It’s been over three years since Peach Carr faced down the “mortification” of being the first designer sent packing on 2012’s “Project Runway, Allstars.” But Reality TV, it would seem, has little to do with actual reality. The Lake Forest designer is busier than ever, preparing for fashion shows throughout the country, expanding her imprint beyond the signature tennis wear she was known for on “Runway” and doing a booming business via her website.
We spoke with Carr shortly after Chicago’s PlayChic Fashion Show, an annual event where select designers create couture inspired by the season’s hottest toys. Here’s what Carr had to say about that heinous elimination, how she bounced back and why a pink pleather purse shaped like a ginormous mouse just might be the Next Big Thing in fashion.
Q: For the PlayChic show, you had to create looks based on “Extra, Extra”, a board game set in a newspaper office in the 1930s. How do you even begin to turn a board game into clothes?
A: It’s kind of crazy. I brought the game home, started playing, and immediately began thinking about Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy playing rival reporters in “Woman of the Year.” So with Katharine Hepburn I had to do pants, right? And the colors had to be black and white and red, referencing that old joke about what’s black and white and read all over.
One of the first things I did was make a collage out of headlines from newspapers from the 1930s and ’40s. Then I commissioned a print fabric based on that collage. That’s what the pants ended up being made from. I also did a gown in black and white, a reference to print.
Q: You also based looks on Zoomer Kitty, a robotic kitten. Tell me about those.
A: Well, I didn’t want to go too literal, but I did want to reference cats. I did a mock turtleneck with capri pants that have markings and lace appliques that could be the markings of a cat. I also designed a huge pink purse that looks like a mouse. When I finished that purse, I looked at it and just started cracking up. I mean it’s a fully functioning purse that’s a huge, pink mouse made out of crocodile embossed pleather. I’m going to mass-produce them.
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Q: I heard you sold some of the designs before the models had even taken them off. True?
A: Yes — the Extra, Extra pants suit and the checkerboard dress went while the models were still actually wearing them.
– Original Credit: Peach Carr Designs
Q: Can we talk about your All-Stars elimination? It was kind of shocking — you being the first one to go home.
A: I curled up in a little ball for six months after that. It was beyond mortifying. I didn’t go anywhere. Didn’t do anything. I was destroyed. I almost ruined my career. I needed a cold bucket of water to the face.
Q: So how’d you snap out of it?
A: St. Jude called me. I mean the children’s research hospital, not the actual saint. I wasn’t really familiar with what they did or who they were, but they wanted a “designer liaison.” They do fashion show fundraisers every year. So I did a walk-through tour of the facility and I saw all these children and all these families coming together in their pain and working, really striving, to survive. And it struck me so hard — there’s so much out there that means so much more than who goes home first on “Project Runway Allstars.” And I decided to turn around. If they wanted me to work with them, I needed to be a person who was worthy of that honor.
Q: Do you sew and design at home in Lake Forest?
A: Oh yes, Our house used to be a barn. My studio is the old hayloft. Tons of windows and natural light.
Q: What’s next?
A: I’ve got show in El Paseo (a mall in Palm Desert, Calif.) coming up with (“Allstars” designer) Michael Costello. And eventually, the Play Chic designs from Extra, Extra and Zoomer Kitty will be available on my website. I think they’ll be $250 and $350. It’s all good. “Allstars” almost ruined me, but it also gave me connections and friends that I’ll cherish for ever. And I’ve never been busier.
For more information on Peach Carr’s couture, go to peachcarrdesigns.com