MidWest Style

Katie Luscombe

We sat down with Project Runway season two star Nick Verreos to get the dirt on small town Michigan, our favorite Teen Voguette Lauren Conrad and what it takes to make it in the fashion world.

So just how do you impress the son of a diplomat?  How about if he’s also a well-educated, successful television star, designer and fashion school instructor? How do you shock someone who grew up in South America and lives in L.A.?

The answer to all of the above: You take him to Michigan.

“All of a sudden, I look over as we’re driving, and I see a sign that I just, couldn’t like, allow it to go, and the sign said a ‘Gun and Liquor’ store. And that just, it was like fabulous to me. To me that was like, I’ve made it to Michigan! I love this!”

Nikolaki designer and “Project Runway” fan favorite Nick Verreos recalls his last trip in Michigan, which took place two months ago, the same way a Midwesterner might lovingly talk of his first visit to New York City. But instead of Sunday brunch at Pastis, Metrocards and Soho, and, it’s dinner at Applebee’s, firearms and small towns.

“I was scared. There were two guys, and they looked very, sort of, like my friend who’s from Michigan says, ‘corn-fed.’ I mean, two corn-fed boys, chewing tobacco, behind the counter, and I walk in, looking like this (motions to outfit), you know?”

Verreos is, as any Runway fan would expect, impeccably groomed, with his precisely trimmed five-o’clock-shadow-that-is-also-a-goatee and flawless tan skin. Though he may have been overdressed for the gun and liquor store, he exudes that timeless male aesthetic that never really goes out of style. He brought his expertise and critical eye all the way to East Lansing to act as guest judge and resident fashion guru for Michigan State’s Project Runway competition, sponsored by UAB, The Refinery boutique and the Student Apparel Design Association.

“So [season two contestant Andre] walks in with his bald head and he’s in a bright green jacket, like, [theatrically] ‘Hi!’ Before we know it, we were there for like an hour and a half. I mean, they were showing us the pellets and the guns and the state ducks, and you turn around and it’s like, ‘You want some beer?’”

After a few minutes with Verreos, it’s no surprise that even the strangest of strangers would find him easy to talk to.  Despite having all the credentials for becoming the poster child for pretentiousness, he is incredibly charming and laid-back.

“To me, I was like, ‘Oh my God.’ It was like I was at the Gucci store at Fifth Avenue. To me, it was like I wanted to capture that moment, and it was totally not like, ‘Oh, bless their little hearts.’ No, it was like, this is great. This was exotic to me.”

Star Searcher
Perhaps it’s the teacher in him that keeps him humble and optimistic. Between instructing at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, assisting Runway mentor Tim Gunn cast the next season of fashion hopefuls and schlepping all the way over to The Mitten for the second time this year, Verreos spends quite a bit of time around amateurs, looking for the “X factor” in someone.

“You know with the garments there’s something there. And there’s something there that is outstanding. There’s something there that is new and fresh. There’s something there that doesn’t say ‘wickety-whack.’ There’s something there that isn’t a tapestry vest made by your grandma, as much as I love my grandma, that doesn’t end up in New York Fashion Week.

“You need to show up and have everyone take a look at you and go, ‘Who the hell is that?’”

So, speaking of the X factor and related reality TV gossip, does Verreos think his former student, Lauren Conrad of “The Hills,” have what it takes to make it as a designer?

“I don’t necessarily think she has the X factor,” he confessed, though he recently attended the showing of her first collection at L.A. Fashion Week and gave it a positive review. “I liked her collection, but it wasn’t earth-shattering. There were pretty dresses, they were very basic. I think they’re overpriced for what they are.”           

What may have been worse for Conrad’s reputation would have been a collection that was suspiciously too good. Verreos and Gunn frequently turn down “freshly-graduated” students from Runway auditions, because with the exception of Season four winner Christian Siriano (“We just knew immediately”), most look too, well…freshly graduated.

“She was a good student, I think she was serious. I think she also wanted to go to school, I think her plan was to always have a collection, but I think she didn’t just want to be that typical celebrity designer who just puts their name to something, so by going to school and by having an MTV shoot it, she wanted to show you guys that she wasn’t like the others, whether you believed it or not.”

But does anyone really believe “The Hills” anymore?

“You know, I just had her in another class. It was a four-week course, and she only showed up for two of the four weeks.”

“She is Lauren Conrad, and her X factor is the fact that people already know who she is. There might be that kid in East Lansing who’s three times as talented, but nobody knows who they are.  In this day and age, it can be frustrating, because that kid can’t afford her PR department, her agent, the people that are branding her, even though she might no be as talented.”

The next big thing?
For senior Tony Gianacackos, winning MSU’s Project Runwaycould very well be part of getting his name out there as he embarks on a fashion career. In a Jackie Onassis-inspired collection, he delivered three solid outfits, the highlight of the group being a short, pleated tulip skirt with a turtleneck and short-sleeved a patterned jacket. Gjanacakos, like every designer in the show, displayed a sense of creativity, but his silhouettes and color choices were clearly the most relevant in terms of today’s trends. All of his items were well constructed, tailored to the models and refreshingly free of satin, a popular choice among the other designers.

“It all looks like one cohesive group of a line,” noted Verreos in his post-catwalk commentary. He praised Gianacakos’s craftsmanship skills, noting, “the seaming, there is no puckering, no rippling.”

“The shape of the dress is great,” he said.

To the possible disappointment of the crowd, no one received any Nina Garcia-level criticism. Tearing apart the students’ best efforts may have put a damper on an event that more was about celebrating strengths rather than discovering weaknesses. In this situation, not everyone was “in,” but no one was “out.”

Questions? Comments? Contact Katie Luscombe at luscomb4@msu.edu

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