Kelli Martin
Kelli Martin | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 15, 1980 |
| Education | Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising[1][2] |
| Occupation | fashion designer |
| Television | Project Runway Season 5 (12th place) |
Kelli Martin (born July 15, 1980) is an independent American fashion designer. She is also notable as a contestant on the fifth season of the hit Bravo television series Project Runway.
Education and background
Martin, a native of Columbus, Ohio, graduated from Westland High School in 1998 and Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, California in 2001. After finishing a degree in fashion design, Martin completed the Advanced Fashion Design program at FIDM on a scholarship from Bob Mackie in 2004.[1][2]
Fashion design career
Martin created her Anti-Label fashion line in 1998,[3] and beginning in 2000 Martin sold a number of her original Anti-Label designs on the online auction site eBay.[4] After leaving Los Angeles in 2006 and moving back to her hometown she opened her own storefront boutique, Black Market.[5]
In an April 2008 interview, Martin said of her aesthetic, "I like really feminine silhouettes and form-fitting throwbacks to, like, the vintage pinup girls, but I like raw edges..."[3]
Project Runway
Season five of Project Runway began with "Let's Start from the Beginning," which first aired on July 16, 2008. Contestant designers were tasked with creating a sexy, glamorous outfit for a night on the town, but were only allowed to use materials purchased from a Manhattan supermarket called Gristedes. Martin won this challenge,[6] which was judged in part by guest judge Austin Scarlett, a former contestant and winner of the same challenge in the show's inaugural season.
Martin was eliminated after the fifth challenge, "Welcome to the Jungle," when she and her teammate Daniel were tasked with designing a look for Brooke Shields to wear on Season 2 of Lipstick Jungle. The judges questioned her taste and made her the fifth person eliminated from the competition. She came back with other eliminated designers in the ninth challenge to assist the remaining contestants on creating an avant garde design inspired by their zodiac signs. She worked with Korto Momolu to design an outfit inspired by Aquarius.
Notes
- ^ a b "Project Runway: Season 5: Kelli's Bio." bravotv.com
- ^ a b "About Kelli." Anti-Label
- ^ a b Kress, Brittany. "Kelli Martin: What are you wearing?" Columbus Alive. April 24, 2008 [1]
- ^ Williams, Brooke. "Stocked Market." Columbus Alive. March 29, 2007
- ^ Eckert, Kristy. "Designer plays it cool in 'Runway' spotlight." Columbus Dispatch. July 16, 2008. [2]
- ^ DeVille, Chris. "Project Runway Columbus." Columbus Alive. July 24, 2008. [3]
External links
- Official website for Anti-Label, Martin's fashion line, and Black Market, her Columbus, Ohio boutique
- Entertainment Weekly 'Project Runway' Exit Q&A:Kelli Martin