A New Interview with Project Runway Season 11 Champion, Michelle Lesniak Franklin

Novelist Kendra L. Saunders chats with Project Runway Season 11 winner Michelle Lesniak Franklin about the ongoing lone wolf theme in her life, great earrings, 80s hair metal, steampunk, and who she’d take with her to a desert island. 

Here’s a short transcript of part of the interview, but make sure to listen in for all of the rest!

 Q: As a woman I was especially touched that you chose an inspiration that I don’t see a lot of females draw from- a lone wolf. Have you always felt like a lone wolf? 

 A: I haven’t. You know, it was being on the show and going through what I was going through that made me feel that way. I came from an artist background, I went to school for fine arts and you come to making a project or making art or a thesis with a theme- and my theme was really how I was feeling. When I go into fashion, it’s really about my emotion.

 Q: I noticed you used that color that you have in your kitchen, in your final collection. Has that color been with you a long time? 

 A: You know… chartreuse and green… I’m from the Pacific Northwest so I take a lot of my inspiration from nature, and green is a huge part of it. And I was born in the '70s so these '70s color palettes are really important to me. It’s really grungy; it’s really dirty and haunting, so yeah, it’s definitely my color palette. 

 Q: You have some of the most fabulous earrings of anyone I’ve ever seen. Do you make a lot of your own accessories too or do you just find really great things? 

A: I make a lot of them. I’m really into natural elements- wood, bone. Some of them I made and some of them are made by local artists here in Portland. I really like to support what’s happening in Portland, so I buy a lot of local.

Thank you Kendra!

Nick Verreos Hosts "Road to the Runway" at 8:00 EST and Amanda Fields Hosts "AfterBuzz"

BPR Faves - Nick and Amanda!

Nick Verreos and Michelle Lesniak Franklin will be hosting the "Road to the Runway" special tonight.

Click here for more information.

Also tonight, Project Runway Supermodel, Amanda Fields will be hosting the online show "Afterbuzz," where fans can sound off about the new season.

Of course, TBone will be right here hosting BPR's original live-blog and premiering his new avatar - you won't want to miss it!

A New Interview with Project Runway Season 11 Winner, MIchelle Lesniak

Michelle Lesniak talks to "The Oregonian."

Highlights:

"I do not plan on leaving Portland," the 34-year-old says. "There are no rules, and if there is a rule that one has to live in New York City or Los Angeles, I plan on breaking that rule." 

Also,  For one thing, she and her husband are getting a divorce, which means she'll be going back to her family name, Lesniak. "It's very amicable," she says. "We put in 10 years of marriage." 

She is still waiting for her prizes! 

Her "Project Runway" victory was especially sweet, given that in the first several weeks of the season, she was on teams that consistently lost. She's still waiting, however, for delivery of her prizes, including $100,000, a 2013 Lexus GS 350 and a $50,000 technology suite by Hewlett-Packard and Intel.

Click here for the full interview.

MIchael Costello and Michelle Lesniak Franklin Showing at FashioNXT

Project Runway Season 11 Champion, Michelle Lesniak Franklin, and All-Star Michael Costello are among the featured designers at FashioNXT in Portland October 9 - 12, 2013.

Click here for more information.

A New Interview with Michelle Lesniak Franklin

Project Runway Season 11 winner, Michelle Lesniak Franklin, talks about her experience on the show and what to expect in the Reunion episode.

What is the toughest part about "Project Runway"? 

 The schedule is brutal. People ask me, why is everyone always crying? Well, when you're on four hours of sleep and you're under so much stress, you're gonna cry and say things you don't mean. The mature designers in our group, they get it. But there are some designers who have yet to get over it. 

You'll see that in the reunion episode, that some people are holding grudges.They just need to put on their big boy pants and grow up. And the thing is, we all, before she show even aired over the months and months we were waiting to see the show, we were contacting each other back and forth. We had agreed that everyone probably said things they didn't mean in the moment. 

It's like, whatever you do in Vegas stays in Vegas. When you're extremely tired you snap and say things you don't mean. We needed to treat it like nothing, like water on a duck. Even though we had a sit down conversation, some people still didn't get that. 

Click here for the full interview from hitfix.com.

Click here for more from TheClicker.

BPR Interview with Michelle Lesniak Franklin

Project Runway Season 11 Champion, Michelle Lesniak Franklin talks about her experience on the show.

A highlight:

BPR:  I was at the show and watched all eight collections.  When it was over, the piece that stood out most in my mind was your heart sweater.  Any plans to put it into production?

MLF:  I wish I could but I don't own it....

BPR:  ????  Weinstein????

MLF:  Yes.

BPR:  You could probably sell a thousand of them today....

MLF:  Probably a million.

BPR:  Yes, I love that Joe helped you.  He is so talented!  Please tell us about the process, how much instruction did you give him?

MLF:  Joe is amazing and he is one of the people that I wanted to work with, but we didn't have the chance to work together on the show.  So afterward, I called him on the phone and we talked about some ideas.  I sent him sketches of the wolf and the heart, color swatches and the actual pattern pieces of the shapes of the pieces, the sleeves, the front and back panels...  Then he sent back a sample and then "Oh let's change this and that..." and we made some adjustments and then he made it up.  It is a computerized knitting machine.  It came to me a flat pieces and I sewed it up.

I had no idea how the process worked.  It was fascinating.

We are definitely planning to collaborate on some projects in the future.

BPR:  Oh please keep us posted.

