It hasn't been a good season for the men of 'Project Runway,' with last night's final challenge episode ending with an all-female final four, meaning no fellas will be showing their collections at New York Fashion Week in the season finale.The last man standing for season six: Minnesota native Christopher Straub, the 30-year-old self-taught designer who won the season's first challenge -- featuring guest judge Lindsay Lohan -- and, as he himself points out, then spent many weeks in the bottom three.
But that was okay by him -- better bottom three than being "safe," as Straub points out, because simply being "in" means being sent backstage and not getting the chance to talk about your design.
Straub, who was voted the fan favorite designer at MyLifetime.com during each of his 12 weeks on the show, talked to AOL TV the morning after his elimination from the competition, and dished about challenging the judges, being committed to not playing it safe, his new accessories line, the possibility of 'The Christopher Show' and how he never meant to become 'The Cryer' of the season.
Were you surprised when they sent you home last night? Because you sort of seemed like you might know it was coming ...
Well, I was very aware that I wasn't "the pretty dress guy." You know, that if I was going to go on, it was because of my point of view, and my take on things, and not because I was putting all these wearable things out there. I thought, of the remaining people, I was the one who probably took the most chances, so if I was gonna move on, it was because they were looking for something different than a pretty dress parade.
Well, given that, were you surprised that you made it all the way through to the final challenge then?
Uh, not really (laughing). As an artist, I feel like I was doing exactly what I was supposed to do. Like I was challenging the judges a little bit, challenging what people's perceptions of fashion are a bit. I wasn't really trying to do things that people were going to be able to find out in the marketplace. I was trying to change it up and show my point of view throughout the whole thing. And if the judges got it, great, but if they didn't get it, at least I had an opportunity to talk about it on the runway. That's something I had told a lot of people. I would rather be in the bottom three than just be "in," because that means that I played it safe. And I didn't want to play the safe game at any point in the competition. Out of 12 challenges, I won once, was in the top a couple of times, safe a few times and in the bottom a number of times [laughs].
That's a good point about when you're just put through as safe ... you get less time to talk about your designs because you're sent backstage right away.
Yes, you don't really get to tell your story about what your piece meant and how it related to the challenge. At least I got to say what was going on in my head, instead of it being like, "Christopher, you're safe. And we don't really get it, but we're not going to let you talk about it" [laughs].
And I was very happy with the editing, because they did share my story a lot. Like, in the case of the Christina Aguilera challenge, if I wouldn't have been able to say, "Oh, I was picturing Christina doing a Cyndi Lauper song, or breaking out into 'Lady Marmalade'" ... if that hadn't aired, my story there, it wouldn't have made any sense. So, at least they showed that I had an idea. I didn't have to be just some sort of wacky guy.
Were you happy with the way you were portrayed on the show in general? We filmed this a long time ago; there was almost a year in between when we filmed it and when it aired, and that's a lot of time to think. And definitely one of my thoughts was, how are they going to portray me? And I was afraid, because, obviously, they can edit you however they want. I just wanted it to truly [reflect] me, which is kind of "that little engine that could" kinda thing. And that's what came across on screen, and I was very happy with that. I had gotten a lot of comments from people, like, "I was so worried when you went on the show, because I didn't want to see 'TV Christopher,' and I didn't, I just saw you," so that makes me happy, because it was a true representation of who I am.
So what have you been up to since filming the show?
I developed a line of handbags and accessories, men's and women's stuff, and it's all leather goods, and they're available at ChristopherStraub.com. I had so much fun creating it – there was kind of a pop art inspiration, lots of colors and textures, some treatments that I had done on the show. I just wanted to have a lot of fun with it for my first run out of the gate, just doing some pieces that, selfishly, I wanted to make, either for me or for my friends.
And what's ahead for you?
The next step is that I'm going to continue going forward with my next collection of handbags and trying to make some more affordable styles to really appeal to a broader range of customers. And I've had so many opportunities come up in the last couple of weeks, a few things that I can't really talk about yet, but it's good, because people feel they can relate to me, and want to work with me. And I'm grateful, because it might have been different if I had been portrayed differently on TV, if I had been portrayed as a jerk, or if I was the diva or the bitch. You know, I might not seem as approachable, but people feel very comfortable coming up to me and saying, "How does this sound?" and "Would you be willing to talk about this?" So I'm absolutely up for anything at this point.
And what about doing 'The Christopher Show,' another reality series? Because really, there should be a 'Christopher Show.'
There should be a 'Christopher Show'! [Laughs] I've had a couple people talk to me [about that], and I'd be willing to listen [more]. I don't see myself as the star of that show, but I'd love to be a supporting character in my own show!
You've been a fan of the show and have watched every season, and now having experienced it firsthand, did you feel like the judging was weird this season? Like you never really knew where they were going or what they expected?
That's a veeeery good question. There was kind of this parade of judges, and that really didn't bother me. People say, "Oh, what was it like not seeing Nina, not seeing Michael ...?" That didn't matter to me. But what I expected was that Tim or Heidi would give us the challenge, and then we would have sort of an outline, a little piece of paper that detailed what the criteria was for the challenge. And it really wasn't like that. [The challenges] were just given to us, and then we were left to our own devices. We would all go to each other and be like, "OK, wait, am I supposed to make a garment FOR Christina, inspired by Bob Mackie, or am I supposed to make a Bob Mackie outfit for Christina, or am I just supposed to make a Bob Mackie outfit with someone like Christina in mind?" We really had a hard time [understanding] what they wanted with some of the challenges.
You always seemed to take the judges' comments in stride, though you did get emotional during several of the sessions with the judges ...
In terms of the judging and how it's edited, it's a lot more thorough than what you see [on TV]. They can talk to you for 15 minutes each, and then it's edited down into like 40 seconds and a couple of comments. They can really get the emotions going though. I have to tell you this ... when I was going through the casting [process] for the show, they asked me, "Are you The Cryer?" And I put my hand up and I waved and I was like, "I haven't cried in four years!" So how funny is it that I cried four times on the first episode?
Who do you predict will win in the season finale?
Hmmm, who do I predict? Well, I have a heart full of Carol Hannah love, so I'm on Team Carol Hannah 100 percent.
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