Silk jersey turtleneck, $495, silk organza flounce skirt, $1,600, feather and silk hat, $1,200 by Christian Siriano
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"It’s been six months since Christian Siriano swept Project Runway with his “Musketeer” collection and became a reality TV star whose “fierce” expressions and “Asian lesbian” haircut (his phrase) spawned a hit Saturday Night Live sketch, an Ugly Betty cameo, and fashion commissions from Victoria Beckham. But curled up in a leopard-print chair in his New York walk-up apartment, where a single garment rack takes up nearly half the living room, the 22-year-old looks more like a struggling college student than a celebrity fashion designer. His bedroom is still a glorified closet with a mattress propped against a wall. (A high school friend has the actual bedroom.) The cardboard check for the $100,000 prize money is on display next to a crated stack of sweaters, as are his sewing machine (currently broken), fabric swatches, and sketches for an upcoming project with Puma—everything immaculately organized and showcased, like some sort of Siriano shrine. “It’s a hot tranny mess up in here!” he says, quoting his on-camera character. “What up?!”"
[...]
As Siriano’s celebrity has grown, keeping the focus on creativity has become increasingly difficult. He gets more than 200 e-mails a day about speaking engagements, red-carpet events, and bar mitzvahs (he recently got paid $10,000 just to show up at one), and has a manager and an agent at William Morris. Now, however, his goal is to start distancing himself from reality TV stardom. “I really do want to follow in the footsteps of designers like Rodarte and Proenza Schouler,” he says, noting that he plans to stage a runway show during New York Fashion Week and finally sell his collection. (He declined to off-load the Project Runway pieces because he didn’t believe he was ready.) At the moment, he has one intern and a friend who occasionally helps him sew. Everything else, from a gown for Vanessa Williams’ character on Ugly Betty that’s due after this interview (and which, in typical Siriano style, he’s not yet begun) to possible samples for Ashlee Simpson, he designs himself. For Siriano, working with such people feels like nothing short of a dream: “To have Cameron Diaz run up at the Kid’s Choice Awards and actually want to chat with me, or watch Victoria Beckham running around her house on her tiptoes in my collection, is so surreal. The fact that she wanted to wear my clothes? Nobody can ever take that away from me.”
Plus, click here to win a one-of-a-kind PPS dress.
[Photos: Elle.com]
23 comments:
I'm really happy things are going so well for Christian and that he seems to be enjoying his PR success. (However, accepting $10,000 to make an appearance at a bar-mitzvah is both funny and strange to me.) While he's still hot, I hope he uses his celebrity to squeeze in some meaningful or charitable work to help others less fortunate or perhaps young and struggling artists/designers.
"Despite Siriano’s assured posturing on the show, he insists it was mostly an act."
hmmm. When's intermission????
"He gets more than 200 e-mails a day about speaking engagements, red-carpet events, and bar mitzvahs (he recently got paid $10,000 just to show up at one)"
Oy.
In other news...It looks like Princess has turned his head slightly to the left. Is he taking Laura's advice or is this another sign of the impending apocalypse?
--GothamTomato
When I first saw that picture up at the top, it took me a minute to locate the hat. I just thought he was wearing a shirt with poofy, feathered sleeves, and was wondering what the price tag on that was.
I'm still not a fan of his style, but I'm glad he's committed to keeping it about the fashion. Maybe the whole 'tranny comment' incident helped him to come down off the reality star high and realize how transient that aspect of it was.
OMG be finally designed something??!
Is that denim dress from him?
Is this a joke? That is one seriously ugly dress. I don't think they could pay me enough to wear it. Though it would be nice to win because then I could auction it on eBay and I am sure scads of people with no fashion sense would bid on it.
The only thing more pathetic than taking that kind of money to show up at a bar mitzvah is paying that kind of money to have him show up at the bar mitzvah.
How is it pathetic to show up at the bar mitzvah? That's $10,000 that he, as a young, up-and-coming designer, can use towards making his clothes. He showed up to a party and made some 13-year-old's day. So he made some kid happy, and added money to his business. You make it sound like he desperately shilled himself out or something. Jealous much?
Good for him!! I'm very happy for him and the dress is GORGEOUS!!!!
"sad", not "said".
Would be nice to be able to edit comments!
Uh, anonymous 2:39?
He did desperately shill himself. That's what's said.
"Jealous much?"
No, can't say that I am. I've already been a self-absorbed, annoying child (though I was younger at the time that Christian is now). Not a time of life I'd care to repeat.
I'm sorry, I fail to see how accepting an invitation to a birthday party, for which you are being offered $10,000 to just BE there, is "desperately shilling yourself." I would call that a smart business decision, and I would most certainly do the same. I guess I'm just desperate in your book.
I would consider it shilling. He's accepting money from someone he has no personal feelings toward to satisfy that person's ego: "Look at how much mommy and daddy spent to get the funny gay man to appear at my party."
It's cool for him to make money that way as far as I'm concerned; he needs money to create his own line after all, and 50 yards of organza don't pay for themselves.
But let's not make any bones about the matter. It's pretty shilltastic, no matter how you slice it.
Very interesting the whole thing about McQueen and his internship. I think the dress is adorable, I want it!!!
Cute, thanks for the link, guys.
It's nice to see PPS getting all the fame and glory. He's very talented and I think he'll have a great career. I can't wait to see his designs for Uma.
(He declined to off-load the Project Runway pieces because he didn’t believe he was ready.)
Does anybody know what this means?
" tehkou said...
I would consider it shilling. He's accepting money from someone he has no personal feelings toward to satisfy that person's ego: "Look at how much mommy and daddy spent to get the funny gay man to appear at my party.""
Maybe it's not 'look how much mommy & daddy spent for the funny gay guy' - Maybe the bar mitzvah boy is just like Princess, and identifies with him, and his parents wanted to get him to meet Princess so the kid could see that there's something on the other side of the schoolyard teasing.
--GothamTomato
THE POSE.. He has to stop that pose. He's like Pavlov's dog...see a camera, strike that pose.
Maybe it's not 'look how much mommy & daddy spent for the funny gay guy' - Maybe the bar mitzvah boy is just like Princess, and identifies with him, and his parents wanted to get him to meet Princess so the kid could see that there's something on the other side of the schoolyard teasing.
Then why $10,000? Why at a party? Wouldn't simply watching Christian's success on TV be quite enough to make the point?
You're right that we can't really know either way, and I'll cop to erring on the side of cynicism in this case. But it's hard to imagine a nobler sentiment behind it given the sheer amount of money involved.
and HOW ADORABLE was that picture with christian standing on the table thing to reach the models heads?
I love him.
Sewing Siren said, (He declined to off-load the Project Runway pieces because he didn’t believe he was ready.)
Does anybody know what this means?
I sure don't. It was always my understanding that pieces designed by the contestants belonged, not to them, but to Project Runway (or the producers) by virtue of their contracts. If that's true, I don't see how PPS could "off-load" them, ready or not.
^ im sure it's the PR pieces from the runway show
Gross and disgusting. Next please!
I cannot wait till next season is here. Oh it is already!
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