From Gowns to Masks: Fashion Designer Christian Siriano

As the country continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic, we must not forget the millions of people who stepped up to the plate to help our frontline healthcare workers.

One of those people is fashion designer Christian Siriano. As the lockdowns and quarantines began in mid-March, there was a dire shortage of vital medical equipment. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo pleaded for protective gear during his daily press briefings. Feeling like his contributions would make a difference, Siriano responded to Cuomo saying he had a full sewing team working from home and free to help. A representative from Cuomo’s office responded within an hour, and a partnership was born.

Transforming his Manhattan atelier into a mask factory, thousands of face coverings have been produced. Since the masks were given away and not sold, Siriano funded the operation through donations from friends, family, and brand supports which enabled him to keep his workers employed.

Siriano has made a career of dressing women of all ages, races, body size, but he was not thrust into the public spotlight until competing and winning the fourth season of Bravo’s design competition show, Project Runway. Since then, he launched his namesake “Christian Siriano” collection and has earned a devoted legion of celebrity supporters. In 2018, Siriano was included in Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People” list, and most recently, he has returned to Project Runway taking on the role as the contestants’ mentor.

OUT FRONT had the opportunity to chat more with Siriano earlier this year about making protective masks, what kind of impact the pandemic is having on the fashion industry, returning to the show that launched him to fame, and how he is heading a gender revolution.Hi, Christian! It is such a pleasure to chat with you. I would like to begin by thanking you for your efforts and contribution in helping combat the COVID-19 pandemic. From a first-person point of view, how bad has it been in New York City?
It has been wild. We are still not fully open, and it feels so weird because so many other parts of the world are kind of semi getting back to normal. It has also been a little creepy at times. I think the hardest part is to see a city with millions of people just go away. Like, where did everybody go? Going from thousands of people on the streets to nobody has been the strangest part.

I can only imagine. What made you respond to Governor Cuomo’s plea for help?
At the time, I was just watching the news every day, and Cuomo was doing amazing things. When he said the city needed help and he was looking for people who can make products. I felt that maybe I could help. Maybe I can do something. I have a team, we make things all the time, and that was really it. Like, maybe this will work. Also, when I tweeted at them, I was not expecting a response right away. The fact that it happened in an hour and we were then talking about a prototype, it all happened very quickly. The governor’s team has been amazing. They constantly communicated with us, and they have been very helpful.

You and your team made over 75,000 masks, and that number is expected to go much higher. That is incredible.
Yes, it has been amazing. I will say, I do not want to do this forever, but we have not really sold any. This has been all donation based, and I think that was extremely important. We were not looking to make this a profitable business. Maybe down the road, it would be nice to see how we can turn this into a little business, but at the time, it was just about getting things to people and trying to help as much as we could.

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What have been some of the biggest challenges with making these masks?
Oh my gosh, everything [laughs]. It is a different type of work. It is monotonous factory work where you are doing the same thing every day over and over again, so it is not that inspiring. The cause is inspiring, but the actual work is hard. Also, just keeping my employees safe. Making sure people felt comfortable and wanted to come to work and help us, that was a challenge. That was actually the hardest part. Then with the fabric being expensive and getting supplies, it has been tough.

How much of an impact do you think this pandemic will have on the fashion industry? Will it change as we know it?
I think so. I think a lot of things are going to change. I mean, the way people are shopping is changing, and I think how we support different brands is going to be different. I do not know, but it is definitely scary out there. We will have to wait and see, but I think there will be some great things for the better. This may also be a nice little reset for businesses to get creative again, and I think that is kind of nice.Fashion is constantly changing, and there already has been a gender revolution. Can you talk more about how you are leading the way?
Right now, I think it is important to make sure that you are not just making a pretty dress. You have to make more of a connection with the people who you want to wear your brand. We need to make sure that we are all celebrating the right type of people and making sure that everybody has access. I think all those things are necessary for us to move in the right direction.

You have created pieces for several icons and celebrities including Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, and Lizzo, but Billy Porter’s gown last year became Google’s most searched red carpet look of the year. How did that gown come to be?
I know! It was interesting because it was such an organic thing. Billy came into my studio and I was like oh, let’s throw this gown on. Let’s throw a jacket on it, I think this makes it very elevated. It feels modern, but still very Billy. At the time, I did not think about the cultural impact it was going to have. I just wanted to make him feel good. We were not thinking along the lines of putting the first man in a gown on the red carpet at the Oscars. We didn’t even think about that. It was afterwards that we realized what a cultural impact this was having for so many people. It was so cool, and the best moments are they are organic and happen on their own. I think it turned out beautiful.

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How does it feel when you see these famous people wearing pieces that you created?
It feels very nice. When you have a great red carpet moment, all those hard days of working are worth it.

If you never pursued fashion, what path do you think life would have taken you?
Oh gosh, I don’t know. I would definitely be in this world in some way, but maybe a little bit more in the beauty industry, or something else. I am not sure. It is so hard to think about being in anything else. Personally, I am very much into interiors and interior design, and I have done a few interior design projects, so that would probably be my other little realm.

Your career skyrocketed after winning the fourth season of Bravo’s Project Runway, but you have now come back to the show as the contestants’ mentor. What has that experience been like for you?
It has been very nice! It is such a great show with talented designers, and I think it is nice that they are getting a more real-world experience. I am giving advice based on being a real designer working in the business right now, and I think that is helpful for them. If there is a red carpet challenge and they are like, this is inspired by Beyonce, I am like well, I just dressed Beyonce last week, I know something about it. I think that has been very important for the show, and it has been great. It is fresh and modern. A nice little change.What is the most common mistake you see contestants make?
Hmm, that is tough. I think the biggest challenge is that you do not realize how short of time you have until you are really in it. I think that is the biggest issue. You just don’t get it, and you can’t until you are in it.

As the mentor, you are following in Tim Gunn’s footsteps. What is the best advice he has ever given you?
We didn’t actually talk before the show. I took this role to not be remotely like him in any way. I am not, and I never will be. Tim is a teacher, and I am not that. I am a working designer trying to teach them about what is happening right now in the fashion industry. So, I think that is really how I approached it. I did not approach it in a Tim way at all. I just wanted it to feel different. Tim did a great job, and there was no reason to change that.

It is nice to see that the show finally has plus-size models. Why do you think it took until season 16 for that to happen?
Honestly, sometimes I think it just takes one person to be like this is what we are doing, and I am glad to be a part of that. I don’t know why it took so long. I really don’t.

You have always been a champion of body positivity and diversity. Do you think the fashion industry overall is getting better with this?
I do. I honestly think so. We have made a lot of strides, but there we still have a lot of work to do.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects you would like to mention or plug?
Oh my gosh. We have so many things in the fall that I hope will still continue to happen, but I am excited for these new adventures. With everything going on right now, we will keep working to keep people safe.

To stay up to date with Siriano, follow him on Twitter and Instagram, or visit his official website. Make sure to also check out his new web series, So Siriano, which is a fashion forward talk show combining humor, celebrity interviews, games, and Siriano’s unique point of view on current hot topics to form an entertaining and topical talk format. New episodes premiere each week on Thursdays on BravoTV.com. 

Photos Courtesy of Sara Kerens