Movieline Interviews the Surprise Winner of Project Runway Season Eight

Last night's Project Runway finale was thrilling, maddening, and bizarre, sometimes all within a 30-second interval. But the dust has settled, and now Movieline interrogates the season-eight winner in all his/her glory. Don't click ahead if you haven't watched yet, honey.

We caught up with the season eight winner, the scintillating Gretchen Jones, and quizzed her about her collection (which I affectionately call "The Bare-Midriff Contessa") and one of the most bracing seasons and finales in Project Runway history.

How did you feel when you looked at Andy and Mondo's collections? Did you feel confident that you'd win?

Well, first and foremost, really the win for all of us is that we're the finalists and we get to present a whole collection. It gives not only the viewers but the judges a true identity behind who we are as designers and our potential as designers. I think I represented myself in a manner that was really true to me, not what I was trying to show the judges. I feel like the two other designers, Mondo and Andy, were very true to themselves too. I think it really represented the diversity and range within the three of us.

You won the first two challenges and then appeared to go on an exhausting up-and-down with the judges for the rest of the season. In order to win the season, did you feel you had to recover from a lot of exasperation and doubt?

I knew that if I could get out of the challenge-based side of the competition that it wouldn't be too hard for me to reconnect with who I am as a designer and present a spring collection just like I would any other season. I do think that it's hard to remember that even though we go home, it's still an extenuating amount of circumstances that we're all designing under. This season in particular we only had barely over a month to create these collections. Really the collections of a lifetime, you know? But I feel like I very much rose to the occasion and represented myself wholly as a designer. And also, I think I represented a design aesthetic that had yet to be presented on Project Runway, and I was proud of that.

You were a dynamic presence on the runway this year. Looking back, do you ever think you misrepresented yourself? Like that "I'm sick of the challenges" comment?

Well, you know, I feel like the things that I regret in life are things I don't do and wish I did, rather than the things I did. Having the opportunity to be myself and articulate in a third-person manner, which I was able to do on the show, reminded me that vulnerability is important and you can be honest in a way that is kind. But I also feel I was fighting for my life, so to speak, and I really wouldn't do anything differently. I feel like I did the best I could.

Were you disappointed to see Heidi rooting hard for Mondo during the final judging?

No, because I kind of intuitively knew that she certainly believes in me as a designer but that she has her favorite, and that wasn't me. I think the beauty within fashion and design and art is that we all have opinions. I think there's a big difference between your opinion or your taste and good design. Good design comes in many different faces, but what somebody personally likes is different. I knew that she was a fan of Mondo, and it was important for me to reach her outside of that and create a collection that she could look at objectively.

Lastly, this season of Project Runway has been something of a craze -- everyone I know watched this year. My mom watched. Do you have a take on why this season took off so well?

I know! I feel very grateful to be a part of it. When you really break it down, the reason there's a craze is because the designers who participated this year were willing to be very vulnerable and show themselves for who they really are. I think that's a rarity for reality television these days. I know at times I wasn't at my greatest, and other times I was better than I expected. I think that vulnerability shines through and it created a real following for each one of us. I think it will enable all of us to walk away with much more success than any of us would have been able to attain had we been closed off.

[Feature photo courtesy of the incomparable Tom & Lorenzo]