Project Runway Season 6: Meet Mitchell Hall

Last but not least, bitches!

Mitchell Hall
Age: 26
Birthplace: Melbourne, FL
Current Home: Savannah, GA
Favorite Designer: Valentino
Style Icon: Tom Ford
Favorite Past Project Runway Designer: Austin Scarlett, Season 1

At a young age, Mitchell’s talent for fashion design was clear, as he often found himself sketching gowns for Disney princesses. He went from working at The Gap in high school to studying fashion design at Savannah College of Art and Design. The first garment he ever made was a skirt for his introduction to sewing class in college. Mitchell is currently the creative director for three contemporary women’s boutiques, including a Vera Wang Bridal Salon.

Why he’ll win?
Mitchell believes he will win with his use of high-end fabrics and his keen eye for contemporary women’s fashion, coupled with his ability to work well under pressure. He also enjoys the rush of competition!

Tim Gunn: "Mitchell looks like he just stepped out of Gossip Girl and I think that's who he'd like to design for."

TimSpeak: "I want to go there."

Geez, Zoe, we know he's cute but keep your pants on, willya?


Designs:


There's not a lot to go on here. He's very trendy and modern, so that's a point in his favor. He's also adorable, so that's another thing going for him. But not working in colors? Ever? Oh, kitten. Nina is SO going to have a problem with that. Personality-wise, the boy needs to switch to decaf. This is definitely a competition that requires high energy, but sometimes designers have problems directing that energy to work for them instead of against them.

Tim Gunn's Quotes: Meet Project Runway's Newest Designers! [People]
[Photos: myLifetime.com - Videos: myLifetime.com]

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Project Runway Season 6: Meet Rodney Epperson

We're in the homestretch, bitches, so we have to knock these last couple of suckers out!

Rodney Epperson

Age: 50
Birthplace: New York, NY
Current Home: New York, NY
Favorite Designer: Yohji Yamamoto
Style Icon: None
Favorite Past Project Runway Designer: Christian Siriano, Season 4

Rodney, who likes to go by his last name, Epperson, is a self-taught designer who grew up in Harlem. In the early 70’s, while still in high school, Epperson began designing and focused on the deconstructed look. He later enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology, and, although he never completed his formal training, he went on to become a window dresser for Charivari in the 80’s and 90’s and currently does visual design for retailer H&M. He has designed clothes for some high profile clients, one being India.Arie. Epperson and his wife are parents to four kids.

Why he’ll win?
Epperson believes he’ll win because he is coming to the series with a unique approach and feels that it’s all about timing: “It’s my time to shine.”

Tim Gunn: "He is the most senior in terms of design career and reputation. He has a distinguished career. He's elder-statesmanlike."

TimSpeak: He wouldn't listen to me.





We have a feeling that we're not going to have much to say about him outside of his work because he's so low-key we're actually surprised he was cast on a reality television show at all. Clearly, he's got the talent chops, but like it or not, personality goes a long way on a reality television competition. Talent alone rarely wins the prize. We can rail against that all day long, but that's the reality of reality television.

Did we use the word "reality" enough in that paragraph?

As for his portfolio:

There's just not a lot to go on here. We liked the work he showed in his audition. It seems to us he's working that rare blend of conceptual plus practical. If he can handle the time constraints, the judges will probably love him.

As always, check out his myLifetime.com page for the rest of the goods.

Tim Gunn's Quotes: Meet Project Runway's Newest Designers! [People]
[Photos: shirinaskari.com/myLifetime.com - Videos: myLifetime.com]

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Project Runway Season 6: Meet Shirin Askari

Poodles, the premiere is almost upon us! One week! We need to get our shit together!

