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OREGON'S LGBTO NEWSMAGAZINE
OCTOBER 7, 2011
27
Sew What?
Bryce Black prepares for liftoff post Project Runway
BY ERIN R O O K
Gay Portlander Bryce Black may not have
won the ninth season of Lifetime’s Project
Runway, but the 26-year-old Lady Gaga-
obsessed designer represented the city and
the community, returning with a bit of refine
ment— and a stronger sense of self.
“There’s nothing in the world like Project
Runway,” says Black, who left the show on
the eighth episode, which aired September 15.
“I t’s not like the real world. I t’s such a strange
little bubble that you’re put in, and you’re cut
off from your personal life back home and
you’re forced in with these complete strangers
to have relationships, but they all kind o f want
you to go home. It’s a weird environment.”
Still, that environment encouraged Black
to hone a competitive mentality and engage
in some productive self-reflection.
“It really forces you to look at who you are
as a designer,” Black says. “[I still have] the
same kind o f voice and edge that I had before,
it’s just [that] the sophistication level seems to
be better.”
Before auditioning for Project Runway, Black
studied apparel design at The Art Institute of
Portland and interned with local design house
StudioSKB. Though he had entered the com
petition confident in his abilities— saying he
would win because “I can design anything”—he
ultimately succumbed to a nagging inner voice.
“I think the main reason I was booted
off the show was because I doubted myself
so much and I was always second-guessing
myself,” Black says. “More than anything, de
sign-wise, I’ve learned that you need to stick
to what you do and be true to you. I faltered
too much ... and I went back and forth too
much. I think doubt got the best o f me.”
This struggle came to a head during Black’s
final challenge, in which he was tasked with
designing a dress for a non-model client (aka
the “real woman” challenge).
“I really like the eccentric types that
he acknowledges that the city has more than
its share of so-bad-it’s-almost-good fashion, in
general he’d like to see people take more risks
and step out of their (literal) comfort zones.
“One thing I love about Portland is that,
unlike anywhere else I’ve ever been, we go
crazy. There’s so much ‘bad fashion’— I call
it [that] because it’s so overdone it’s almost
costume— but I really appreciate it, because
you can always look at things for inspiration,
like what people are wearing on the street
here, and edit it down,” Black says.
Unfortunately, the “casual mentality” of the
Pacific Northwest has many people editing
their looks too tar down. Black’s most despised
fashion fa u x pas is a prime example.
“I’m so sick o f seeing girls in Ugg boots
and leggings, I could just scream,” he says."
Luckily for Portland, Black is prepared to
swoop in like his superhero muses to save the
anti-fashionistas from themselves.
He is showing an avant-garde piece dur
ing Portland Fashion Week (Oct. 5-9) as a
preview to the winter term course in experi
mental design he’ll be teaching at Portland
Sewing. Black says those are his primary
commitments for now, hut that plans for his
own designs or another line with StudioSKB
are in the works.
W hatever Black decides to do next, he will
benefit from all that Runway exposure.
“The best part about doing the Project R un
way competition was just getting my work out
there and my name,” Black says. “It’s pretty
amazing because I just graduated and I just
showed in New York Fashion Week.” JM
go overboard and put too much to
gether. I also look a lot to references
from when I was a kid, like comic
books or fairy tales and any kind of
superego, basically. This larger-than-
life personality is usually what I draw
from, like rock stars.”
-BRYCE BLACK
“In that episode that I get kicked off, I scrap
the dress that I had been making the first day
and started over and made a new one—just
because I was doubting that that was the right
one— and in the end produced a dress that
was not fitted well and looked a mess because
I didn’t have the time,” Black says.
Had he stuck to his guns, Black says he
would have done more with denim— his fab
ric o f choice— and drawn from his tried-and-
true sources of inspiration.
Black says he owes his designs to quirky,
iconic figures like Lady Gaga and David Bowie.
One such piece, which Black calls simply “The
Dress,” takes cues from Ziggy Stardust with its
asymmetrical bodice and feathered skirt.
“I really like the eccentric types that go
overboard and put too much together,” Black
says. “I also look a lot to references from
when I was a kid, like comic books or fairy
tales and any kind o f superego, basically. This
larger-than-life personality is usually what I
draw from, like rock stars.”
But don’t expect to see Black rocking a
cape or mask— his personal style is far more
subdued. Judge Michael Kors may have
called the designer’s look “preppy” (Black
respectfully disagrees), but Black’s cardigans
and scarves fit well with Portland’s largely
laid-back fashion sense.
“I think I definitely live through my
designs,” he says. “I’m like a hairstylist with
bad hair. I don’t waste the time to do myself
up, I just do other people. I guess my per To see Black's current designs, visit projectrun-
sonal style is like putting your hair back in way.com and studioskb.com. For more on Port
a ponytail.”
land Fashion Week, visit portlandfashionweek.
That fact doesn’t keep Black from having net. To see Portland Sewings class schedule, visit
high hopes for his fellow Portlanders. W hile portlandsewing, com.
k
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