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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