show. And dancers and everything else. So I think there will be a lot more dynamic between the designers and the mentors.

How do you think “Fashion Star” changed the whole reality design competition game?

There’s two things — number one, it was instant gratification. You could be in love with Kara’s designs and you could go online or in the stores tomorrow and buy it. And you kind of vote with your buy, too. It’s really unique like that. And then the other thing is that it gives these unknown designers who are an engineer or a teacher the opportunity to really start a business. Kara got a deal at the end for $6 million between H&M, Macy’s, and Saks Fifth Avenue, three of the biggest stores in the world. I really truly believe it’s a whole new landscape. The way the world’s changed — the Internet and everything else, the world moves so quickly. I believe this is another entity in all that as well.

How long did it take you to get a $6 million deal?

You know — a long time in life! And the real reality is, even when you get one, you have to protect it and you have to grow it because there’s a lot of people who come and go in any industry, but in the fashion industry, overnight people come and go. You can be the flavor of the month one week, and gone the next month.

Any advice for aspiring fashion designers?

Be a sponge, suck up every bit of knowledge, and take every opportunity no matter how small or how big the opportunity is. Some kids get a little arrogant, “Oh, it’s not a big enough deal, it’s too small a job.” Take every opportunity, be a sponge, take every bit of information and knowledge. I’m still learning today, being in the business for 25 years. I’m still learning every single day and you just have to have that approach that you want to grab as much information as you can and as much knowledge as you can and it will set you up to be more successful.

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