Gimmicky challenges and his own gimmicky designs finally brought Hamilton designer Jason Meyers’ journey to a halt on last night’s episode of Project Runway Canada.
Last night’s unusual material of choice was Post-It notes and designers were challenged to use the sticky paper strips to create a dress for a breast cancer survivor.
Meyers, 31, used fluorescent yellow and pink Post-Its to create an enormous gown that judges called “a train wreck” and he was sent home.
He says doing the show was a great learning experience that forced him to think differently and gave him a chance to share ideas with like-minded individuals.
“It was definitely a growing experience as a designer for me. I developed more and it was cool to see different techniques and styles from the other designers,” Meyers said.
Iman and the other judges frequently referred to Meyers as a “gimmicky” designer, but he insists he just did his best with challenges that were innately strange, like using old wedding dresses for fabric or making a gown out of Post-It notes.
“The challenges I found were gimmicky themselves, so I kind of just went for it,” Meyers said.
Tasked with creating a camouflage dress in week one, Meyers built a dress with a tail that could be pulled over the model’s head to hide her. In another week, Meyers sewed in thumb fasteners across the surface of a dress to let it go from day to evening by having the model clip parts of it up or down.
He admits time and budget constraints were the biggest challenge on the show and he’s proud of having made it as far as he did.
“We only had one zipper and $100 to buy fabric —that was really hard. I didn’t give up and tried to work through it as best as I could,” Meyers said.
Meyers is proudest to have won week two’s challenge, when Canadian actress Elisha Cuthbert picked his classic, black Hollywood dress for herself to wear, calling it “beautifully made.”
Unlike some of the designers who engaged in back-biting drama on the show, Meyers says his goal was always to be a neutral force and focus on his own work. “I just tried to do my own thing. I wouldn’t sabotage anybody because we’re all designers, we’re all there for the same reason,” Meyers said.
When to watch
Project Runway Canada airs on Tuesday nights on Global.
