15 Minutes With Project Runway’s Jason Troisi
Cos Cob native Jason Troisi credits his high school sewing teachers with inspiring him to pursue fashion. Last night, the 33-year-old designer made his debut as a competitor on Lifetime’s Project Runway. We caught up with Troisi in the days leading to the show’s premiere episode. –Interview by Nicole Gull
Nicole Gull: What did you like about growing up here?
Jason Troisi: Cos Cob was this whole frozen 1940s and ’50s immigrant community. It was like the Little Rascals. We were three brothers, always getting into trouble. It was a sweet childhood. I have only great memories.
NG: How’d you get your start?
JT: I picked up sewing with Mrs. Turbert and Mrs. Myer at Greenwich High School. My freshman year in high school we went to a fashion show at Parsons [The New School For Design] and right then I knew that was what I wanted to do…I was the only guy in school sewing. I have always been different. I got sent home from Cos Cob School by the principal. He said I was the reason he had gray hair. I had a high top on one foot and a Docksider on the other foot. He told me I had to go home because he said I would have hip trouble.
NG: So you did make it to Parsons. How was that?
JT: Parsons is such a good school. They are so close to the industry. They have their students under designer critics and you go through your sketches and they talk to you about it. You develop this look. It’s usually three or four looks for the whole year. I received the Gene Meyer Gold Thimble Award; this was my senior year at Parsons. So I surprised my teachers [from Greenwich High School] and brought them [to the black tie gala].
NG: And so now you’re on this show. What’s that been like?
JT: We filmed for six weeks. I’m so excited. I don’t know what they are going to make me look like. They are probably going to put a twist on my character. You have to realize that was the same environment I was in for years [at Parsons]. Tim Gunn was at the school while I was there. It was like the exact setting. So in a way, it felt somewhat familiar.
NG: How would you describe your work?
JT: I design men’s and women’s clothes — whatever I’m in the mood for. My style is more avant garde and cutting edge. I work with rubber and leather. It’s a pain. I don’t know why I do it. I guess I want to be eternally miserable. You work with things other people will stop [working with] and you come up with a new result. We are all trying to push the American buyer to look deeper into clothing. There are a lot of small designers out here that are putting out what they love.
NG: What’s your long-term plan — have your own line?
JT: I would want to have my own shop, and from there have a line. I definitely want to have a really big epic fashion show before I die — along the lines of Alexander McQueen. I want to have a small atelier where people can come in and I can make them garments. It would be in New York or Paris…probably New York. I’m definitely a New Yorker.
For more on Jason Troisi check out his line, James Troisi at jamestroisi2010.com, and catch him every Thursday night on this season of Project Runway on Lifetime.