In the fast-paced environment of Project Runway, inspiration can be tough to come by. These designers won’t have the luxury of leisurely mulling over one series of concepts for an entire season; they’ll be having to pull out the stops creatively every couple of days.
Luckily for season 4 designer Jillian Lewis, she’ll be bringing her own muse with her: herself.
She says that similar to Diane von Furstenberg, she sees herself as the embodiment of her fashion sensibility, and serves as kind of the living embodiment of her own style.
In addition to Diane von Furstenberg, Jillian also admires the work of Nicolas Ghesquiere for Balanciaga and Azzedine Alaia. Tim Gunn also compared her work to the “girly” and “flirtatious” look of Betsey Johnson.
She has most likely had to look to herself for inspiration, as it doesn’t sound like fashion runs in the family. She mentioned in her Bravo interview that her mother somewhat randomly bought her a sewing machine when she was sixteen. Her mother must have had a premonition, as Jillian found herself easily learning to make clothes.
While her mother might not have been her fashion mentor, Jillian believes she gets much of her drive from her mom. The drive is in full effect in her sneak peek video, where she says “I’m here to get what belongs to me…ultimately to rule the world.” Needless to say, self-confidence is needed to survive a competition like Project Runway…but will she have an excess of hubris?
Well, she has skills and experience to back up her gumption. She went to Parsons School of Design and received a CFDA scholarship award. She was also part of the “Parsons Design Star” project on the MTV college network, where she was picked to design the Perrier girl outfit.
She’s also had major industry experience, working as a concept designer and illustrator at Rugby by Ralph Lauren and as a designer at Searle. She’s currently working on her own line.
To the hardcore Project Runway fan, she might seem a little familiar. An astute observer on noticed she actually auditioned for season 3. Maybe for Jillian, it will be fourth time’s the charm.
-Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Sources: Entertainment Weekly, Blogging Project Runway, Bravo
(Image courtesy of Bravo)
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
