17.11.09 From Runway to Reality - Interview with Project Runway Finalist Althea Harper
 There's one thing that simply must be said of Althea Harper. She just has to be honest. Completely Honest. During the following interview, she began almost every one of her answers with a phrase stating as much: "Well, to be completely honest" - "I just gotta be honest with you here" - "To be honest..." - "Honestly..." And sure, a lot of people throw that turn of phrase around. Hearing her repeat the same thing over and over certainly wouldn't encourage anyone to believe what she has to say any more or any less. But after a short while you start to realise that she really does means exactly what she says. Athea Harper: Yeah - definitely it was amazing! Even now it all seems sort of unreal. I was kind of surprised more than anything because, I mean, I’d been very consistent throughout the competition - I was never in the bottom three, I won a couple of challenges, was in the top three a lot - but then that last outfit I got a tougher crit on, and so it was very, very nerve racking! It was just my luck that I got into 'trouble' on the last challenge when everything was at stake! But I’m really happy about what the judges said about my design. They were like - you know, everyone has got these really perfect dresses up here, but you were really ambitious with yours. I think that they respected the fact that I’d taken some serious risks and worked really hard to deliver an exciting design, even though I didn't end up sending out the most 'finished' looking garment - like I had done for previous challenges. You made it through to the final with Carol Hannah and Irina - could you have predicted from the beginning that these two designers in particular would be your biggest competition? At the very beginning I definitely considered them both to be serious competition. More so Carol Hannah than Irina, actually. To me, Irina's stuff was just always so girly and safe. Once she started doing a few things other than dresses, like pants and jackets, I kind of thought oh, ok - this girl's got some skills. But at the beginning of the competition when it was ok to just keep sending out dresses, I thought that Carol Hannah's designs were more intriguing than Irina's, and therefore thought that she was going to be the one to watch out for. But having said all that, honestly at the beginning I actually thought that Ramon was going to be the biggest competition! Yes - I think most fans of the show would agree with you - he seemed very sure of himself, but then it all seemed to fall apart for him. It did - it really did. He started to second guess himself too much which you really can't be doing when you're only given a short amount of time to work in. I remember twice he started off making pant suits, only to scratch them and start all over again. He should have just stuck with his original ideas and run with them. I mean, pantsuits aren't necessarily a bad thing to do - they can be really interesting and they're not done often on the show - but I guess the pressure got to him and threw him off. What was the actual time schedule like whilst you were filming the show? It was very intense, it was like you wake up at about 5/6am- work all day, and then get to bed at 2/3am. So it was serious lack of sleep. But even worse than the time constraints was being away from friends and family, feeling very cut off, and also living with the people that you're in direct competition with. That was so hard, particularly for me because I am a very vocal person. Even in my day to day life, if something is stressing me out I need to step outside and vent or whatever. Then I can forget about it for the rest of the day. But on the show you don't have anyone to talk to and that made the whole experience so much harder to deal with. It's like, you're really playing two games - you’re competing in a fashion competition, yes, but you're also dealing with the physical hardships - like the sleep deprivation. You literally don't get a moment to yourself, and that would wear anyone down over time. It's interesting to note you don't get any help in the competition - you're not allowed to aid yourself in any way - for instance, you couldn't take in your own dress/jacket blocks to work with, is that correct? Yeah, nothing. Definitely no patterns. I even had hem tape that they took away from me! We were allowed to use rulers, marking tape, pens, pencils, thread, needles, and a pattern master/curved ruler. You would expect someone competing in a competition like Project Runway to be able to do a jacket block from scratch. Surely when you're at that level that would be something that technically you should be able to do? Exactly, exactly. I mean that's why I think a lot of the designers shied away from doing jackets and things like that. That's why you do see a lot of dresses. It sometimes got frustrating for me on the show. Everyone would do dresses all the time, and here I was killing myself trying to cut a perfect sleeve, or fit a pair of pants exactly right! But I guess it doesn't matter how much work you put into it, it's the end result of course, but I kind of thought that judges would have put that more into consideration, but I was surprised by how much that didn't really matter. Prior to competing on Project Runway, you worked some incredible designers - Alexander McQueen, Zac Posen and Vivienne Westwood to name a few. Did the other designers on the show have similar work experience to you? I mean I think that definitely the background that I had was one of the strongest. Compared to someone like Christopher, for example, who hasn't had that sort of training, and still openly admits that he doesn't know how to make pants! It was frustrating - here we were on this show, we're supposed to be good professional designers, but no one is taking anything like that into consideration. But equally that's kind of the beauty of the show - that it kind of says ‘let's see what anyone can do’, and then you find out how they really do in the long run. It's a shock to discover that Christopher can't make pants - You would think that if someone was going to compete on Project Runway, they would only do so if they had all of the necessary skills, and could therefore design and make clothes under the severe work constraints and time pressures? Well, this is it - I think that a lot of people were there for other reasons than to come out of it as an established designer. I think that a lot of people were in it purely for the reality TV aspect of it. I mean - it's a huge craze at the moment. People are signing up for 'Wife Swap' and putting their children on national television. There’s this weird thing going on right now where everyone wants to be special, known or recognised in some way by being on a reality show. And I think that it's the same for designers. But, for me, I would rather have zero camera time, than have the wrong type of camera time.
