'Project Runway': Jillian and Rami Speak

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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: When you were on the runway there with Christian, after Jillian was gone, what were you thinking?
RAMI KASHOU: To be honest with you, I didn't think they were going to give it to me. I had come into the competition after Chris and I had tied, so I just had a feeling that they're not going to give this to me. Between me and Christian, they're probably going to give it to the 21-year-old kid who's just getting started, who needs that jumpstart. I feel like in a way, it was all maybe gearing that way from the whole Chris-and-me thing, the whole draping-exaggeration part — four draping challenges out of 11! I was not draping the whole time. Obviously Christian needs the jumpstart and I've been doing this for five years, so that was my prediction, and I was right.

Was it ever a point of contention that you'd had so much success before? Did the designers ever chide you for that?
They never have said that, no. To be honest with you, I feel like I should probably get a little credit for working so hard and accomplishing so much. I feel like I've been bashed in the beginning about it. That's my answer to people who have done that to me. I've come to this country with nothing but a suitcase and the clothes on my back. I had no connections, no celebrity friends, no investors, no backings, no wealthy background — I've built all this literally on my own. I've gone through many stages of being broke. I just feel like, Yes, I've accomplished that and I should get credit for it. I feel like I've been beat up for it somehow, in some cases.

On the subject of draping: Do you feel like you were portrayed in the right light in regards to that throughout the season? You mentioned it was only four of 11 challenges...
I think it was used in a way that... It was a marketing thing. It was a way to stereotype me to make my part in the show more controversial. It's just very simple: Go to ramikashou.com and you will see that I do so much more than draping. You have to have a signature, and I'm very proud of it. It was used on the show to create controversy, and some people will eat it up and fall for it, and those who know better, know better. It's that simple.

The other thing that the judges dinged you for was colors. Do you regret using the colors you used in your finale line?
Absolutely not. I'd rather show more color than less. Quite frankly, every season is about new colors. It's about new ideas. If they chose a more black collection than a collection that had more color, I don't think that's a negative thing. How can you criticize color? You might be a fan of green; I might be a fan of blue. It's a personal take. If you look on the runways, the magenta color is a very common color for this coming season. I would not change my choice of colors. Absolutely not.

In our exit interview with Christian, he had said your stuff wasn't wearable after you said that about his collection on the show. He said nobody would wear a moss-green dress.
Oh, it's okay. I'm not going to fight with him.

Were you surprised to see a more vulnerable Christian there in the last few days?
He's a great kid, but he has this need to put people down to gain security about himself. He'll probably grow out of that with age. He's young. I'm not saying his collection isn't wearable. When things get edited, they can easily mislead you as an audience. When asked a question like, ''What do you think of Christian's collection?'' and having the models complain about the shoes and about certain things...it's not bashing. He has a great vision and is talented. But I don't think a lot of women out there are going to be able to wear an extremely ruffled dress from neck to knee with different body types. It's an editorial collection, and I think it's great. That's what I was trying to say in my interview. It wasn't about bashing his collection.

I've read somewhere that Heidi is really into your clothes. Are you working on pieces for her?
I'm sending her pieces for fittings. You know how these things go — she might wear something or she might not. It's a nice way to start a relationship of dressing her. She expressed interest, and I'm more than happy to do that. She's a wonderful, beautiful person. I would love to dress her.