Christian Siriano has always understood glamour. After more than a decade in fashion, the Project Runway mentor and host who launched his eponymous womenswear brand in 2008, has redefined the red carpet rule book.

And much like his iconic tulle gowns, Siriano has many layers. At a young age, the American designer, who studied under Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen in London, was captivated by the beauty of the ballet, leading to a love affair with silhouette, structure, and fanciful garments.

“Me and my sister were ballet dancers. That is always going to be something that I just personally love. It reminds me of when I was a little boy watching my sister dance or being backstage watching all the sugar plum fairies in The Nutcracker. I still love that. I think a lot of people do too. I think it’s that fantasy that I still enjoy,” Siriano says.

That romantic fantasy is not only present in the designer’s bold and colorful New York atelier but on both the red carpet and the runway.

“I always knew I wanted to be a show designer. That’s the part I love. I don’t always love the business end,” he chuckles, “but I love to celebrate beauty on the runway.”

In 2008, Siriano and his vision took on Project Runway, where he became the youngest designer to win the fashion competition series. But since then Siriano has become so much more than a Project Runway winner. The celebrated CFDA designer, who has dressed stars like Michelle Obama, Oprah, Lady Gaga, Lizzo, and Billy Porter, has stepped out of the shadow of reality TV by creating looks that highlight body diversity.

“That was always my goal, to have all these different types of people and cultures and shapes and sizes,” the 35-year-old says while pointing out that his inclusive approach to fashion is part of his ethos. “I was doing that from day one. People just didn’t realize until later. They’re like, ‘Wow, you have so many Black models on the runway.’ I’m like, ‘No, I always have. It’s not a new thing.’”

While challenging the status quo of the fashion industry (and still working to gain admiration and respect) was a hurdle in itself, Siriano and his fashion house were met with a new set of challenges amid COVID-19.

As global death tolls rose, lock-downs and unemployment soared, fashion was largely ignored.

“Fashion took a big hit and is still taking a hit, we’re in a really, really wild, strange, pivotal change moment. People are not shopping the same way and they’re not spending what they used to spend,” he says, adding, “I do think people will get excited about things again, but I don’t think people are going to spend the money the same way. I think they’re going to hold onto it in case something happens again.”

And though Siriano is a world-renowned designer, he’s well aware his 13-year-old fashion house faces different challenges than a 100-year European house fashion like Chanel or Dior.

“I think the big brands always will survive in their world because it just is what it is. But I do think any independent company that hasn’t been around for 50–100 years, has to pivot and figure it out. I think we’re all finding our daily struggles,” he says.

During the peak of the pandemic in New York City, just weeks after showing at New York Fashion Week, Siriano made headlines, but not for his glamorous red carpet gowns. The designer and his atelier began cutting patterns for masks—a crucial item for frontline workers facing the COVID-19 stricken city. With a passion for creating and helping others, Siriano and his team worked relentlessly to produce cloth masks in his studio. To date, they’ve shipped nearly two million masks to those in need.

From face masks to loungewear and comfy athleisure, 2020 didn’t have time for glamour. And while many brands embraced pandemic fashion and designers like Siriano found a way to still create and help others, the Project Runway executive producer feels that more industry giants should be doing their part.

“I think we’re definitely getting there but … I do think the big brand business is still very dominating, but they don’t actually do anything helpful, like politically for our world and I do think that that’s a bit sad,” he says, adding that in addition to lack of political action, diversity, and inclusion are still areas where the fashion industry needs to improve upon.

“Some big brands are doing it and I think that that’s helpful, but … I am a big fan of if you’re going to do it, you can’t just do it for one season or one year. You’ve got to keep it going. You can’t support Black businesses for a couple of months and then not. It’s you’re either doing it or you’re not,” Siriano explains. “That’s another little bit of the problem with fashion still is that people go right back into their normal groove. It’s so crazy to me. I don’t get it.”

But despite the pandemic, and the reckoning of social injustice brought on by the Black Lives Matter movement last year, Siriano says he’s still “optimistic” about the future of fashion.

“People do think aspirationally, and real fashion things that are truly unique, I think, are still going to be worth more than fast fashion. ...Especially now, people are desperate for inspiration and beauty and the more the better,” he says.

Enter the return of Project Runway, which first made a splash in the early 2000s but has now been revamped for a new generation with Brandon Maxwell, Elaine Welteroth, Nina Garcia as judges and alum Siriano as host and mentor.

With the 19th season of Project Runway returning to Bravo Oct. 14, Siriano believes that the series is back just in the knick time for those artists and creatives who have suffered from a lack of “inspiration and beauty” in the last 18 months.

“Listen, there’s a reason why Project Runway’s going to be on for 19 seasons. It’s very inspirational for young artists. I know people will always have their own opinions about the show but really it’s kind of unbelievable what we see on it,” Siriano explains. “We see young talent create such unreal things in two days from a flat piece of fabric and they turn it into three-dimensional form. It is very inspiring.”

The designer adds that how he mentors the show’s newest competing contestants is no different from how he runs his own New York City studio.

“When I walk around the workroom, I kind of treat them the same as I would treat my designers at my workroom, which is also why I’m sometimes tough,” he says with a laugh.

Praising this season’s contestants for their talent and commitment, the So Siriano host shares how his own experience, as a designer and past Project Runway contestant, is reflected in his role as a mentor and host.

“I feel excited that I get to kind of help a younger generation not make maybe some of the same mistakes. It’s also nice to see people that still have a dream of becoming a designer and want to still do this job because this job is so hard,” he says. “I’m a real working designer and as a mentor, I really approach as that. When I leave set, I go to my studio of 30 employees that I have ... and I guess that’s what’s so interesting about it, and maybe helpful.”

And as red carpets have started to rev up again, Siriano—who recently announced his first-ever solo work retrospective at Savannah College of Art and Design—expressed his excitement for “the return to glamour” and styling A-list clients for events like the 2021 Emmys in September. This year, Siriano and his team dressed seven stars, including Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham, who took home an Emmy for her breakout role in the Apple TV+ series.

“I work really hard on red carpet moments, not just because I still love doing them because I love making the women feel fabulous,” Siriano, who also dressed Riverdale star Lili Reinhart for this year’s Met Gala, says. “Especially if it’s a new actress and she’s nominated. We dressed Hannah Waddingham and it was her first time ever win. That’s why I do it. I don’t really need everybody to look at my dresses. I really do it because I love the transformation that happens.”

And as what’s next, Siriano hopes for an expanse of diversity within the industry while he continues to focus on “impactful” design.

“I try to focus on what will be impactful and what will send a message and who’s the right person to put the clothes on. I like a very diverse group. I’m not just going to dress the new it girl. And while that’s awesome, I do think we need a broader range of what fashion should be. That’s very important.”

— Inside Anthony Bourdain’s All-Consuming Relationship
— The Tortured History of the Royal Spare
— Behind Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s Timeless Wedding Dress
— Gabby Petito and the Queasy Effects of Real-Time True Crime
— The Real Housewives and the Anti-vaxxer
— Love Is a Crime: The Rise and Fall of Walter Wanger’s Cleopatra
— Shop Meghan Markle’s New York City Trip Looks
— The R. Kelly Guilty Verdict Was Nearly 30 Years in the Making
— From the Archive: Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, the Private Princess
— Sign up for “The Buyline” to receive a curated list of fashion, books, and beauty buys in one weekly newsletter.