While we’ve been a fan of the show for years, we are especially excited about the 14th season of Project Runway, which includes groundbreaking designer, Ashley Nell Tipton. Tim Gunn has been vocal about wanting fashion to represent all body types and even said that he wanted to do a season of runway where all the models were plus sized. Having Tipton on the show as the first plus-size designer is a step in the right direction.
That said, the show had featured “challenges” in the past like the “Everyday Woman” challenge, which asked contestants to design for a variety of body shapes. These types of challenges often threw off the budding designers as they had never designed for anything other than sample size. Now with Tipton, who is the first designer to mainly cater towards the plus-size market, things seem to be changing. Inspired by being plus-size herself and her frustration with lack of fashionable clothing available in her size, Tipton creates fun and creative indie pieces for young plus-size women in her fashion line.
This 24 year old San Diego native started her career by designing costumes for her school play Grease, and got her first job at Torrid. She went on to Fashion Careers College in San Diego, where she debuted her first plus-size collection. Tipton is also the recipient of the Best Newcomer Designer of 2012 by blogger Marie Denee, Curvy Fashionista.
Be sure keep an eye out for Ashley in this season of Project Runway on Lifetime, because this designer is still in the competition!
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