Project Runway's Christopher Collins Talks to Movieline About Nina Garcia's Double Talk, Ivy's Rumors, and the Mystery of 'Active Wear'

Christopher Collins, Project Runway's resident nice guy and tanktop connoisseur this season, failed to ignite the judges on last night's episode and was sent home in sixth place. We talked to the 30-year-old San Francisco designer this morning about Heidi's confounding instructions, Nina Garcia's own "execution" issues, and why he "adores" Ivy.

Last night's "active wear" challenge seemed very confusing. I noticed some of the pieces heralded at episode's end were not what I'd call "active wear." It seemed like some versions of "active wear" were condemned whereas others were accepted. It didn't seem to make sense.

That is such a -- very, very good point. It was so extremely confusing. The models came in and Heidi is saying, "This is active wear for my line. For my line." And her critiques when she came through the workroom? She critiqued things [based] on like, "That couldn't fit in my line. That's not my line." But they wanted your pitch on it too. So it was a little all across the board. It wasn't even ever really made clear, like, is this my piece in your collection? I would say my three pieces -- like, if I were to make an active wear collection in my business, I'd have probably made different things -- but for Heidi I made that. But at the same time, you could certainly go to the gym in those, or yoga class, and pick up your kids in them. When I saw them with fresh eyes last night, I'm like, "Absolutely, that is fashionable. It's just not the greatest ever." This is as opposed to Michael Costello's, which I don't think you could really work out in or be active in. Then again, it seemed on the runway, Michael Kors even said, "Well, she's not working out in that, absolutely, but it's great." Well, then what's the point of the active wear challenge? So it was a little confusing. I think that was the most "emotionally judged" challenge, but I mean, it was awesome that -- oh, I'm blanking right now!

The guest judge? Norma?

Yes, the guest judge! [Laughs.] Yeah, yeah, Norma Kamali! I've been a fan of her work for years. It was neat to see her there. She offered amazing comments that they didn't air last night. She said one of the most incredible things that really any designer or -- besides Tim -- any industry mentor has said to me. She said, "Christopher, I look at you and I see an active kind of guy. You look like you work out. You're active. You're out and about, just based on what I'm seeing from you. I'm surprised you didn't look into the mirror to get the inspiration for the collection." And I am! I'm an active wear customer, absolutely. So that was a really interesting comment that I appreciated the most from that experience last night: Norma Kamali and listening to what she had to say. I wish they'd shown that.

On the Lifetime website, you talked about how difficult it is to see Nina's advice as constructive. Can you expand on that?

[Laughs.] Ah. Yeah. It was really confusing for me. I have ten years of experience in the design industry. I've been an assistant designer for other people, I have my own customers, and I have my own business now. So I'm always there listening to what's current. There's always "me" in my collections and I always definitely express what I do that is unique and what I can contribute to the industry in fashion. I'm always listening to the consumer, the trends of the moment. Like, I have to be aware of those things to try and be successful in the business. I was trying to listen to Nina, but she would one day say -- this is just an example, I don't think she ever really said this -- she could say something like, "Patent leather boots are the way to go! The only thing people are wearing on their feet are boots! And they have to be black!" So then you take that inspiration and you do it, and the next time on the runway, she's like, "That's the worst thing I've ever seen in my life! Never use boots!" You never knew how to take the judges or if it was really critique. You move forward and it's judged on a challenge-by-challenge basis, but then you also felt there was a history involved. You try to grow with the comments, but sometimes if you took their advice, it wasn't what they liked. So I thought the greatest challenge was Nina, because I try to hear the best in people's words. If someone's going to take a moment to talk to me, I want to hear what their message is -- whether or not it's been said gently or cruelly. I've never found anything that I could really take home with me and say, "This will make me a stronger designer" with Nina's comments. They never felt constructive and positive. It always felt more emotional and mean.

What did you make of Ivy's allegations that Michael Costello cheated? She was your partner last night, and the editing made it look like she was circling the room stirring up drama and hurting feelings.

It totally did look like that, didn't it? I have to say, I completely adore Ivy. She is such a very honest and -- really -- she is a kind person who thinks. But at the same time, Ivy knows exactly where she stands. If she has something to say, she will say it. There's that element of surprise which is something you come to love about her. She will surprise you continuously and say things you don't think anybody could ever say or would ever think to say. I guess with Michael, none of the guys knew about [the cheating] because it happened in the girls' room restroom and they found this double-sided tape, and she taped her bra up in the Jackie Kennedy challenge. Because this dress really did stick up. If you look at the dress, there's absolutely zero support on it. It's a one-shoulder draping dress that's really fitted on her body. We're like, "Woah, that's really stuck on there well." But we never really noticed or thought about it. And so when Tim came in and confronted the cheating issue and point-blank asked him, "Did you use double-sided tape? Did you tell Lenka, your model, to tape her dress up when she was in the bathroom?" and he said, "No, I did not," you have to think about it like Tim said. It's hearsay. I choose to believe the answer, because Michael's not a liar. He's very honest. If he says no, he didn't do it. It's just that Lenka has a way, the little sticky boobs they have, the adhesive, I can understand having to tape to reinforce it to avoid disaster.

Finally: Who do you want to win?

Ha ha ha! You know, I would love, love, absolutely love to see Mondo take this one. He's got such a playfulness and a really beautiful character. He's an enigma. I've never known anyone like him before who can be so true to himself and yet so welcoming. I was roommates with him from the very beginning and we lived together a long time; I got to know him very well. I think this would be just the boost he needs to take everything to the next level. He grew and learned a lot about himself. I think that partially because we're all very good designers -- I mean, I was watching the runway last night, and us six designers, we all created something. It's not garbage. They're all clothes, something to be respected and appreciated. I think it becomes an emotional judgment call. "OK, well, what do I like best here?" And that's how I went out, because my line to them wasn't the most interesting. But maybe to four other people, it would've been something they like. So Mondo, with that said, with the playfulness and realness he has, I think will take this opportunity and do something special with it.