Jillian Tells Stylehive Project Runway Was Like Walking Through Flames To Get The Gold

I can€™t even begin to fathom the amount of stress, anxiety, and pressure that goes with putting together your first runway show! How could anyone not experience vicarious pangs of panic when watching the Project Runway finale- especially when it came to sweet and meek Jillian, who seemed to be on the verge of a nervous collapse the entire time!

Jillian definitely had her share of ups and downs this season. She struggled with indecision and time-management issues that seemed like they would lead to her downfall. However, Jillian always persevered; consistently creating beautifully crafted garments that wowed the judges (which we all know is no easy feat). Being in the final three, up against Rami who has enjoyed an immensely successful career thus far, and Christian, who is a designing wonder, must have been quite daunting, but Jillian stepped it up, delivering a truly stunning collection that had Rami thinking she was his biggest threat, and had cocky Christian feeling a little nervous.

Stylehive just spoke to the ousted designer to find out more on her first runway presentation, where she will go from here, and if she€™s going to take Roberto Cavalli up on his offer to have her join his staff!

Stylehive: How would you sum up the Project runway experience?
Jillian: I would say it€™s like walking through the fire to get the gold. I think in a way the Bryant park thing, for me, has always been the gold, and that€™s what I€™m very pleased to have accomplished. And I didn€™t win, but I€™ve come to terms with it.

Stylehive:You seemed very stressed in this last episode, especially with the whole model casting issue, if you could go back would you have done anything differently?
Jillian: No, in the end when the hair and makeup was all finished and all of my girls were lined up with their clothing, I really felt like I actually did cast the right group of girls. So if anything, I would have just not overreacted and just kept my mouth shut because it was not that big of a deal and it was made to look like a pretty big deal. When you work so hard on something, every little detail counts. If I wasn€™t nervous about anything and just kind of took it all like €˜oh whatever,€™ then I wouldn€™t be where I am. You have to really think about things. Even when you make decisions, you have to question did you make the right decision and sometimes you don€™t and sometimes you actually did make the right decision but you just question too much whether you made the right decision, so I guess that€™s really what it was.

Stylehive: What did you think of Rami and Christian€™s collections?
Jillian: I just think they€™re both so fantastic and I thought that from the very beginning. I kind of have to remind myself to think back to the beginning when they were both always on the top in the first few challenges. I was a little bit intimidated for the very first part of the season, so I have to remind myself of that and just remember who I€™m going up against. They€™re both just fantastic. At the same time, I don€™t feel that threatened by them because I think we all design very different things for very different people. It€™s like comparing a handbag designer with a jewelry designer with a fashion designer. To such an extent I think we do different things so in a way we can appreciate each other for that reason. It€™s not like we were trying to achieve anything similar, so it€™s enjoyable almost to see what everyone else did.

Stylehive: They were so different! It made for such an enjoyable runway show though. I remember afterwards just thinking how are the judges gonna pick just one?
Jillian: That€™s how I felt too! Even myself, being a part of it and watching the whole thing play out all week, I was just like €˜how on earth are the judges going to chose?€™ I just couldn€™t even imagine.

Stylehive: The judges said your collection had too many ideas and inspirations going on. What did you make of that?
It€™s not the first time I€™ve been told that in my life. I got similar feedback when I was in college and making my thesis collection. I don€™t think I over-designed, so that€™s not the issue. They thought maybe I had too many messages in my story .I think that most people have a standard of what they think a fashion collection is supposed to be and there€™s the formula for it. I don€™t follow the formula for a reason because I believe that our culture is about more than just one thing. I think about fusion food, I think about modern ballet, and just the fact that we€™re living in a global world. I think that life is about a lot of things and our culture is about a lot of things, we€™re pretty eclectic people now. We borrow from a lot of different influences and people just getting dressed. People don€™t dress one way, they don€™t wear ruffles from head to toe, and I always have to think €˜what is going on in my culture, what are people wearing, what are people interested in€™ and €˜what€™s going on with food and what€™s going on with architecture.€™ I am firm in my belief that designing a collection is just a visual poetry of the designer€™s vision and if I were to go back after hearing what they said- and I respect them very much and oftentimes I would take their criticism and maybe make changes- but in this case, I wouldn€™t change that. And when I do another collection going forward, I will still be influenced by many things.

Stylehive: What did you think of Victoria Beckham coming in as a guest judge?
Well I have read a rumor on the internet a while back that she might be the guest judge, so I usually think when there€™s a rumor maybe this means it€™s not gonna be true, so when I saw her I was really surprised. She€™s very high profile and very famous to be a show like this. It just kind of added a little bit more prestige to the show. Just like having someone like Sarah Jessica Parker and Roberto Cavalli, Donna Karen. I think we€™ve just had some really phenomenal, very influential people on the show- how do you top that for next season? I don€™t know.

Stylehive: So what€™s next for you? Are you gonna take Roberto Cavalli up on his offer and join his staff?
Jillian: I don€™t know, I mean I can€™t speak Italian and I have a feeling it€™s just too late for me to learn! But I thought that was really an honor to have him say something like that, in every way, I will never forget it, it means the world to me. But I don€™t think I would go, I think it€™s time for me to focus on my own designs and to take this chance that I€™ve been given from the show and use the momentum to put my line out there and see what happens with it. I actually did make two collections, one was for Project Runway and the other one was for distribution- they€™re actually both my first collections. It has a very similar attitude and vibe to the runway collection except it€™s more colorful, more daytime, wearable, like real meat and potatoes, and the fashion pieces. It€™s a good line, I€™m really happy and excited for it. The buyers have been away in Europe for the past week and they should be back on Monday and we will be having some business meetings and hopefully we€™ll be having our clothes in the stores in August. And I say we because my boyfriend and I actually opened the corporation together. What we€™ve created is very special to us and we feel very passionate about it.

Stylehive: Well I am so excited to see what you come out with! You€™re clothing has such widespread appeal.
Oh yeah, I€™ve gotten a lot of responses from women saying €˜I just wanna wear what you design€™ and that is like music to my ears. That€™s the reason why I do what I do.