Tonight, Bravo will premiere the fourth season of its successful reality show "Project Runway" starring supermodel Heidi Klum, fashion editor Nina Garcia and a host of new contestants desperate to be America's next big designer … or so they think.
The fresh faces will be asked to do things like make a ball gown from cardboard boxes or construct a bathing suit from the clothes off their backs. One by one contestants will be eliminated until America's next big designer is crowned, having passed each test with flying (and usually bright or unique) colors.
But what happens when the winner is let loose in the world of fashion and entertainment with no editors to cut out the parts that aren't so glamorous?
There aren't any Tim Gunns or Heidi Klums to help out in the real world, according to both Jay McCarroll and Chloe Dao, the winners of Seasons 1 and 2 of "Project Runway."
"I guess I thought there was going to be more assistance but … I was a story. I was turned into a product," said the outspoken and never-camera (or tape recorder)-shy McCarroll.
He says he basically partied for a year after his big win.
"I just tried to network and meet people and figure out what the hell I wanted out of it," McCarroll said.
Fair enough, but wasn't he supposed to be America's next Ralph Lauren? Maybe not.
McCarroll is doing plenty now: He just finished a documentary about the design process and he's working on a fashion line for QVC. But when he showed his line at Bryant Park during New York's Fashion Week, he didn't exactly make a splash. In fact, in his words it was simply "a blip."
But McCarroll doesn't seem resentful.
"I now just want to put out products, but I don't want to do it in a fashion show format. I just want to get it to the customer."
No fashion shows? For the "Project Runway" winner? It seems the expected path post-reality success just wasn't for him.
Niche Success, but No Superstars
The story is similar with Season 2. After winning, Dao went back to Houston, back to the boutique Lot 8 that she owned before the show. Her prize money is still in the bank because, she says, her store was already doing well.
Though she says "the show pretty much changed my life," her life doesn't seem to have changed all that much. Not surprisingly, her sales soared in the year after her win, but after that she says things died down.
She is, however, also doing a line for QVC, which she acknowledges wouldn't have happened were it not for the show. After, as McCarroll pointed out, "the customer that watches QVC is the customer that watches 'Project Runway.'"
"I'm thankful for my 15 minutes of fame, but I had my power before," Dao said.
She, too, has found a niche and is successful in the fashion business. But America's next great designer she is not.
Bagging Fashion for Entertainment
Other breakout stars, though not the winners, have used the "Project Runway" platform to explore different ventures. Nick Verros (Season 2) has moved further into the entertainment industry, playing fashion consultant for pop-culture channel E! and noted employer to the D-list celebrity Vh1.
Daniel Vosovic (Season 2) is publishing his first book next year, which he says is a photo collection of the design process. He has also designed uniforms for a new hotel chain NYLO, along with luggage and handbags, all of which will be sold in boutiques inside the hotels.
These are good opportunities for young people interested in fashion. But the "Project Runway" alumni have not exploded onto the scene, frequented the red carpet or dressed Klum and her peers as was expected after the show.
Garcia says she has occasionally featured pieces by contestants in her magazine, Elle, but admits that she does not personally wear any of their designs. When asked why none of the winners or other contestants have become fashion superstars, she said that "Project Runway" is "a microcosm of what happens in the fashion world. … There are designers that do well and [then] fade into anonymity … but it's the same issues, it's the same competitiveness."
Style and market director for Interview magazine J. Errico says that it's up to the contestants to make what they can out of their "Project Runway" appearances. He says people like Garcia and frequent guest judge Michael Kors lend credibility to the show and to the contestants.
"A lot of these kids don't have the opportunity to walk into magazines and say, 'these are my clothes,' or [the money to] get representation, so this is a way to get stuff out there," he said. But, he added, "You can't have one collection and come back three seasons later and expect people to be waiting for you."
Errico says the contestants can have great careers in fashion … just not with their own labels. After all, there are dozens of designers behind each big designer label.
McCarroll says that he essentially spent the years after his win trying to figure out what he really wanted to do within the fashion industry, and it ended up being exactly what he wanted before he went on the show. He is a professor at Philadelphia University teaching a design drawing class, and he says Philadelphia, not New York or L.A., is better for him. It's what he can handle.
So while the "Project Runway" winners haven't found great success, it seems they have succeeded in finding their places in fashion -- even if their not on the runway.
By HANNA SIEGEL
Nov. 14, 2007
