On Wednesday’s episode of Project Runway, it was a race to the finals and to Fashion Week. The designers were brought to the Metropolitan Museum of Art where they had to choose a work of art and base a design off of it. Sweet P chose to model her dress after a painting called “Peacocks”. On the runway, her dress was criticized by the judges for being too marketable and not avant garde enough for their taste. Two designers were supposed to be eliminated, but Sweet P ended up being the only one sent home. Chris and Rami were given one last chance to prove they belong at Fashion Week. This week, Sweet P spoke to BuddyTV, defending her design and venting her feelings about her elimination.
Below, you will find the complete transcript and mp3 of the interview.
Hey everybody, this is Gina from BuddyTV, and today I’m talking to Sweet P from Project Runway. Hey Sweet P, how are you?
Gina, I’m good. How are you?
I’m good. Thanks so much for doing the interview, I appreciate it. You were so busy at Bryant Park that I didn’t get a chance to talk to you, because you were just swarmed by people afterwards.
Oh, so you were there.
I was there, and I was glad to see that all five got to present their work. I didn’t know that was going to happen, and I thought it was really cool. How was that for you to be able to do that?
It was very cool. It was the biggest deal of my whole life, aside from getting married.
When you first came out you got a little emotional. What was that moment like for you?
Well, you know, I looked over and I saw so many people, I was overwhelmed. I looked and I saw my mom and my husband, and they had tears in their eyes. I cry pretty easy, so it was just really touching.
Had you ever been to Fashion Week in New York before?
I’ve been there during Fashion Week, but I’ve never been to the show there.
What did you think of the other four that presented? Were you impressed with what the other designers did?
I was. I was impressed with each and every one of them.
Was it really hard for you on last night’s episode to be the only one who was officially eliminated?
Watching it last night I kind of relived the moment, and I was thinking somebody else was going to be eliminated. I kind of thought Rami at that point, because we were the only two who really got criticized in a negative way. I couldn’t believe they would send him home, but I also, not to sound really selfish, took comfort in the fact that somebody would be leaving with me. That was not the case.
Actually, I really liked what you did with the peacock design. When you saw it up on the runway with your model working it, what did you think of it? Did you think it was something that was worthy of being up there with the others? I didn’t think it should have been the thing that sent you home for sure.
I thought my dress was gorgeous, and it was exactly what I wanted to do. At this point, like Tim has said it’s a matter of taste, and the guest judge being Roberto Cavalli, who is fantastic but not really my aesthetic. I don’t buy his clothes, they’re not my style. Now had it been Prada I probably would have been judged very well. I didn’t think of it until last night, my friends were all like, “Your dress is very Prada, or very Marnie’s.” I thought so too. Also, I did not believe that I would get criticized for being sellable or marketable, because we were never told it needed to be over the top or avant garde or anything. I just thought we were supposed to interpret art and be ourselves.
Was being on Project Runway always a goal of yours, or is this something that just came up out of the blue for you?
It’s never been a goal of mine. I’m actually hooked on the show, a huge fan, and my friend Jeffrey [Sebelia] won last season. He had been talking to me while we watched two seasons, I watched with him a lot. He was like, “You should go on the audition when it comes,” and I was like, “Honey, no way. It’s hard what you guys do, and I don’t want to be on TV, I don’t want to leave my husband that long.” The day of the audition he called me and asked me to come and I said no. Then he called me again, and I said no. He called me again and I said you know what, I’ll think about it. I had just closed my business that week because I had run out of money, and so I talked to my husband and he was like, “You know, I didn’t really want you to go, but I feel like it’s not a coincidence this is happening.” So I was like okay, I’ll go into the audition, but I doubt I’ll get it, but I was wrong. I got it.
How has the show changed life for you, and what’s in the future for you now?
Well, I don’t know if it’s changed my life so much, because I’m a people person and I talk to people wherever I go. I know it’s kind of magnified, like people come up to me everywhere, like “Oh my God, you’re Sweet P, I love you!” It’s really nice. I have such sweet fans, and I also feel like it will help me in getting a job, or getting a backer, or whatever happens to me next. I have an interview next week to costume design a theater group, and then some people want some custom stuff, somebody wants to talk to me about a television show. I don’t know what’s next honestly. I’m going to explore all the options, and I’m quite excited.
Well, I just wanted to wish you so much success Sweet P. It was great watching you on the show and I’m really glad I got to see your designs at Fashion Week. Thanks so much.
Thank you so much.
– Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of Bravo)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
