Two designers with local ties make Project Runway debuts

by April Powell

Elisa (back left) and Marion (front, third from right) try to "make it work" on Project Runway.

Marion's creation was in the middle of the pack.

The fourth season of the Bravo network's reality fashion show, Project Runway premiered on November 15. The fifteen contestants included two designers with a local connection. The proprietor of Dallas' Urban Flower Grange Hall, 39-year-old Tyler native Jeffery Lee is appearing on the show under the nom de guerre "Marion." He is also the former visual director of Stanley Korshak.

For the show's opening challenge, Marion created a dress primarily using what appeared to be black lace and gray-blue denim. It did not get a lot of screen time (most of which was devoted to the best and worst offerings), but the dress was good enough to get Marion a pass to the next round of competition.

The train from Elisa's dress got her called on the carpet.

Also appearing in the Season Four opener, and receiving a lot more screen time than Marion, was 42-year-old El Paso native and Booker T. Washington Arts Magnet High School grad Elisa Jimenez. Her efforts to grass-stain some of her delicate fabric and her unorthodox method of partially draping her garment on her own body garnered a lot of attention and sideways glances from her competitors.

In the end, the bulky train of Elisa's dress turned off judges, tripped up her model, and was tagged as one of the bottom two designs. (Host Heidi Klum commented that the train made Elisa's model look like she was "pooing fabric.") However, the judges had positive things to say about the color and bodice of Elisa's dress and she was allowed to stay in the competition. The unlucky designer eliminated was California's Simone LeBlanc, whose dress construction was deemed unacceptably sub-par.

Project Runway airs locally every Wednesday night at 9 pm.