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The new season of ‘Project Runway’ promises fashion and drama on day one, says contestant Jay Nicolas Sario.
By Nalea J. Ko, Reporter
Published January 14, 2010
Designer Jay Nicolas Sario has come a long way from producing makeshift fashion shows in his childhood home in the Philippines.
His passion for fashion lured him to New York City for a “Project Runway” casting call four seasons ago. But his designer dreams were quickly curbed.
“The moment I walked in I just felt this really, really bad vibe that, ‘Oh my God these people hate me, they don’t like me!’ [Laughs] And they said it,” explained Sario about his first audition for the Lifetime TV show “Project Runway.”
“I just went back to my hotel room, slept and tried to get over it. I couldn’t get over it until I woke up the following morning. And I was like, ‘You know time will tell. Eventually I’m going to make it on.’”
Sario’s hunch would prove to be right.
With a new portfolio, Sario strolled confidently into the season 7 auditions to have his designs critiqued again by Tim Gunn, the show’s fashion consultant, among others.
“I was like, ‘I’m going to walk into this room with the same confidence but I’m just going to expect the worst,’” Sario said during a phone call from Los Angeles, Calif. “Right when they were saying all these great things about me, I was just like, ‘Oh my God! This is it!’”
Sario learned on his birthday in June via telephone that he would appear on the reality show. He is one of 16 designers who competed to win this season’s “Project Runway.”
Starting Jan. 14 viewers can expect to watch the commonplace “Project Runway” mania: designers creating outfits at a frenzied pace, arguing over who failed to change the bobbins on sewing machines and bickering over models.
Each season competitors fight to win a cache of prizes including $100,000 from L’Oreal Paris, a chance to sell their designs on Bluefly.com, a technology suite by Hewlett-Packard and Intel Corp. worth $50,000 and a layout in Marie Claire magazine.
For a fledgling designer like Sario the win could mean being plucked from obscurity for a chance to have their designs shown at Bryant Park during New York Fashion Week.
“My goal is to work for someone who is very respected in the fashion industry whether it’s in New York or L.A.,” said Sario, a 31-year-old visual merchandiser for the clothing retailer Gap, Inc. “And if that doesn’t work out, I don’t want to go back to the Gap styling mannequins.”
Making It Work
At 17, Sario moved to the United States and attended Mililani High School in Hawaii. A spot on “Project Runway” is a big break for Sario, who once worked as a cashier at Home Depot while studying fashion technology at Honolulu Community College.
But not all of the contestants were elated to find out they would be on the show.
“The moment I got a call telling me I was selected as one of the final 16, I was shocked and then felt terribly sad,” explained Chinese American designer Ping Wu in an e-mail to the Pacific Citizen. “After the call, I sobbed, and walked straight back home with tears. Going to the show meant I would have to cancel my beautiful vacation plans.”
Wu said she stopped crying after thinking about the “thousands of designers” who would love to take her place. A place she would soon have to fight to keep.
In past seasons designers have been tasked to make wearable outfits out of unusual materials such as flowers, car parts and grocery store items. All creations are then paraded on the runway before a panel of judges like Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia and Michael Kors. Each challenge becomes more difficult as the competition goes on.
“It’s a lot of — kind of like a rollercoaster of emotions going on because like I said you’re thinking ‘Oh my God, this is going to send me home!’” Sario said. “And all of a sudden you find yourself being in the top three and … you sort of don’t know how to deal with it.”
Fashion Drama
The fast-paced environment on “Project Runway” combined with designers’ personalities often results in on-screen fights. Sario said there is no shortage of catfights this season show.
“There’s this one specific person and I won’t say her name. The first day she kind of like rubs everyone the wrong way. And you know everyone just started like talking sh-- about her.” Sario added, “I may have done the same thing to people too because I kind of sensed this tension … but I don’t give a rat’s ass [Laughs].”
It was a competition, Sario said, and he was not there to make friends. He did, however, bond with Southerner Anthony Williams from the beginning.
“I kind of like fell in love with him because of, like, his personality. He was the first person I met,” he said about Williams.
Sario said had to use his straightforward attitude on one occasion to quiet Jesse LeNoir and Emilio Sosa during a challenge.
“Both of them were just kind of buttering each other up.” Sario continued, “And then Maya [Luz] all of a sudden opens her mouth and she’s like, ‘Someone needs to have a slice of humble pie.’”
Despite differing personalities on the show, some designers saw more of the commonalities shared by fellow designers.
“As compared to other designers, I actually saw more things we share in common: hard working, confident, and sensitive etc.,” Wu said.
Fans on Facebook are already choosing favorites among the designers in anticipation of the first episode, which features socialite Nicole Richie as a guest judge.
Sario said his childhood friends from the Philippines have also been contacting him via social networking sites to show their support. On Jan. 14 Sario plans to watch the premiere episode with his closest friends.
“I’m going to have viewing party,” Sario said. “I don’t want it to be a lot of people. It’s going to be very intimate. I think 30 people, and these are the people that I love and care about in life.”
He said viewers should also tune in, for the inspiring fashion and the interesting TV personalities.
“I think they [people] should watch this season because it’s by far the most talented group of designers,” Sario said. “And to be able to be a part of that and compete with people who are really, really talented — it’s crazy. And you know there’re a lot of great personalities: crazy, bitchy, mean and nice. It’s a whole combination. And that makes great TV.”
On the Web
www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway
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