Fashion Supergay Abandons Winning Catchphrase
Designer Christian Siriano won $100,000 and America's secretly gay heart on Bravo's Project Runway by being the sassiest bitch on the show (and, OK, with some genius design work). A competitor designed clothes suitable for a "tranny ice queen," he said, and everything else was a "hot mess," "tranny mess" or "fierce." Siriano believes his "distinctive attitude served as a form of personal branding," according to a new profile in the Advocate. That's hard to dispute, given that runway queen has already been parodied on Saturday Night Live. But it's possible to brand too effectively, as SNL's Amy Poehler demonstrated when she mocked the designer's repetitive language. Siriano has apparently responded by ditching his favorite catchphrase "fierce" and replacing it with "I'm gonna stab you," uttered eight times in front of the Advocate's writer vs. zero use of "fierce." Wise, but maybe Siriano should just drop the catchphrases altogether and focus on designing clothes. Here's SNL's imitation of the up-and-coming fashion maven: