#projectrunwayjr

(photo courtesy of E! Online)

I enjoy project Runway and I’ve watched several seasons of the show, but it’s nothing compared to Project Runway Junior. I mean, wow!

The young people participating in it are between 14 and 16 years of age, and their talent is unbelievable. When one of the judges- Aya Kanai, the fashion director of Seventeen and Cosmopolitan magazines- called them prodigies in the last show before the two-part finale, I couldn’t have agreed with her more.

The other judges are equally amazed. Hannah Davis, a former fashion model, keeps telling the contestants that she wants to wear their looks; Kelly Osbourne has her mind blown every week by what the contestants come up with and judge Christian Siriano, an amazing designer in his own right, has tremendous respect for these kids, and he’s not someone who’s easily impressed.

It’s hard to believe how these young people can create garments of such great sophistication in the short time (1-2 days!) allotted to each challenge. The final four are the best of the best, and include Zachary, once Tim Gunn saved him from elimination, as well as Peytie, Maya and Samantha.

Peytie, a laid-back California girl, has the ability to work with color and pattern that’s light-years ahead of her young age; Sam, a bold New-Yorker, is brilliant at modern, menswear-inspired looks imbued with her own post-punk twist; Maya, the youngest of the group, who turned 14 during the competition, consistently comes up with amazing, out-of the box ideas. The kid is incredible. And then there’s Zachary, an old soul of 16, who is able to do dresses like Dior did, back in the day. Mind-boggling.

Watching the show is incredibly inspiring. What was I doing at 16? Definitely nothing like this! My jaw drops as I watch these kids come up with ideas on the spur of the moment, week after week, and then execute their concepts into gorgeous runway looks. Sure, sometimes they don’t quite pull it off, but that’s no different than what happens on the adult version of the show. 

In fact, I think that as a whole, the kid group has had fewer mis-steps and more brilliant success than any season of the adult Project Runway franchise. These kids are just that good. And to think that they’re mostly self taught! Maya said that she learned to sew by watching YouTube videos, starting in grade three. Unreal.

Now that these four have been named as the finalists of the show, you just know that their future as designers is assured. Yes, only one of them gets the coveted scholarship to the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM), but I won’t be surprised to see all of their names, and maybe some names of the other contestants, as well, turn up in the pages of fashion and beauty publications in the years to come.