MLF:  I certainly will.

Click here for the full interview.

Click here to visit Michelle's website.

Congratulations, Michelle!

Poll - Finale Season 11 - Your Turn to be the Judge

1st: Michelle

2nd: Patricia

3rd: Stanley

Click image for a larger view. Images courtesy of myLifetime.com

You've seen the designs on the runway at Lincoln Center during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week and now it is your turn to be the judges. This week you are Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors and Zac Posen. It's time to tell us:

poll by twiigs.com
 

Results In - Who Should/Will Win Project Runway Season 11

The readers have voiced their opinions via our poll:

You felt that Michelle Lesniak Franklin SHOULD win Project Runway Season 11 and that she also WILL win. Click here to see how you voted.

Check back with us tomorrow to cast your vote on the finale collections after seeing the garments on the runway tonight.

Results In - You Were the Judge Episode 12

Our polls for Episode 12 are closed. You felt that Michelle Lesniak Franklin deserved the win this week. Click here to see the results. You disagreed with the judges and felt that Patricia should have been out. Click here to see the results.

Photos courtesy of myLifetime.com

Own a Piece of Project Runway History

The episode 12 designs are available for your bids...except for Patricia's...  Hmmmm...???

Right now, Michelle's design has the highest offer.

Click here to see all of the auctions.

Results In - Episode 10 - Your Turn to be the Judge

Our polls for Episode 10 are closed. You disagreed with the judges and felt that Michelle Lesniak Franklin deserved the win. Click here to see the results. You agreed with the judges and felt that Richard should have been the out. Click here to see the results.

Check back with us tomorrow for our Episode 11 poll.

Results In - You Were the Judge Episode 9

Our polls for Episode 9 are closed. You agreed with the judges and felt that Michelle Lesniak Franklin deserved the win. Click here to see the results. You disagreed with the judges and felt that Richard should have been out. Click here to see the results.

Check back with us tomorrow for our Episode 10 poll.

BPR Interview with Lord & Taylor Challenge Winner, Michelle Lesniak Franklin

Jennifer Mara covered this Lord & Taylor event for BPR and sends us this report - thanks Jen!

BPR Hearts Michelle!

This morning Michelle Lesniak Franklin celebrated her Lord and Taylor Challenge win with a private pre-store opening party. Modeling her own look along with one of her signature raincoats, Michelle was rocking her dress regardless of the 30 degree weather! "Just throw on tights and boots." she says. 

Official congratulations to Michelle even though she hasn't had the time to watch the episode for herself. This is the first time someone else is producing her work. Usually, she produces her own work. "So you know, fifty of something or thirty of something but never this many, this is out of my wildest dreams...we are sold out online already!" 

When the episode started I couldn't help but wonder if Michelle could've chosen her partner who would she pick, and to my surprise she said "I would've picked Amanda, but she's GONE!" which I thought was a great answer! 

And in her own words, "I will try and watch it on Saturday. I am waiting to see this fight. One of my girlfriends even texted me about it." 

Chatting with Michelle, it felt safe to ask about her circle tattoos, even though they were fully covered, (was that rude?) her answer: "I get this all the time. Circle of life, nature and balance." 

About the difference between the original and the production design: "Michelle tell me if the design has changed much from your original design." Her response; "I don't think it has. I will have to look back at the episode and really study. I think they hit it out of the park which is great because you never expect that to happen." Personally I thought the look was identical to the episode showing. 

I had to try on the winning garment... LOVE IT!!! This is a dress for any girl, it's very striking. I couldn't resist. $259.00 and WORTH IT!

Looking good!

Click here to continue.

Last Night's Winner

Here's the winning design of Michelle Lesniak Franklin from the Lord &Taylor website. Listed at $259, soon to sell out!

Results In - You Were the Judge Episode 8

Our polls for Episode 8 are closed. You disagreed with the judges and felt that Michelle Lesniak Franklin deserved the win. Click here to see the results. You also disagreed with the judges and felt that Richard should have been the out. Click here to see the results.

Check back with us tomorrow for our Episode 9 poll.

Photos courtesy of MyLifetime.com

Results In - You Were the Judge Episode 7

Our polls for Episode 7 are closed. You agreed with the judges and felt that Michelle Lesniak Franklin deserved the win. Click here to see the results. You disagreed with the judges and felt that Patricia should have been the out. Click here to see the results.

Check back with us tomorrow for our Episode 8 poll.

Seasons Collide

BPR fave Jack Mackenroth sent along this photo with S11 designer Michelle Lesniak Franklin from last week's HP designer reunion party. Thanks Jack!

More Photos from the HP Project Runway Designer Reunion Party

Project Runway season 4 designer, Jack Mackenroth, sends us more photos from the event - thanks Jack!

Richard Hallmarq, Jack Mackenroth, Benjamin Mach, Layana Aguilar

Jack Mackenroth and Michelle Lesniak Franklin

Click here to continue.

Project Runway Season 11 Finale Collections

All Photos Getty Images

Photos of Project Runway Season 11 Finale Collections below. Three finalists and five decoy collections were shown.

All "Collection" photos:  New York Magazine.

Layana Aquilar
Daniel Esquivel
Samantha Black
Richard Hallmarq
Michelle Lesniak Franklin 
Amanda Valentine
Stanley Hudson
Patricia Michaels

Click here to comment.

Meet Michelle Franklin

Michelle Lesniak Franklin, 34 - Hometown: Portland, OR; Resides in Portland, OR