Season eight of Project Runway was one of the show’s best ever: Not only were the clothes quite good, but there was that scandalous rift between the judges over who should win, that heartbreaking episode where contestant Mondo Guerra revealed his HIV-positive status, and that controversial finale. To everyone’s surprise, Gretchen Jones (favorite of judges Nina Garcia and Michael Kors) won over Mondo (favorite of Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn, and everyone else). But as Gunn predicted, “Mondo will do fabulously anyway,” and of course he’s right: Mondo is poised to launch a jewelry line, which he’ll sell through his website while juggling plans for future clothing ventures and maybe (fingers crossed!) joining the cast of the forthcoming Project Runway all-stars season. We caught up with him last week.
Tell us about your jewelry collection.
The jewelry launch will happen within the month. It’s inspired by Paco Rabanne and [Piet] Mondrian, so it’s a lot of primary colors and geometric shapes. In a tribute to Paco, I wanted to do something with unusual materials, so this whole collection is made out of Plexiglass. Everything’s about $35-$40.
Plexiglass? Aren’t they really heavy?
The ones we’re selling, you will be able to hold them down all day, no problem. The earrings won’t give you saggy lobe.
Are you working on anything with Lifetime right now?
Well, Project Runway all-stars should be happening soon, and I’m hoping that I’m involved with it! I don’t know anything about it for sure, though.
