Project Runway Season 14 designer, Swapnil Shinde corresponded with us for an email interview.
A highlight:
BPR: Swapnil, although you always created excellent garments and the judges consistently scored you in "the top," you never won a challenge. Do you think that the judges held you to a higher standard?
SS: I always gave more than a 100%. Whenever I was told that I was not giving my all I realized that maybe the judges expected more, and that's why they FELT I wasn't giving my all - but that doesn't mean that I wasn't giving my 200%. It was their opinion that I wasn't, but I truly gave it my all! The issue was that I never made muslin toiles. I always made the outfits in the main fabric and that's how I ended up saving a lot of time! More so I came all the way from India to the US, so I highly doubt that someone who had spent so much hard earned money would not take such a platform seriously!
BPR: Our readers were very surprised by your elimination. Were you surprised as well? Or were you expecting it?
SS: Honestly I wasn't surprised at my elimination because my client was not happy and what I sent down the runway was something that got finished in two hours! From the beginning I kept on telling my client that this is your challenge and I want you to be happy and my client eventually was the unhappiest, which is why I feel I deserved to go. But the fact remains that I made 3 looks for her, which speaks highly about me being proactive and not being lazy! Before this challenge there were 9 challenges I had my looks ready for critiquing and fittings. It was just one challenge that my outfit was not ready and that was because I was clueless as to what my client wanted and thus I needed some direction before finishing it, and I didn't have extra fabric either! Having said that this one experience has changed me as a person it's made me stronger!
Click here for the full interview.
Thank you Swapnil!
