Fleis makes finals on ‘Project Runway’
Melissa Fleis is in the finals. Rogers City’s favorite fashion designer will have 10 of her garments in the Fashion Week season finale of “Project Runway.” The show airs tonight (Thursday) at 9 p.m. on Lifetime, cable channel 30 in Rogers City.
Tonight’s show was filmed at the Lincoln Center in New York City, putting the designers and their creations on the big stage. Each designer will prepare their models for a walk down the runway to show off their creations. Later, the designers will meet with the judges to determine the winner of the show, which began 14 weeks ago.
In last week’s episode, each of the four remaining designers from the original 16 who began in week one, were sent home to come up with a fashion line for the finals. The designers had five weeks to come up with their distinctive looks. Then they had to choose three of those looks to put on display for the judges, with the idea that one of them would not make the finals.
Producer and mentor Tim Gunn visited each of the designers in their homes, offering advice and meeting their families. Gunn visited Fleis in San Francisco, taking a boat tour with Fleis’ parents Jim and Doris, of Rogers City, who were there visiting their daughter.
On the boat Gunn asked Melissa’s parents how they felt when she said she wanted to be a fashion designer.
Being a designer was on Melissa’s mind as a young girl, Doris told Gunn.
“She used to cry at Christmas, when her mom would buy her something because it wasn’t in style,” Jim said.
Her parents revealed that Melissa only learned to sew four years ago, but Gunn said she is certainly good at it now.
“I am from a town of 3,000 people. Going from Rogers City to New York fashion week, who would have ever thought this would happen?” Melissa said.
Then, after five weeks on their own, the final four were brought back to New York, housed in a luxury apartment, then brought back to the workroom. Once there, they arranged their collections and chose three of their ensembles to show to the judges.
“I think I had a lot of self-confidence when I was in San Francisco, but when I entered the workroom, I had a lot of s
Back in the workroom, each designer had a day to put the finishing touches on their creations.
Each designer faced problems selecting the best looks to show the judges and the judges were harsh in their criticism. Some of the designers said their best pieces were not on display, which baffled the judges. In the privacy of the judging room, the judges said Melissa’s styles were very commercial and they liked some of the individual pieces.
To everyone’s amazement, all four designers were told they were in, setting the stage for the final show tonight.
The winner will receive $50,000 in technology to be used in their business, a fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine, a 2013 Lexus GS 350 automobile and $100,000 from L’Oreal Paris to start their own line of clothing.
