Questions for Runway's Kayne

September 14, 2006

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We caught up with Kayne Gillaspie yesterday. He's a total delight to talk to, and he called us "darling" even more than Malan did!

Before "Project Runway" you were a pageant designer primarily. How has this changed how you're working?
It wasn't specifically only pageant work before, but this has definitely opened some other avenues. I joke with people that yes, now the show has happened, but I have just as much passion now as I did a year ago -- only now more people know about it. I did more than just pageants before, but that was the bulk of my business. Now, it's having the recognition and validation of my talents.

That must be pretty wild -- the exposure.
It's been great. Business has definitely been good. It was good before, but we've had to hire people full-time to help with just calls and scheduling and all those kinds of things. I've had some job offers, and I'm trying to evaluate the next steps I want to take with my career. Before the show, a few thousand people may have known my name, but now it's millions. So, it's been cool to have more people knowing who I am.

Last night's episode was a wild ride. Anything you'd like to say to the folks at home?
The main thing, honestly, I loved every challenge that we had -- I mean even the trash challenge, when I thought I was going home. I loved every single challenge. And I really loved the garment I made on last night's show. I was trying to create a garment that was a little bit more simple or toned down, a little bit more conservative, but still not far from my style, the style that I love. I was trying to listen to what the judges had told me the past two weeks -- that it was too much.

So I was trying to make something that Heidi would wear. And that's what I did. And luckily, Heidi gave me that validation. You know? She said she would wear it. And I'm very pleased with my performance on the show.

Tim Gunn told us earlier this week that "anything having to do with taste, style, design, or fashion was the territory of gay men." Do you agree?
I think it's any really creative and inspiring atmosphere that draws gay men. Especially ones that are unique. I think gay men relate to and thrive on that. We're a minority and we're pretty different ourselves, and I think we just love anything that's fabulous. That's such a gay answer.

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