Very rarely do I let my judgments get in the way, but as a show progresses you begin to get a feel of the people that are genuine and the people that rub you up the wrong way. For me in this show I have a very hard time believing that Kim Cathers and Genevieve Graham are real. They spend most of their time bickering away on screen about their views on other designers as opposed to working and focusing on the challenge at hand.
The reactions to this weeks episode in which the designers were given the task of making a dress for supermodel Coco Rocha brought out some of the wost behavior in some of the contestants.
It is important for a designer to keep their togetherness at a certain level. Kim and Genevieve are portrayed as ultimate divas and Genevieve's cockiness has not been welcomed by the general public.
Some of the comment reactions to Genevieve's blog post on the Project Runway website are shocking and if anything the people are making it known that such behavior from a designer is intolerable.
"Oh my! My gut wants to just stick it to your terrible attitude and your mean-girl-esque persona and just shower you with so much trashy trash....but then I would be just like you.
I just feel sad for you. Your behavior really embarrassed me - as a woman, as a successful Vancouver professional. I knew I was good at my job - pretty confident - like yourself (I am on a mat leave now - I want it all!). But I could never ever spew such venom towards a colleague, toward a contemporary. What 30 year old trash talks contemporaries who are succeeding in the same field as them? It confused me. You're a 30 year old "professional" on TV!! You don't need to treat people like garbage and insult them," said a commenter under the name Vancouverite
Brooklyn another commenter said "I know its partially the editing of the show but you have one bad attitude! I hope your attitude improves after they re-introduce you next week but I seriously doubt it will... "
Things get really serious on Genevieve's blog post, a person under the name sogladimnotu said "i see nothing has changed since we were in the same class at H.Lefeaux.... you're still designing the same shit as you did in 1999...sad darhling!
well, it's a miracle you made it on the show and i've been praying for your demise ever since.
ciao babe"
Oh my!
Well with all the attitude, Genevieve was given the boot with Sunny winning another challenge! He pushed himself out of his comfort zone and performed at his constant level of excellence.
It is down to the final four, Adejoke, Jessica, Sunny and Kim.Anyway here is our interview with Genevieve from this morning.
CF: Hi Genevieve, can you tell us a little bit about your fashion background please?GG: Well I graduated in 2000 winning designer of the year and then I worked on anew line and I was doing that for three, four years and then I was approached by the owner of Obaaki to design with her and I was a designer there for about 4 years and I did 7 collections and I left there about a year ago.
CF: Were you disappointed to leave the show?
GG: Sure I was disappointed but I was really happy with my work and I stood behind everything I did, fashion is subjective and it’s about what they want or what they like but it’s not a big deal.
CF: What was the most difficult thing for you in the show?
GG: Time constraints, they were really difficult for me I’m a very sort of slow and meticulous worker so I don’t work well when I’m having to rush things, I cut corners I like to make sure everything is perfect and well done and we didn’t have time to do that so rushing things was difficult for me.
CF: Did you get on with any body else in the house other than Kim?
GG: Oh yeah we were all really good friends they just didn’t show a part of it, we all got on really well, you are under such crazy circumstances and pressure you are bound to snap you know at anybody but we all got along really well, they don’t show when we come home and have some wine and we all make each other food and sit around and relax and talk and hang out. I was really close with Margarita and really good friends with Christy we are good friends now.
CF: Do you feel they portrayed you in a negative light.
GG: No I don’t think it’s negative it’s how people want to take it, if confidence is considered negative then that is unfortunate. In this industry you have to have a certain level of confidence this is one of the toughest industries out there this is not acting and if you aren’t confident then you just wont be able to sell it you know. I’ve had a very successful career and I want to continue to have a successful career and I don’t think you can do that without having confidence and like I said they didn’t show the other side of me where I was laughing but you know they show everybody one sided everybody has a complexity to their personality. I think everybody was represented accurately it’s just one sided, too bad they didn’t show more stuff but I guess that doesn’t make for good TV.
CF: How was it working with Brian Bailey?
GG: Brian Bailey, I thought of him as my dad away from home, he’s a lovely person, he was a good source of support through all of this he would calm me down when things were going crazy he was really good at that.
CF: Can you tell me about your label?
GG: I’m currently selling my collection in a few stores in Vancouver, my concept is a little different I don’t do collections I do one offs every piece is individual every piece is unique it may look similar but there is something different to every piece.
It’s a high price point but I think people are wanting something a little more hands on these days. The concept is going over really well I’m really proud of it. I like the fact that I touch every piece, no two pieces are the same and no two women are the same.
CF: You are really into draping, is that something you always do, I don’t know anything about draping is it just part of your aesthetic?
GG: Yeah there are two ways to making clothing one of them is by making patterns and the other is by draping, you can mix the two it’s just another form of making clothing and that’s the aesthetic I like.
Links
Genevieve Graham Blog
Genevieve Graham Blog Post On Project Runway
Episode 8
Photos courtesy of CanWest Media.