And on that point, it's hard not to notice that you are barely on the show in the first 4 episodes! Were you just trying to get on with your work and kind of keep your head down? The way I work is I just go into a zone. Like honestly, people will talk to me and I won't answer them, and it's not because I’m ignoring them, it's because I actually don't hear them! I get so into my work that I don't even hear people talking to me. For me, the competition was all about design. I mean, there were times when I was on camera with no makeup on, and obviously usually if I knew I was going to be on TV I’d get dolled up! But I was just so focussed on what I was doing that all that stuff became irrelevant. I mean - this might have gone on in some people's minds - but to me there was never a point at which I said to myself, 'ok - I’m going to act like this to get some camera time', or 'I’m going to really jazz this up for the camera' - it never once crossed my mind to do anything like that. So would you have applied for a competition like this, even if it wasn't nationally televised? Yes of course. I do not want to be known for just being on a reality TV show. I do think that there are so many bad stereotypes that are associated with PR, and I don't want to be known as just a 'character' from it. And, honestly, who says to themselves 'I want to buy the designer from Project Runway's clothes'?! The reality TV part of the show is great because it can be a good launching pad for any designer - the publicity you get is amazing, and you kind of become a household name for a bit. You can definitely use that to your advantage, but I also think it's important to separate yourself from the show and not to use it as a crutch. I mean, I'm only as popular as I am until season 7 comes out - which is not going to be very long from now. They're going to start promoting season 7 a few months after the finale of this season! But the attention that you are getting now must be great. You have 3,041 friends on Facebook, another 1,577 members of your official Facebook group, and 1,210 people who follow you on Twitter, (last time I checked!) Was it a conscious decision for you to use these online social mediums to interact with your fans? Yeah - I was already on Facebook and I already had my website, but I wasn't really interested in going on Twitter. But then I thought that it would be a great way to start communicating with people who were interested in me and the show. I like to hear back from people, and that they can direct message me and talk to me. Also, it's another way for people to get a sense of who I am outside of the show. I can write what I’m doing right at the moment that I’m doing it, things like that. How I respond to people on Twitter reveals more of what I'm really like rather than what you see of me on Project Runway. It's me expressing myself outside of the show, and in my natural habitat - not when I’m in that weird circumstance. And tweeting gives you the ability to set the record straight as well - for example, with that whole situation involving Logan copying your design, and Irina accusing you of copying - all in the same challenge! Twitter must have been very useful to you at a time like that. Yes, yes - exactly. It's a way to really get my say across and have people understand what I was really thinking. I was kind of embarrassed by the whole Logan thing - because I reacted to him in a way that I wouldn't normally had I been in a less intense, pressurized situation. Being able to go onto Twitter, apologise and tell people how I felt about it - to get all of that out there was great. You definitely dealt with Logan in a much more mature way than Irina chose to deal with you - accusing you of copying her design whilst you were on the Runway in front of the judges. That thing with Irina was insane. I would never pull Logan up on what he did in front of the judges and my peers, I wouldn't even think to do that, it would have been so inappropriate. The only decision I had to make was whether or not I was going to say anything to Logan about it, if anything. The issue was never, 'am I going to say something Tim, to Nina or Heidi'. I was always asking myself; is it worth me having a confrontation with him about it, but there was never any point when I was ever going to go and take it up with some higher authority, no question in my mind. The reason I got annoyed with Irina, is because I think she was trying to say, oh well at least I say it out loud I don't get annoyed and whisper behind people's backs. But she never once said anything directly to me about my design. To me it was more behind the back to 'confront me' when we were out on the runway. So do you think she held back in order to that accusation to her advantage in the judging sequence? You know I don't even think that she thought that. Because there was no doubt that that was completely my design, and my original intentions for the outfit from the start. They show me hold up the sketch numerous times on camera- it was kind of ridiculous, almost as if they're poking fun at her in the episode- like 'Irina, here's my sketch!' You know what was funny though - she got a