Interview with "Project Runway's" Chris March

If there was one contestant on this season’s Project Runway who seemed to smile the most or give off the peppiest positive energy, it would have to be Chris March. The San Francisco native brought a big, brassy design sense as sparkling and theatrical as the Golden Gate Bridge to the each episode, and gays across America emitted a collective sigh of disappointment when he finally got the boot this past week.

And as fans know, Chris’s continued success on the show was won on a weekly basis. He first got aufd on episode four, but when fellow designer Jack Mackenroth had to depart the show due to a nasty staph infection, Chris was given a second chance and allowed to re-enter the fray.

From then on, he tended to rein in his drag-meets-burlesque-meets- crazy-crafty design sense to keep his work from appearing too “costume-y”. Given a second chance, he wound up snagging two wins — the “avant-garde” challenge upon which he and Christian collaborated, and the World Wrestling Entertainment Divas challenge (a task he was born for) and ultimately made the final four.

While it was sad to see Chris leave the show before showing in Bryant Park as part of the final three, the upside is the chance to chat with the delightful designer about his experiences during the competition. Chris holds forth on his departure from Project Runway, contending with the bratty Christian, his special bond with Rami, doing drag, and being a big, out gay man on TV. And yes, he dishes on who he think will ultimately win and why.

AfterElton.com: It has been so much fun seeing you on the show this season. What were your thoughts watching the episode this past week? Chris March: I’ll say that I was a little bit nervous to watch, since I’ve been down this road before. I knew I was being eliminated at the end, and I think the way that they portrayed my exit was really incredibly nice, and I think they gave me a lot of credit. They showed the judges giving me a lot of compliments, and in the end, if you can’t win, I think one of the greatest things is to have your work shown and appreciated and respected.

AE: What was it like given that this week we were told you weren’t going to be showing at Bryant Park, but we know that the final five designers did show? How does that strange scenario work?
CM: Um, I’m not sure I am allowed to speak to that. I’d better not.

AE: Gotcha. But at least people got to see parts of your collection, either on TV this week or those who were in the tents at Bryant Park.
CM: Well, yes, and Rami and I had to make complete collections. And it was an interesting process to do all of that. Neither one of us knew what was going to happen with the outcome, so we just had to bring our collections and let the chips fall where they may.

Tim Gunn, Rami Kashou

AE: You noted in your exit interview that’s online that you feel that Rami went on to the final three because he needed it more than you did. What did you mean by that exactly?
CM: I didn’t mean it as a jab at all, it’s just that he is a very successful fashion designer, and I don’t necessarily feel that my future is exclusively in the fashion world. So it makes perfect sense for Rami to move on to the finals because in his world of fashion, he needs to win.

I have gotten a lot of benefit from just being on the show, but if I would have gone to the finale instead of Rami, I would have felt terrible because he’s this fashion titan, and I know what it feels like to get eliminated. It would have been terrible.

AE: Going in a different direction, do you think Project Runway positively furthers the image of gay people on TV?
CM: Absolutely. I think one of the greatest things about Project Runway, and about a lot of the Bravo shows, is that they just put gay people on television. They don’t talk about it, they don’t make a big deal about it. You are there like everyone else is there. And if you talk about being gay it’s fine, if you don’t talk about being gay it’s fine. It’s like the real world should be. And I was definitely made to feel comfortable, and just to be however I wanted to be.

AE: Was it nice to represent a gay person on TV — obviously you’re a big guy — who’s not the cookie-cutter type of gay guy?
CM: Yes! [laughing very loudly]

AE: Did you feel they did a good job representing you, or were there moments when you watched and thought, “Ugh, what are they doing?”
CM: No, one of the surprising things to me about the show was when I started watching, I was a little nervous. But then I looked at it and I thought, “You know what? That’s me.” I also do think it was interesting for them to put me on the show, as a different type of gay person. I think that was maybe a little challenging for some people.