Jay gets his “Eleven Minutes”

“Opportunities presented themselves to me. But I was on the first season. My experience is very different from Christian Siriano’s experience. People didn’t know how to take me: as an entertainer or designer. I just wish Michael Kors would stand up and say, “I was designing for 20 years and nobody knew who I was.” I can’t build an empire in six months. It’s been four years and I am just getting into my groove with my brand.”

Remember Jay McCarroll? The loveable, snark-tastic winner of the 2004 premiere season of Project Runway who, in my opinion, worked the hell out of some yarn like no one else? What you may not know is that after winning the first season, McCarroll was awarded $100,000, a mentorship from Banana Republic, and a spot in the prestigious 2005 New York Fashion Week event. However, Jay turned down the money and the mentorship, citing a contractual clause that gave the Project Runway production company a 10% stake of all his professional ventures in perpetuity. Ouch!