Project Runway: Latest Bootee Talks Trends, Style, and Regret - Stylehive

Last night€™s challenge on Project Runway was a true recipe for DRAMA as the strong-minded, eclectic group of designers were placed in teams of three and told to create a cohesive collection. The catch? Each of the three looks had to encompass elements of their selected €˜bad trends€™ essentially creating a collection that turned major fashion €˜don€™ts€™ into updated, relevant fashion €˜do€™s.€™ Visions collided and tension mounted as the teams struggled to work together in the hopes of making it WORK.

It was anyone€™s guess who would be voted off: Ricky struggled with his role as a leader and faced harsh criticism from the judges for yet again sending a design lacking structure down the runway.

Victorya, meanwhile, couldn€™t quite grasp the fact that there is no I in TEAM, and Steven€™s collection failed to meet the most important criteria of all: being cohesive.

But in the end, everyone€™s favorite outlandish costume designer, Chris, was sent packing on account of poor leadership and a hideous choice of fabric.

Stylehive just spoke to the ousted designer to get the scoop on what really went down.

Stylehive: What was the overall Project Runway experience like for you?
Chris:It was very surreal. It took me a while to grasp the fact that you€™re actually doing the show that you€™ve watched so many times. Like all of a sudden you€™re standing there on the runway and there€™s Heidi and Michael and Nina, and you€™re just like €˜well this is just like the Project Runway that I watch on TV- but only it€™s me! So it€™s very surreal, like the workroom, and Tim coming in and saying €˜Good morning, designers€™- and it€™s like €˜I€™ve seen this all before. It seems so familiar, but now I€™m here!€™

SH: What did you think about last night€™s challenge?
Chris: Last night€™s challenge was really difficult and I think it made everybody really nauseous! It was a lot to wrap your head around. Design-wise and stylistically, it was very difficult.

SH: It was really hard to tell who would be €˜out€™ in last night€™s episode since everyone seemed to be having problems. Why do you think you were the one to get sent home?
Chris: I think it mostly has to do with the fact that I was the team leader. The directions for the challenge were about being modern and cohesive and the judges didn€™t think that we had either one of those things going on too strongly. So as the team leader, I accepted responsibility, and I think that€™s definitely why I got eliminated.

SH: After being voted off you said you stand by your design. Do you still feel this way?
Chris: I stand by my design under those circumstances. Of course if I was given more time, especially more time to shop for fabric, which was definitely always a problem in the challenges, but I think I stand by what I did in those circumstances. And I still really like that jacket. I think maybe paired with something else or in a different circumstance it€™s actually quite nice and it€™s actually very well-made too. So I was not unhappy with it at all.

SH: Any regrets in terms of the trend and team you chose?
Chris: Part of how I ended up with my trend was luck of the draw. The whole "team choosing" thing was really kind of frenetic and crazy. We were kind of standing next to each other and we looked at what we had and other people were pairing up really fast, people were pairing up who had already worked together and things, so we were kind of a motley crew. It€™s kind of the way that it ended up.

SH:If you could do it over, who would you have chosen to be on your team?
Chris:It€™s hard for me to remember who had exactly which trends, but my favorite people, I mean I really do love Sweet P, and I would definitely still have wanted her on my team. I also really like Kit. We had worked together on the Sarah Jessica Parker challenge. We have a lot in common also, both being stylists, so we got along really well. So I suppose Sweet P and Kit would have been my ideal team.

SH: Who is your favorite designer left on the show?
Chris: Probably Kit. I admire her aesthetic. I think that she€™s very interesting and has a very unexpected and really deep vision when it comes to how she wants to look and how she thinks other women should look. I really think that she could add a lot to the fashion world.

SH: What trends do you love right now?
Chris: For this fall I like the metallic trend that€™s been going on and I think one that nobody€™s paid that much attention to is the really dramatic wild shoe trend of the fall. Some of the shoes are so amazing and outrageous that it€™s like a shoe can be the entire feature of your outfit this season.

SH:What€™s next for you?
Chris: I€™ve actually gotten an offer to do costumes for a movie. I also just recently got an offer to design a wig store in New York, which is a really fun idea for me because I also do interior design as well as costumes and fashion and props and head pieces and stuff. I do everything! So I got offered to design a wig store which is kind of right up my alley and would be really fun!