Project Runway Winner Gretchen Jones Preps for Her First Real Fashion Week

By Lexi Green
September 8, 2011

If you watched fashion designer Gretchen Jones’ much-debated win on "Project Runway"’s 8^th season, then you know she does not shy away from controversy. When she beat out fan-favorite Mondo Guerra during the final runway challenge, there was an uproar from viewers across TV land, who disapproved of her competitive attitude, despite the statuesque Oregon native's obvious design talent. But no matter the initial viewer disapproval—Jones has quickly been able to prove herself as a fashion designer, standing on her own two feet since her fall 2010 reality show win.

left: Gretchen Jones (Photo by: Jonny Shultz)

Over the past year, Jones has distanced herself from her villainous "Project Runway" persona. She’s been a cheerleader for her fellow cast mates and turned nay-sayers and social media followers on to her commitment to sustainable production and her go-get-'em workethic. Not to mention, she was a total sweetheart when we spoke to her on the phone during the pre-Fashion Week crunch.

For those of you who love Gretchen and can’t wait to see her upcoming collection, she’ll be showing it later today at 3pm at Manhattan's Drive In Studios.

Gretchen Jones

An invitation to Gretchen Jones' Fashion Week show

But that doesn't mean she's ready to stop pushing the fashion industry's buttons. In fact, as she gets ready to showcase what she calls her “real hard launch” with a show during Fashion Week, she’s embracing the idea of testing aesthetic boundaries with her fashion designs.

Indeed, since even before her "Project Runway" win, Jones has aimed to make pieces that are simultaneously luxurious yet rustic, minimal yet bohemian and feminine yet architectural—a series of aesthetic combinations that is often hard to come by.

With her fall 2011 fashion collection (soon available online at Steven Alan and Frances May) she incorporated bold, black and white zigzag prints into slim trousers and pencil skirts, pairing them with extra-long textural sweaters, cropped blouses and other pieces with extreme proportions.

Gretchen Jones

Gretchen Jones' Fall 2011 Collection

She is steadfastly determined to incorporate consciously-manufactured materials into her fashion collections (she prefers to work primarily with natural materials) and partners with fair-trade organizations, and most recently, local production facilities.

Jones also always produces jewelry with each of her collections. (Several of her jewelry designs are currently available at Piperlime.) And just like her clothing, her jewelry is a mix of minimal and bohemian. Her fall 2011 jewelry line combined strong geometric yet natural patterns (chevrons, honeycombs and celestial shapes) in gold combined with materials like porcupine quills (which she bought on eBay) and turquoise stones.

We spoke to Jones about her upcoming Spring/Summer 2012 line, the inspirations behind it (among them: hallucinogenics), and her beliefs on sustainable design.

For those of you who love Gretchen and can’t wait to see her upcoming collection, she’ll be showing it later today at 3pm at Drive In Studios, an event space in New York's Chelsea neighborhood.

We’re excited to see what kind of trouble she stirs up, but until then, get a sneak peek behind her process when you read below.

Gretchen Jones The Inside Source: Hi Gretchen! You’re just about to show your Spring/Summer collection. Are you in love with your designs?

Gretchen Jones: I am in love with this collection! I tend typically not to be. But, this is the biggest collection I have ever done. I feel really connected to it, both on a personal achievement level and also creatively. I feel like it really represents the direction I am going in and I am really excited about that.

left: sneak peek at Gretchen Jones' Spring 2012 collection

The Inside Source: What kind of pieces can we expect to see in this fashion collection?

Gretchen Jones: I mostly focused on jewelry and cut and sew knitwear. I incorporated lots of really interesting textiles and pieces that are very forward aesthetically, but still wearable. In the end, my clothes need to be more than just fun to look at!

The Inside Source: You’re known as a sustainable fashion designer. How is this collection sustainable?

Gretchen Jones: There are so many different issues to think about: your carbon footprint, material production, as well as community and economic welfare. If you involve all of those many sustainable elements into your collection then you make your clothes financially unsellable. So, for this collection I have personally chosen to focus mostly on domestic production. Because, for me, economic sustainability, especially in your own home, is where you can make the most difference.

I have also made sure that all of my textiles are digitally printed to cut down on water waste. I try to make pieces that are investment pieces, because conscious consumption can be just as important as conscious production. I am a fashion designer first, but I hope I do it thoughtfully.

The Inside Source: You’re used to the whirlwind design process that is "Project Runway". How was designing this collection different?

Gretchen: Time! I now I have time to be more thoughtful when designing my collection, and I really missed that with Project Runway. I love creating collections that have stories. I wasn’t able to do that while on the show having only thirty days to finish everything. I was also sacrificing every part of my life to create those fashion collections. Now, I have a team, which allows me to make bigger bodies of work both creatively and production-wise.

The Inside Source: Speaking of being thoughtful, what was the inspiration behind this collection?

Gretchen Jones: The way I start my collections is that I design around a piece of literature and an album. This collection was inspired by the book, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge written by Carlos Castaneda. It was written in the '60s and is about a Mexican shaman who used hallucinogenics to reach enlightenment. Which sounds crazy, but when you see the collection you will understand.

The Inside Source: Ha, OK, how so?

Gretchen Jones: I created six custom textiles for this collection that are all inspired by enlightenment. There is one textile that references the lunar phases of the 2012 and there are others that have lots of psychedelic references as well.

The Inside Source: And what album were you listening to?

Gretchen Jones: I was listening mostly to Patty Smith’s Horses. Patti is controversial; she cut her own path and I feel like my own path has been controversial. So, a lot of my marketing campaigns are about owning yourself and the choices you make.

The Inside Source: Do you ever turn to eBay to help you with inspiration?

Gretchen Jones: Oh, I use eBay all the time! I am an avid eBay shopper for both [myself] and for my label. For this collection there were certain materials I sourced for the jewelry. I used eBay for research and development a lot. I think every designer does.

The Inside Source: And finally, what are you most excited about for this collection?

Gretchen Jones: I feel like this is my hard launch. To me, it is my first time presenting at Fashion Week seriously. And this time, I am showing a whole collection rather than a capsule collection. I feel like it has been a huge evolution for me to get here and I am really excited!

(images courtesy of Gretchen Jones)