great crit. on her outfit for that challenge, and I actually did like her dress. She got a lot of slack for it, but I liked it. But then I got a really great crit, and she saw that, so to make sure that I didn't win, she just used that to jeopardise my chances. I don’t know, maybe it was brewing in her mind for a while. After the show had wrapped, you moved to New York City and started looking for work. How did you go about this - especially as you had to keep quiet about what you had been up to for the past few months? To be perfectly honest, it was difficult and it was frustrating. Not only were we not allowed to mention Project Runway, but there was this huge hole out of time that you couldn't explain. If I managed to get an interview, I would always get asked; 'what have you been doing for the past 6 months?' I left that part completely blank on my resume, and just said that I had been doing my own thing. I tried to be as vague as possible, and tried to avoid the question all together- and I definitely didn't bring it up unless someone asked me about it specifically! I actually had one interview with Herve Leger in L.A. and it was sooo awkward when I was trying to describe that time. Another thing that I was really worried about was what I would do in the event that, say, I did get a job. Because it would eventually come out that I had lied to my employers about my previous experience once the show started to air! You are currently working for Tory Burch - How did you manage to get such a great design job, even though you couldn't use your experiences on Project Runway to open any doors for you? Well, aside from Project Runway, I have a very strong portfolio and I have a lot of good names on my resume; different designers that I’ve worked for and had fantastic experiences with. Project Runway was, for sure, a great experience and I produced work that I’m really proud of, but had I not got on the show in the first place I would have been in exactly the same position - looking for work, with a great resume that shows that I’ve worked really hard, and that I have all the necessary skills. Whilst working at Tory's and rushing to get a fashion show ready for her, you also showed at New York Fashion Week with your own SS10 collection. How did you cope with putting on 2 shows almost at the same time? Yeah, I showed my spring line 3 days after the Tory Burch show. It was a very crazy week for me, but I knew that in order to deal with it I really had to be time efficient. I set myself a goal to be done with my own collection two weeks before fashion week started, which, you know of course, never happens! But at least because I planned for that, the last minute things that I ended up having to do were manageable. Originally I didn't want to have to do any changes to my clothes during the last week. Of course I ended up having to do a few adjustments here and there, but by having that goal, I got a lot more done than I normally would have done. How would you best describe the Althea Harper SS10 collection? Well, you're not going to find a lot of adornments! I'm not someone just to put a bow on a garment for the sake of it looking cute or pretty. Everything is done with a purpose: So there are clean, strong lines and a huge attention to fit. It's about trying the clothes on, and really thinking - wow, this fits like a glove. The most eye catching pieces are the knits. The colours are intriguing - they really draw you into the collection. But the major thing about the collection is the way that it fits to the body, for sure. That's really what my clothes are all about. What were your main inspirations for this collection? The title for the collection is 'Assimilation', and that really comes from my studies of Navaho Indians - the time when the pioneers moved out west and the kind of culture that they created for themselves out there with the Native Americans. I'm not talking about the bloodshed and the warfare or the ill-treatment of the natives, though. More like, if you head down to the south west now, there are still so many visual reminders and references to that time - it's the meshing of those two cultures - that's what I was really inspired by and what fuelled this collection. I took the traditional Navaho colours and softened them - so they were based on an original palette, but updated ever so slightly for a modern wardrobe. Instead of the deep red, it's more of a really rich salmon pink. There are some great golds and greens. Do you keep up to date with trends and what other people are doing, or do you tend to withdraw into your own world when designing? I think that if you're a good designer, then you just know what's good. But you have to do your homework. I hate it when designers say - 'oh I don't need to look what other people are doing, because I’m doing my own thing.' I think it's very important to be aware of what else is out there, what's around you. But you know - I don't subscribe to any trend forecasting websites or anything, and even if I did have the money, trend analysis is not the first thing I would invest in. As a designer you should be starting the trends, not following them. I don't want to