episode, and I knew that I had to come
back from that and prove myself.”
Castillo won the next three challenges
in a row and shined throughout the rest
of the season. She made it to part one of
the finale before being sent home.
Castillo credits Project Runway for allowing her to come into her own, helping
her to define her design aesthetic.
“I’m very proud of everything I did on
the show,” she says. “If it wasn’t for
Project Runway, I may not even know
what my style is. To this day I don’t
grasp the fact I did all of that. But I was
always taught to work hard to get far,
and that’s what I did.”
After the show, Castillo was thrust
back into reality. She licensed her name
to start her brand, but she was still going
on job interviews and figuring out what
she wanted to do. She began working on
her first collection and showed at a few
regional shows. It was during El Paseo
Fashion Week that she was approached
by a producer from Project Runway
All Stars.
Castillo jumped at the opportunity
and began filming season four of Project
Runway All Stars in New York City in
May 2014. She made it to the finale
again, finishing second runner-up.
“For the finale, I had to do an eightlook collection in four days with two
looks per season,” Castillo says. “That
was one of my best collections and I’m
really proud of it. Looking back, I may
have made a few changes to make them
more commercial, but I don’t regret what
I did.”
Castillo proved to be great for television. She’s feisty yet humble, talented
but willing to learn. Additionally, her personality and appearance are both recognizable and memorable; she has multiple
tattoos and wears nothing but black.
“I think that’s what they liked about
me,” she says. “I create these really
elegant gowns but I’m covered in tattoos.
I look like a badass chick, but I design
with beaded and lace appliqué.”
“My designs are not about me. It’s
about what’s in my head and trying to
get it out. I am definitely not my client.”
Since her Project Runway stardom,
Castillo has had many amazing opportunities. One of the first was designing both
44
MAY 2016 (201) GOLD COAST
a red carpet gown and performance
dress for singer-songwriter Mary Lambert
for the 56th Annual Grammy Awards.
Additionally, she exclusively dresses
actress Rachel Melvin and designed the
navy two-piece gown she wore to the
2016 Oscars. She also mentors at Union
City High School, doing costume design
within the theater department.
Helen Castillo Design is continuously
gaining traction. She showed during New
York Fashion week in September and
held a trunk show of her autumn/winter
2016 collection at Macy’s Herald Square
this past February. All of her designing is
done in-house at her studio in the garment district of Manhattan.
Her most recent collection is the
first one in which Castillo has taken a
complete turn into contemporary, readyto-wear clothing. Although gowns and
eveningwear are her forte, they are not as
sellable or needed as often as everyday
clothes.
“It was time for me to make separates
that you can dress up or dress down,”
she says. “I took a lot of inspiration from
American contemporary artists from the
1970s. I wanted to make classic pieces
like a jumpsuit or a button-down shirt –
but hone the classic silhouettes and give
them a modern addition. I also wanted
the pieces to be versatile.”
Castillo says her aesthetic isn’t changing at all; she is just trying to be more
accommodating for her clientele. She
wants her clients to come to her for an
evening gown for a special event, but
also for something ready-to-wear that still
has an elevated appeal to it.
After the whirlwind two years Castillo
has had, she says she has learned a lot
about herself and her designing capabilities. If she hadn’t done Project Runway,
she says she’d probably be working in a
cookie-cutter design job giving her ideas
away.
“After having done the show two years
in a row, I know my worth now,” Castillo
says. “I have no alternative career choice.
It’s fashion or nothing. I don’t want to
be alive unless I’m doing design; this is
living to me.” ◆
CLASSIC BUT MODERN Helen Castillo’s
recent collection features versatile,
ready-to-wear pieces that were inspired
by American contemporary artists from
the 1970s.
MODEL: JOANNA, NEW YORK MODEL MANAGEMENT
Fashion