The “Project Runway” designers bring quite a bit of professional experience — several of the 16 contestants have serious fashion industry credentials — and of course, there are some larger-than-life personalities.
Of Chicago native Ra’mon-Lawrence Coleman (left), mentor and Liz Claiborne Chief Creative Officer Tim Gunn would only say, “There’s never a dull moment with Ra’mon!”
Gunn also wrote on Lifetime’s “Runway” site that, as a designer, Coleman “thinks too much.”
More Top Picks Best Protective Pad Sets For Women
Coleman, a graduate of south suburban Hillcrest High School, said in a phone interview that he took that statement “as a compliment. I like to consider myself an intellectual person. I think it’s better to think about things rather than throw things out there without any intent. So many people dabble in design with no clear vision.”
Coleman, 31, took an unusual path to fashion design. At the University of Iowa, he was in a neuroscience program but began to have some doubts that was his true callings. He returned to Chicago and ended up studying art history and fashion design at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
“Something clicked — I thought, ‘This is what you’re supposed to be doing,'” Coleman said. And his study of anatomy and biology paid off, he adds.
“The way I approach design, I think about the human form,” he said.
Coleman ended up moving to Minneapolis and designing for Target, but after filming of Season 6 of “Project Runway” concluded, he moved to Milwaukee and began working for Kohl’s. These days he’s collaborating with “The Hills” star Lauren Conrad on the line of clothing she created for Kohl’s.
Of course, Coleman wouldn’t say if he won the sixth season of “Runway,” but he sounds quite happy about where his pursuit of fashion has taken him.
“I really don’t know because there are so many opportunities right now,” Coleman said when asked whether he would stay with Kohl’s. “Whatever the outcome of the season, a lot of doors have been opened for me.”