Project Runway All Stars: Watching TV with Michelle Lesniak
I am glad that the steady march of Portland designers to reality television show Project Runway has slowed somewhat... or am I? It's tacky, but it's also an undeniable opportunity to find exposure in an industry that is notoriously fucked up and difficult to succeed in. Whatever you think of the whole cabal, you can hardly blame the designers for going for it.
I may have been burnt out on the show for a long time now, but—as you may have heard—Michelle Lesniak (who already won regular Project Runway) is competing on the upcoming season of Project Runway All Stars, and I am solidly on Team Michelle. If her talents weren't obvious before her first trip to the boob tube, they were by the time she whipped that shit, and the collections she's put out since have been better and better. The one she showed just two short weeks ago at FashioNXT was among the best I've seen from any Portland designer, ever. I'm down to watch everything she does.
Sooo, as she did for her last spin on reality TV, Lesniak is hosting weekly viewing parties for each All Stars episode beginning Oct 30. She will once again hold court at the Back Stage Bar each Thursday (barring Thanksgiving and Christmas) for the show's 13 episodes (unless maybe she gets kicked off? Let's assume she doesn't). The show starts at 9, but the viewing parties will commence at 8, with Lesniak holding court to share interviews and run raffle prizes. Go early! It'll fill up quick, and GO TEAM MICHELLE.
