Chutzpah, imagination, and quick-thinking can get you far on Project Runway. But don’t think execution doesn’t count. Michael Kors, Nina Garcia an Heidi Klum eye every creation carefully when it comes down the runway. Are there loose threads? Poorly-sewn seams? An uneven hem? The judges will see it and include any errors in execution in their evaluation..
That’s why a solid background in construction can help give any designer an edge, and that’s precisely an edge Tim Gunn thinks season 4 designer Ricky Lizalde has due to his background as a lingerie designer for labels like Valentino, Oscar de la Renta and Vera Wang. Gunn has said, ”Ricky understands construction — lingerie is all about the details, so he has that sensibility.”
Your Take
miabella said: Ricky, ignore the hate. Congrats on all your accomplishments and continue moving forward with your work. Ch…
sorrycharlie76 said: Stop freaking crying already! Please god vote him off so we don’t have to endure any more of those ugly hats.
Ricky’s success with lingerie might stem from the fact that his career as a creative person was also focused on an intimate understanding of the human body and how it moves. Ricky studied both costume design and dance at California State University in Long Beach, and then moved to New York to become a dancer. During his career in dance, he became a costume designer in addition to a performer, combining both his interest in fashion and his love for dance.
He apparently found some success in this. In 1997, the New York Times said that a dance company that used his designs, they “have struck gold with Ricky Lizalde, an imaginative costume designer.” Another review said of another production, “Ricky Lizalde’s costumes exuded a stylish, high-class decadence.”
Like many of the designers this season of Project Runway, Ricky’s first exposure to design and sewing came early and at home. He watched his mother – his biggest influence – sew and, his Bravo bio says, was “fascinated with what she could create from a flat piece of fabric.” Considering the fact that Ricky was number 12 of 14 children, no doubt he has also learned a lot of great time management and multi-tasking tricks from his mother! That might also come in quite handy on the show.
Ricky is leaving behind a partner of 10-years and a dog named Seven to be on the show, as well as label called Lizalde that he began in 2004, which, again according to his bio, “has been showcased in several trade publications and…are currently being sold at Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and lingerie specialty boutiques throughout the country.”
To see how Ricky fares in the new season of Project Runway, tune into the premiere episode on November 14.
– Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: Bravo, BloggingProjectRunway, oobr.com, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly
(Image courtesy of Bravo)
Staff Columnist, BuddyTV
