Executive Producer of Project Runway - Rich Bye - offers his advice...
1. In choosing 3 looks, make sure they’re recent. The more current they are, the better. Also, the 3 looks should ideally express a consistent, compelling, and fresh point of view. We’d like to be able to see all 3 looks and be able to tell immediately they came from the same designer. Ditto for the portfolio.
2. Be confident and be passionate. Contrary to what some may think, the judges want you to succeed. They want to get excited and engaged but it’s hard to do when someone comes in the room and is unable to talk intelligently and passionately about their work. This is your chance, what do you have to lose? Be loose, be confident in yourself and “knock our socks off!”
3. You need to have a base-line level of technical skills to be able to compete on the show, ie: sewing... If you’re cast on the show, you WILL have to create something in a day, sometimes two, and you can’t be constantly struggling to figure out how to pull it off technically because it detracts from your ability to be creative from a design standpoint. We don’t want to put anyone is a position to fail so if your technical skills aren’t there, it’s difficult for us to move you forward.
4. We love potential. Even if you’ve just graduated from design school, if you have potential and are able to demonstrate it through the looks you bring in, it will intrigue us enough to roll the dice. Look at Christian Siriano, Daniel Vosovic, Nora Caliguri...
5. The quality of the designs you bring in the room is the most important thing but we love designers with great personal style and compelling life stories. Think about what you wear and how you present yourself to the judges. Remember, first impressions do count.
6. Have fun! Remember, as Andrae Gonzalo once said (quoting Nina Garcia): “lighten up, it’s only fashion.”
