A Q&A with Project Runway Kiwi designer Sean Kelly on his background, influences, and favourite things as a designer. You can watch Sean Kelly, a New Zealander from Taranaki and past student of Massey Uni in Wellington, currently on Project Runway on Vibe on IGLOO.
Q: Current occupation?
A: Retail sales at A.P.C. New York.
Q: First garment you ever made?
A I used to make patterns from newspaper and attempt to make things. They were mostly disasters.
Q: What’s your design training/schooling, etc.?
A: Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Q: Have you won any awards for your designs/work related to design?
A: 2013 Design Excellence Award at Massey University. (We wrote about this on Thread website here)
Q: Strengths as a designer?
A: Vision of the bigger picture and eye for detail.
Q: Weaknesses as a designer?
A: Taking on too much work.
Q: What are your influences?
A: Travel, foreign places with new experiences.
Q: What’s playing on your iPod when you’re designing?
A: Chilly Gonzales to Entree Mixes.
Q: Favourite material or fabric to work with?
A: Cotton, because of the huge range of textures, weights, and styles it can come in.
Q: Item you’re most proud of designing?
A: SS14 Series Two: Sleep Collection.
Image source: http://creative.massey.ac.nz/study/exposure-2013/fashion/sean-kelly/
Q: Favourite designers?
A: Tom Ford, Raf Simons, Ricardo Tisci, Kris Van Assche, Vivienne Westwood (below), McQueen.
Q: Sketch or drape?
A: Both simultaneously.
Q: Patterns or solids?
A: Solids.
Q: Favourite colours?
A: Grey, navy, white, greens, beige.
Q: Biggest fear as a designer?
A: Not being a designer.
Q: Fashion must?
A: Jeans.
Q: Fashion faux pas that drives you crazy?
A: Uggs. To the end of time.
Image credit vcrush.us
Q: Ugliest item of clothing/accessory you’ve worn?
A: Arafat Shemagh Kafiyah Desert Style Scarf.
Q: Favourite style icon?
A: Tom Ford (below), Raf Simons.
Image credit www.interviewmagazine.com
Q: Favourite supermodel muse?
A: Magadalena Frackowiak.
Image credit VOGUE Paris
Q: If you had to name your label, you’d call it…
A: SEAN KELLY.
Q: If you weren’t designing, you’d be…
A: Working within the fashion industry, making publishing or PR.
Q: Dream place to set up your business?
A: Paris.
Q: Websites that feature your work?
A: www.theseries.co
Q: How were you described as a kid?
A: I was very active as a child. I was into sports, being outdoors, and also performing arts.
Q: How are you described by your family and friends?
A: Kind, loyal, funny.
Q: Favourite hangout?
A: Friends’ rooftop in Brooklyn.
Q: Hobbies?
A: Gym, exploring NYC, eating.
Q: iPhone/Android/Blackberry?
A: iPhone.
Q: Fast food or gourmet?
A: Gourmet.
Q: Cooking or takeout?
A: NYC lives on takeout, and so do I. But I prefer cooking at home!
Q: Favourite foods?
A: Mexican.
Q: Beer or wine?
A: Beer.
Q: Guiltiest pleasure?
A: 16 Handles. So pink, so girly, so good.
Q: Biggest pet peeve?
A: Mumbling.
Q: How did you end up auditioning for Project Runway?
A: No, I have never auditioned before, I found the link to the casting paperwork when job hunting and entered just in time before the deadline.
Q: Favourite past Project Runway designer?
A: Fabio Costa.
Image credit www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway/season-10/designers/fabio-costa
Q: Challenge you wish they’d bring back?
A: Big budget two-day challenges!
Q: Challenge you hope they don’t?
A: The team unconventional.
Q: Your take on team challenges:
A: Hate them, because it is an individual completion and it blurs the lines of who did what and where the ideas originated from.
Q: What do you look for in a model?
A: Height is important. Also strong features and the ability to own whatever is given to them to wear. Sell it!
Q: Do you think you can win “Project Runway”?
A: I think I can win “Project Runway” because of my unique vision and design abilities.
October 2014
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