Project Runway designer Daniel Feld will certainly be remembered for one thing: his impeccable taste. Last week on the show, when he landed in the bottom of a design challenge, he told the judges that his taste was impeccable, a comment that made Kenley laugh. However, it turns out Kenley wasn’t laughing at him in a mean way at all. The two are actually great friends. Ah, the magic of editing. Daniel clears that up and a lot more in his exclusive interview with BuddyTV.
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 Daniel from Project Runway. Can you tell me a little bit about your background in design and how you got started?
Well, I always wanted to be in zoology and I was also very artistic, so I was kind of torn up on which route go. But I decided that I wanted to express an artistic flair, and I definitely see a lot of nature. I was always drawing women, animals. I definitely wanted to combine my creativity to fashion, I always loved fashion.
What made you decide to go on Project Runway? Is it something that you had been thinking about before this season?
I did, I tried out for season three I believe and I made it all the way as an alternate, like right to the very end. I definitely wanted to try out again this season and I got in this time.
When you met the other designers this season, how did you feel you stacked up against them? Were you intimidated at all?
I wasn’t intimidated at all. There weren’t that many intimidating personalities, really. No, I kind of just did my own thing.
Is there a particular judge on the show that you think is the hardest to impress?
I believe probably Heidi is the probably the hardest to impress. She definitely stands out to me as someone who is more picky than Nina and Michael Kors, yeah.
When you landed in the bottom last week, did you ever get an explanation from Kenley as to why she laughed at you when you said you had impeccable taste?
Well, so is the magic of editing, she just always laughs sporadically. Kenley just laughs randomly at things. A lot of times when I say anything she’d laugh. So when the judges asked her what’s so funny, after I asked her, she just said, “I just love him, and he cracks me up all the time.”
I was going to ask you if you got along with the designers this season. Did you butt heads with anybody?
I probably butt heads with Joe, with the sewing machine incident. We didn’t have assigned machines, so it was hard for me to understand why he was being so angry about a particular machine when there were less machines than designers. I definitely didn’t have an assigned machine, so there shouldn’t have been a reason he got so angry. But we later on made up.
How stressful is this show? Do you think that viewers who aren’t designers don’t realize how difficult it is for you guys to do what you do on the show?
The thing that’s difficult is to have time constraints and fabric shopping. My parents got divorced right before the show, so it was definitely an emotional time for me getting into the show. There was a lot on my mind, and it was hard with the lack of sleep and the lack of time, so my mind didn’t function as strongly as I would have liked it to.
Do you think when you watch the show that we are getting an accurate portrayal of who you are as a person and as a designer?
No, and everyone that watched the show, including other contestants that I talked to, say that it didn’t show I was really funny the whole time, I was really cracking jokes. They really wanted to focus on me constantly saying how I have impeccable taste, however in interviews these questions are being asked to get the answers they want. I wasn’t arrogant by any means, none of the contestants thought that on the show. The only times I would say that was in interviews. I don’t think it was a perfect portrayal of me at all, so that’s a bit disappointing.
Well what’s going on with you now, and do you have anything exciting coming up in the future?
I hope so. [laughs] Definitely just trying to figure out what the next step is to take, just in subletting a place and considering what I’m doing next. There’s talk of me and Wesley doing a collaboration and a line, so I hope that ends up happening.
Well I just wanted to thank you so much for your time Daniel, and good luck in the future.
No problem.
– Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of Bravo)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
