Jay McCarroll

Template:Project Runway contestant Jay McCarroll (born 1974) is a fashion designer who gained fame in 2005, when he won during the debut season of the competitive reality show Project Runway.

Biography

McCarroll, an openly gay Lehman, Pennsylvania native, is known for his fondness of cowboy hats, which he wears often. According to McCarroll, his first work as a designer was when his sisters were in color guard and he sewed a flag for them. Apart from designing clothes, McCarroll also likes baton twirling and color guard, having been involved with that activity since he was a child. He was a member of Field of View winter guard based out of West Chester, PA. He designed flags and costumes for them, as well as other color guards in the Northeast.

McCarroll, who lists Alexander McQueen as his favorite designer, dropped out of Philadelphia University without graduating in 1995. He moved to London to study at the London College of Fashion and lived in London selling clothes in Camden Market after he graduated. He moved to Amsterdam selling clothing before moving back to America and getting a job designing webpages for an adult video website. He started as a chat room monitor before rising to become the manager and film producer.

He, like the show's other participants, was struggling to get recognition as a fashion designer before the show began airing on December 1, 2004, on the Bravo cable television network. McCarroll earned $100,000 as the winner of the show. Along with the money and fame from the win, he also earned a mentorship from Banana Republic, and a spot on the prestigious 2005 New York Fashion Week event. However Jay turned down the money and the offer, citing a contractual clause stipulating that the Project Runway production company would own a 10% stake of all his professional ventures in perpetuity, [1] he did not take the $100,000 he earned on the show.

Well, I need a lot of money, and $100,000 sounds great but I didn't take the money. I basically opted to pursue other financial avenues.

— Jay McCarroll

He also turned down the Banana Republic mentorship program after winning the competition as he didn't want to immediately jump into designing a line. Jay was also quoted as saying the Banana Republic mentorship wasn't useful for someone like himself who already had experience in the business.

A week after I won the show, I met with two ladies from Banana Republic at the top of the Soho House, which is like, big time, And they were like, ‘Oh, we can give you numbers for factories to get your clothes produced.’ But that was totally not anything like what I needed. What I needed was someone to sit down with me and say, Here’s how you start a fashion label

— Jay McCarroll

In the media

He has been interviewed by various types of media, including magazines and websites, such as The Village Voice, after winning the contest. He has had to spend part of his time living in New York (the site of the contest), working on his new projects and trying to strengthen his position as a designer.

McCarroll helped pick contestants for the second season of Project Runway, and filmed a one-hour documentary on his attempts to establish himself after his win. The special, Project Jay, first aired February 22, 2006 on Bravo.

McCarroll returned to Fashion Week on September 15 of 2006 with a show under the prestigious tents. As mentioned on his website, the collection was entitled "Transport". His collection was sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States, reflecting his anti-fur stance. This anti-cruetly stance is further seen in his vegan diet. He also mentioned that "My new collection 'Transport' will take the fashion consumer to a higher plane of consciousness and encourage people to see fashion from a different perspective." This was his first showing since the first season finale of Project Runway. He changed the theme of the collection, which was initially inspired by Pet Shop Boys' West End Girls. The collection featured more of a futuristic theme and had both men's and women's looks.

The entire process of his designing, building, showing and attempts at selling his Transport line was documented in a feature film called, Eleven Minutes, which he hopes will be making the film festival circuit in 2008.

It was reported on August 6, 2007, by The Daily 10 on E! that McCarroll was homeless and relying on the kindness of friends who are allowing him to stay at their apartments. “I haven’t been living anywhere for two years,” he says. “I sleep at other people’s houses. I sleep [at my studio] if I’m drunk.”.This proved to be only a rumor in the end.

External links

• Jay McCarroll's official website
• Olympus Fashion Week Jay McCarroll's Spring 2007 Collection
• Fashion Wire Daily Jay McCarroll's Spring 2007 Collection Reviewed
• Jay McCarroll shares his favorite NY places at ontheinside.info
• Eleven Minutes -- official website of feature documentary on the making of his Spring 2007 Collection