Under The Needle: Inside Canada’s Most Intense Fashion Showdown With Designer Foster Siyawareva

Every Friday, the stakes rise and the designs get sharper. With Project Runway Canada bringing a new wave of creativity to screens across the country, we’re diving behind the seams with the designers who dared to put everything on the line. VITA‘s exclusive interview series with the talented contestants explores the pressure, the process, and the passion behind the collections—revealing what really happens when talent meets a ticking clock. —Noa Nichol

Looking back at your time on Project Runway Canada, what moment or challenge best  represents who you are as a designer — and why?

I feel that week 7, the Giant Tiger runway look really embodied who I am as a designer and my  perspective. The look felt familiar, but it also felt right, it felt fresh, and eternal. 

The pressure in the workroom can bring out big breakthroughs or big lessons. What did the competition reveal about your creative process that you didn’t know before stepping onto the  show?

Project Runway Canada showed me a lot of things but one of the biggest things I discovered  about myself was how I see the human silhouette when designing. It is tall, elegant, lean and contoured with soft lines.

Every designer leaves with a signature moment. What do you hope viewers remember you  for — whether it was a look, a risk you took, or something more personal?

For me, what I hope the audience took from the show is my resilience and how it weathered – my emotions and reactions. In situations where I should have been breaking down, I stayed strong, and in those moments, when my design was not favoured by the judges I still prevailed.

Runway aside, the show brings together so many different personalities and perspectives. How did the relationships you formed—whether supportive or competitive—shape your  experience?

The relationships I formed on the show made me feel incredibly validated and visible. I spent so much time wondering if I was making the right choices on my fashion journey and if my experiences were unique to me, or if every fashion entrepreneur encountered the same. And sure enough, after meeting and sharing life lessons with the other designers, I discovered I was never alone.

Now that you’ve left the competition, what’s next? Is there a project, collection, or direction you’re excited to pursue that was inspired by your time on the show?

Yes, I am excited about the future. I have a collection coming out at the beginning of spring,  sometime end of March. There are so many moving pieces, I have not had a chance to set a  date; however, it will be a monumental collection.