Lake Norman grad will try to 'make it work' on TV show

By: aaaaaaaaaaa bbbbbbbbbbbbb | Statesville Record & Landmark
Published: July 29, 2010

Former longtime Mooresville resident and Lake Norman High School graduate April Johnston learned to "make it work" on this season's "Project Runway" reality show, which begins tonight on the Lifetime cable network.
The 21-year-old learned to sew from her grandmother and mother, the latter an interior decorator. Johnston's interest in needle and thread led to making her own prom dress and gaining a bachelor's degree in fashion design from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).
"I can do a good variety of garments, and I love structure," she said. "I love making pencil skirts and I also love doing a hard and soft element by adding things like chiffon. My aesthetic is definitely more modern than classic."
"Project Runway," now in its seventh season, pits fledgling clothing designers against each other. Each week, after facing a panel of judges, one of the designers is eliminated. The winner at season's end earns $100,000 from L'Oréal Paris to start his or her own clothing line, a fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine, a $50,000 technology suite by HP and Intel and more.
Johnston lists her inspirations as Alexander McQueen and John Galliano and said she loves their "creative and over the top nature."
Her personal design manifesto is "destroy to create."
"I like dark inspirations; I break down the idea of a garment and explore it," she said. "A less literal interpretation is sometimes I take pieces from other garments and reconstruct them. There are two facets."
Johnston didn't imagine she would use her seamstress skills to impress the show's figurehead, Tim Gunn, who's made the phrase "make it work" nearly as famous as "Runway" judges Heidi Klum, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia.
During her senior project at SCAD, Johnston was sought out by a recruiter for the show and said she "went with the flow."
"I did the audition and it was an intense weekend because I was trying to finish up my senior show for SCAD and then it was graduation," she said. "There was a lot to do, but I really wanted it. I wondered if they were on the fence with me because I was so young."
Johnston said the six-week "Project Runway" experience was the hardest and best experience she's ever been through.
"It's a lot harder than people think it is just by watching it," she said. "I hope the public realizes that. We get very little sleep and the challenges are very realistic."
Johnston said she hopes people will tune in. But she's not giving away the ending.
"It's full of all kinds of things and has awesome and intense moments," she said. "There are a lot of talented people on this season."
The show airs at 9 p.m.

Lake Norman grad will try to 'make it work' on TV show

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