Jhoan Sebastian Gray, Colombian Designer Of Project Runway

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

For Jhoan Sebastian Gray, participating in Project Runway was a dream, one that he fulfilled last season when he was given the opportunity to show his talent on this important platform. Best of all, not only was he one of the star entrants, but he was also crowned the winner, making him the first Latino to win such a coveted award. Thus began the incredible adventure in the fashion world of the young native of Cali, Colombia.

Of course, his situation was not always so promising. And it is that while looking for an opportunity to expose his talent, he had to dedicate himself to cleaning houses and taking care of pets in Miami. Luckily, the Colombian designer found Fashion for a Cause, a non-profit organization led by its founder Andrés González and Carlos Junquera, president of the entity, which is dedicated to supporting emerging designers to spread their work and relate with industry professionals. It was precisely from the hand of this organization that the artist was able to make his first collection to present it at Florida International Fashion Week and then launch himself to audition to enter the contest.

“It was quite a long road, really. I never imagined that he would participate in Project Runway and even less in the United States,”the talented designer told us during his visit to our offices in New York a few days before presenting his first collection at New York Fashion Week. “Having won Project Runway meant a great validation that my work has enough to be able to be on the world's great catwalks. And also a personal validation to realize that I have what it takes to stand in front of an industry that is so competitive and so strong at the same time. So it gives you that confidence and that boost of energy to be able to keep going.”

With that confidence and energy, and again with the support of Fashion for a Cause and its platform The Runways, Gray very successfully presented his collection during New York Fashion Week where he impressed everyone with a beautiful collection inspired by his country.

"Thanks to them, I now have the opportunity to present my first collection called Lineage, on the catwalks of New York, which is inspired by my country Colombia and dedicated to my grandparents who [died] a couple of months ago," confessed Gray., whose designs are favorites of celebrities like Clarissa Molina. "It is like bringing all that learning that they have left me and expressing it through my colors and the garments that I am going to present."