When Project Runway first aired it became a global phenomenon. I would know—I sat in front of my TV back in my hometown of La Paz, Bolivia, and tuned in to every episode. I can still remember the names of my favorite contestants, and can still recall the promise of fashion superstardom that was outlined with the prize rewards at the beginning of each episode: a magazine spread, a show at the tents at Bryant Park during New York Fashion Week—the opportunity to become the next It-designer, the next, say, Michael Kors, who was the show’s star judge.
This was a different time. In 2004, when the show first aired, the ins-and-outs of a career in fashion had not yet been put into focus by movies like The Devil Wears Prada (2006) or TV shows such Ugly Betty (2006). Yes, Tim Blanks and Elsa Klensch had their respective TV shows, and yes, House of Style helped Todd Oldham and Cindy Crawford become household names. But what it would take to be part of fashion itself, that only came with the arrival of Project Runway.
My friends and I still refer to Nina Garcia, now the editor-in-chief of Elle, as the “fashion director of Elle magazine,” the way Heidi Klum used to introduce her every episode. And now that we all work in fashion, we like to quote Klum: “some days you’re in, and the next day you’re out,” emulating her Teutonic delivery. We remember Kors’s quips and his savage reads. But as inescapable as Project Runway is in the context of pop culture and reality television, its impact on fashion is more nebulous.
Sure, Project Runway encouraged a generation of would-be fashionistas to pursue their dreams, not by showing them it was easy, but by revealing the exact opposite—this is what it takes, do you have it? Yet the show itself, 20 seasons in and with countless international adaptations, has only created one bonafide fashion star. Christian Siriano, who occupies the role of mentor on the rebooted show, is the most well-known and prolific designer to come out of Project Runway since winning its fourth season in 2007. Siriano shows on the official New York Fashion Week schedule, dresses the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Ariana Grande, and has stores in Manhattan and Westport, Connecticut. Many of the other names I remember from those early seasons have simply, unfortunately, fallen off.