Every Friday, the stakes rise and the designs got sharper. Project Runway Canada brought 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?
The challenge that best represents who I am as a designer was one where I had to pivot quickly under pressure and trust my instincts rather than overthink. Fashion for me has always lived in that space between precision and adaptability. Being forced to make decisive choices with limited time and resources mirrored how I have built my career outside the show. I respond to constraint by refining my point of view rather than diluting it, and that has become a defining part of my design language.
The third episode, the unconventional Avant-Garde group challenge, really brought me back into collaboration and pushed me to think differently. It forced me to pivot creatively and unexpectedly brought me back to my childhood, creating garments out of unconventional materials at my parent’s appliance store. That challenge made me realize how every step of my design journey has informed the way I work today. It felt like a full circle moment, where past, present, and future versions of myself all converged.
Seeing how those early experiences resurfaced in a completely new way was both grounding and emotional, and it reaffirmed why I design the way I do.
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?
The competition revealed how deeply emotional my creative process truly is. I have always known my work is personal, but the intensity of the environment stripped away any ability to hide behind perfectionism. I learned that my strongest ideas surface when I allow myself to feel everything rather than suppress it. Pressure did not block my creativity. It sharpened it and made it more honest.
I also discovered how essential intuition is to my process. When time was limited, instinct became far more reliable than overanalysis. That realization changed the way I see myself as a designer. Trusting my inner voice is not a risk, it is a necessity. Leaving the competition, I feel more authentic, more grounded, and more assured in my decisions than ever before.
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?
I hope viewers remember my authenticity.
Beyond any single look, I want people to remember that I showed up honestly, even when it was uncomfortable. I did not try to be anything other than who I am, and that meant allowing vulnerability to exist alongside confidence. That balance is something I have worked very hard to embrace both personally and professionally.
Even when the judges or mentors did not always agree with my choices, it was ultimately up to me to stand by what felt right. That conviction takes perseverance, especially in moments of doubt or pressure. This experience was a crash course in pushing beyond limits and trusting myself through the most trying moments. If that is what people take away, then I feel I have done my job.
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 grounded me in an environment that could have easily felt isolating. Designing under constant scrutiny is emotionally demanding and having people around who truly understood that pressure made a huge difference. My relationships with Leeland and Curtis, in particular, were incredibly grounding. We shared so many laughs and moments of levity, even when everything around us felt intense.
While others often took what we were doing very seriously, we did not always. We laughed at how ridiculous we could be and even at how exaggerated or dramatic our design languages sometimes were. At the core of it, we were just trying to stay true to ourselves and create something honest. Fashion is meant to provoke feeling, and sometimes that reaction comes from discomfort or insecurity. If people felt something, then we did our job.
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?
What excites me most right now is returning to my brand with a clearer sense of intention. The show reinforced my desire to create work that is emotionally grounded, precise, and reflective of lived experience. I am focused on expanding my brand and bringing it to a wider audience while staying true to my design language.
There is a lot of dualities in me. Masculine and feminine, streetwear and couture, statement pieces and everyday essentials. I love creating large expressive garments, but I also love designing pieces that live in people’s wardrobes. Design for me is endless. I want to explore everything from handbags and accessories to red carpet pieces, winter outerwear collaborations, gym lines, and beyond. Clothing can be as expressive as couture even when it exists as something functional or essential. I competed to fund and grow my brand, and that drive is not going anywhere. My goal is to build a lasting legacy that lives both on the runway and in real life.
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