have to look to something else and think oh it should be this or it should look like that - you know, it's got to be purely my instincts. Bottom line, it has to be what you believe in - that's the most important thing. You can't design a collection based on what a bunch of trend analysts think is right or wrong, you just can't do that. If you're doing that, then what's the point? Do you admire the work of any other designers? I absolutely love Stella McCartney, and Alexander Wang - you know that really 'down town cool' look. But, being a real, curvy girl, when I put those clothes on, I honestly don't feel sexy. I look cool, yes, but I don't feel sexy. I think I look about 15lbs heavier than I actually am because I have to have something that hits at the waist, it can't be too loose around the body, or it just makes me look bigger than I am. If a top just hangs off of the bust, it adds a lot of extra, unflattering volume. There is a huge androgynous trend around at the moment. Do you think that most women feel the need to fit in with new designs or trends in order to look fashionable, even though perhaps they end up not dressing to suit their figures? Yes. It's so frustrating for me - dealing with that whole 'Mary-Kate and Ashley' look - that very cool look. If I were to put those kinds of outfits on, I would just end up looking like a homeless person! It's not flattering; you have to be thin for it. In the same way - there are a lot of things that look great on curvy girls, that thin girls just can't carry off, but those are not really the styles that are predominantly in fashion right now. So many girls with beautiful figures are dressing in clothes that really only look good on extremely thin girls. It's such a shame; I see it all the time. And I know what they're trying to do - they just want to achieve that 'cool' look. But it comes off as either trying too hard, or just looking wrong because it doesn't hang right. That's what I try to fight with my clothes. What's important to make clear here is that these girls don't have to lose weight in order to wear these 'thin' clothes, they just have to dress right for their figures, and that's what I am trying to promote and cater to. Those are pretty fantastic foundations for a label. It's almost like you're trying to educate people at the same time as selling them something aspirational. Exactly - I'm trying to show women how they can do the laid back, luxe sportswear look, but not by forcing their bodies into unflattering silhouettes. You can still get a cool, loose, relaxed look - but just have it come in at the waist, for example. It just has to be designed differently. There are some basic rules that women should be made more aware of. I think that at the moment, women don't take their own bodies into consideration when adopting looks or trends. Like, if you don't have stick thin legs, you have to be very careful about where a skirt hits you on the leg. Because it can make you look shorter, wider. You can have gorgeous, strong legs, but they can look stocky if the cut of the skirt isn't right. I got commended on this every time on Project Runway - because I KNOW skirt lengths, because I don't have stick legs myself. That said, I don't think that I have bad legs! - it's just that I have to be somewhat careful about what skirt lengths I choose to wear. Do you think that in the future you would want to cast slightly curvier girls in your runway show? That would be so great. It's definitely something that I eventually want to be able to do, because it just fits in with my design philosophy. But, I have to be honest; I don't think that by using larger girls you get taken seriously when you're starting out. I think that before you can break a lot of rules, you have to get to a point where people are going to listen to you first. If I used curvier girl in my shows now, I don't think that anyone would actually look at that and listen, and see that I was doing something different for good reason - they would probably just think that I was cheap and couldn't afford proper models! So you have to kind of fall in line and play the game for now? Yeah - exactly. You know, when you do something like that, you're trying to send a message and you want people to pay attention and listen to that message, but first you have to make sure that there are people there to listen.
Althea Harper's SS10 collection
Catch the season finale of Project Runway on Lifetime at 10pm Thursday 19th November in the USA and in a few weeks on Sky1/Sky1HD in the UK.
For more info and to see Althea's work go to: Althea's website: www.altheaharper.com Miss Nash is a fashion insider who will each week share her opinions on what's on her mind. Miss Nash splits her time between New York and London, working as a freelance womenswear designer and fashion journalist. She aims to please, but most often succeeds in offending people. Her blog postings will alert your attention to what to avoid like the plague, what to indulge in, and maybe even educate - but always in a lighthearted manner. Miss Nash doesn't take herself too seriously - so neither should you.
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