Shirin Askari
Age: 24
Birthplace: Tulsa, OK
Current Home: Garland, TX
Favorite Designers: Elie Saab, Jaques Fath, Christian Dior, Hussein Chalayan
Style Icon: Katherine Hepburn
Favorite Past Project Runway Designers:
Rami Kashou, Season 4; Leanne Marshall, Season 5

While other little girls were playing with their dolls and changing their clothes, Shirin was busy making the clothes! She was taught how to sew at four years old by her mother, and, by the age of seven, she was designing and making her own dresses. She went on to design and sew headscarves in middle school before she received formal training at the University of North Texas where she earned a BFA in Fashion Design. Shirin is currently a freelance designer and previously served as an assistant tech designer for Fossil. She often draws her inspiration from the fabric; she creates the garment after seeing how it feels and drapes. She is also influenced by classic movies starring Fred Astaire, Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant.

Why she’ll win?
Shirin believes she has an eye for fashion, an unbelievable drive and a strong knowledge of how to give the client what he/she wants, while still being creative.

Tim Gunn: "She's young, she's pretty, she's articulate. I'm not sure what is distinctive about her, other than the fact that she's good."

TimSpeak: "Who?"



Well isn't she just as perky as a newborn kitten on a sugar high! Honey? Here's a bit of advice: if you want to be on television, try not to use loaded terms like "cripple," even if you use airquotes around it. We know, right? People are just so gay and retarded about stuff like that!

Portfolio:

Not bad. We can see her personality in her work: flirty and feminine and young. Thing is, designers like this rarely catch and hold the judges' attention. We would even go so far as to say Michael and Nina have a bias against solid work like this if they feel there's no edge to it.

Check out more on Shirin at her myLifetime.com page.


Tim Gunn's Quotes: Meet Project Runway's Newest Designers! [People]
[Photos: shirinaskari.com/myLifetime.com - Videos: myLifetime.com]


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Project Runway Season 6: Meet Nicolas Putvinski

Ooh, we smell trouble on this one.

Nicolas Putvinski
Age: 27
Birthplace: Moscow, Russia
Current Home: New York, NY
Favorite Designer: Olivier Theyskens
Style Icon: Marlene Dietrich
Favorite Past Project Runway Designer: Rami Kashou, Season 4

Nicolas realized his designer potential at age 15 when he made a pleather tube top dress for his 12 year old sister. An immigrant from Russia, Nicolas spent most of his childhood in San Diego, CA, and had only three weeks to learn English before starting school in America. Nicolas went on to study design at the Fashion Institute of Technology and received further training at Izquierdo Studio in New York. Nicolas has had a number of works commissioned by W Magazine and Vogue, and some of his greatest fashion achievements include designing a dress for Marchesa and serving as the lead assistant to the costumer who makes the famous angel wings for Victoria’s Secret. This past February, Nicolas created a gown for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Oscars Design Challenge.

Why he’ll win?
Nicolas believes he will win because he is innovative, a master at fabric manipulation, works well under time constraints and has a fabulous personality to boot!

Tim Gunn: "If you have such a bad taste in your mouth about American fashion, [Gunn has wondered about the F.I.T. grad] why are you here?"

TimSpeak: You shut your whore mouth and sew, Ivan.




Honestly, he comes off fine in the videos, but that quote from Tim is awfully ominous, wouldn't you say? Tim's not the type to throw shade like that. Guess we'll have to watch what ha--see how it all turns out.

As for the portfolio...

The ghost of Chris March lingers. He certainly seems to have the technical skills down pat, but we're not really seeing anything that goes past "costume."

Here's something interesting: since he designed the angel wings for the Victoria's Secret runway shows, that means that he's the first designer to appear on the show who designed something Heidi wore in her professional life. We wonder what the dynamic will be like with that little bit of trivia.

Anyway, go check out his page on myLifetime.com and try to figure out if we're jumping the gun(n) on this one.


Tim Gunn's Quotes: Meet Project Runway's Newest Designers! [People]
[Photos: myLifetime.com/vmagazine.com/Getty Images - Videos: myLifetime.com]


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Project Runway Season 6: Meet Gordana Gehlhausen

Eastern Europe reprezent, y'all!

Gordana Gehlhausen
Age: 45
Birthplace: Yugoslavia
Current Home: San Diego, CA
Favorite Designers: John Galliano
Style Icon: Grace Kelly
Favorite Past Project Runway Designers: Uli Herzner, Season 3

Originally from former Yugoslavia, Gordana grew up in a small Serbian Village in Bosnia. She has always been very creative and had a unique style of dress, knitting her first sweater when she was only seven years old. Gordana attended college in Germany, earning a Linguistics degree before she moved to Atlanta, GA. There, she fine-tuned her design skills by creating a children’s line and later moved to Charleston, SC, where she opened her first women’s boutique, GOGA. While still maintaining her store in South Carolina, Gordana recently relocated to San Diego and opened her second women’s wear boutique, GOGA by Gordana, featuring her own designs.

Why she’ll win?
Gordana believes she will win because she works hard and won’t ever quit.

Tim Gunn: [Expect a lot of] "textile development. It wouldn't be a case of going shopping and using the fabric she brought back. She'd do things to it."

TimSpeak: She's a spitter.

We have no idea what she's going to be like, but what's not to love about a 45 year old proudly wearing hotpants - AND LOOKING PRETTY DAMN GOOD IN THEM?

Portfolio:

Nice. Some very pretty looks. And we can see what Tim meant about "doing things" to fabric.






Oh, darlings. Expect lots of Boris and Natasha jokes from us this season. She's fun, though. She can walk the walk and talk the talk. She really knows how to defend and define her work and she's got a real take-no-shit attitude that we're going to enjoy seeing go up against Nina.

Check out more about Gordana at her myLifetime.com page.



Tim Gunn's Quotes: Meet Project Runway's Newest Designers! [People]
[Photos: shopgoga.com/myLifetime.com - Videos: myLifetime.com]

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Project Runway Season 6: Ra'mon-Lawrence Coleman

Ooohh, another cute one!

Ra'mon-Lawrence Coleman
Age: 31
Birthplace: Chicago, IL
Current Home: Minneapolis, MN
Favorite Designer: Marc Jacobs
Style Icon: Diahann Carroll
Favorite Past Project Runway Designer: Daniel Vosovic, Season 2

Graduating high school and attending college at the young age of 15, Ra’mon’s (then a pre-med major) discovered his passion for fashion when he signed up for a performance art class and was tasked with creating costumes. Ra’mon went on to study at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and at SAGA Industries in Denmark. Ra’mon’s body of work includes stints as a bridal designer for Linda Campisano, designer for PriceWalton Couture, assistant designer for Gary Graham and designer for International Fur Trade Federation. Ra’mon currently designs for Target’s Massimo Black line and is working on designs for his own label, Ra’mon-Lawrence.

Why he’ll win?
Ra’mon believes he’ll win because he has a distinct point of view that appeals to a wide market and plans to bring a modern aesthetic with an avant garde twist to his clothes.

Tim Gunn: "He's someone who in my view thinks entirely too much. I was constantly surprised in the workroom – suddenly, there's a new design."

TimSpeak: Uhh... we actually have no idea what Tim's saying here. The first sentence sounds like a criticism but the second sentence sounds like praise.

So let's look at the goods:

Survey says...GORGEOUS. Gorgeous with a side of WOW. Seriously, bitches. This stuff is PERFECT. The draping, the pleating, the color treatments, the use of prints - it all speaks of a highly talented designer. This is absolutely the best pre-show portfolio we've seen yet.

Personality-wise...





...he seems sweet, but we're also getting the distinct whiff of "diva." Fine by us. As far as we're concerned, talent+personality=the perfect reality show contestant. Ra'mon, we are expecting great things from you this season.

Seriously, doesn't it look like they knocked it out of the park in picking the contestants this year? Well, actually last year, but you know what we mean.

Find out more about Ra'mon at his myLifetime.com page and as always, if you want to speculate as to whether he's one of the finalists, save that for the finale collections posts which can be found via the pulldown menu at the bottom of the page.


Tim Gunn's Quotes: Meet Project Runway's Newest Designers! [People]
[Photos: Ra'mon-Lawrence/ myLifetime.com - Videos: myLifetime.com]


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