‘Project Runway Threads’ appearance may sew the seams of a fashion career
Locals flipping through TV channels tonight may see a familiar face, as La Cañada High School sophomore and fashionista Grace Rickert debuts on Lifetime “Project Runway Threads,” a fashion design competition for teens airing at 10 p.m.
Rickert, 16, makes an appearance alongside mom Peggy Sheridan who, according to the show’s rules, must act as her daughter’s assistant.
A lover of warp and weft, the La Cañada teen has been sewing since kindergarten, when she mastered the hand stitch. When she got her first sewing machine as a present from her grandmother in second grade, it was as if her fate was sealed.
Today, Rickert’s personal wardrobe comprises several handmade creations. Her specialty is dresses, which have evolved from early tube-shaped concoctions to more complex, retail-worthy pieces — she makes them for friends, costumes and herself.
Dressmaking is something she packs into an already full schedule, working part time at the custom decorating store Paper Rabbit in Montrose, playing varsity tennis, singing in the choir and working on her Girl Scout Gold Award, in which she leads sewing lessons at Pasadena’s Door of Hope.
Making clothes just makes her happy.
“I’ve always been into fashion and clothes and I see sewing as a combination of the two,” she says. “It just feels good to be wearing an outfit I really like — it just makes the day 20 times better.”
Rickert confesses she didn’t know how to construct a garment until sixth grade. To learn more about her passion, she began taking classes at the Sewing Studio in Pasadena.
It was there in 2012 that she first learned about L.A.-area auditions being held for “Threads,” a youthful spinoff of Lifetime TV’s hit show “Project Runway,” where contestants test their design skills before celebrity judges and industry experts.
After a screen test and an interview, Rickert got a call back to film the pilot. But in the way that Hollywood likes to take its time, it wasn’t until earlier this year she and Sheridan learned the show got picked up and would feature contestants from a nationwide pool.
“I was really excited,” she says. “I didn’t really know it was going to go anywhere, I just saw it as a good opportunity.”
Rickert was awe-struck at getting a chance to know and be critiqued by the show’s judges, YouTube fashion and makeup expert Ingrid Nilsen and Christian Siriano, a former Project Runway winner and New York Fashion Week favorite whose clients include Jennifer Lopez, Sarah Jessica Parker and Rhianna.
Among this season’s special guests are Kelly Osbourne, Jamie King and Zendaya, the shows producers report. The first-place winner will receive $10,000 to be used at any Jo-Ann Fabric store and a scholarship to the summer program of San Diego’s Fashion Institute and Design & Merchandising.
Perks aside, Rickert says the best part of being on the show was getting tips and feedback directly from industry experts.
“It was a really great experience getting to do this, to grow as a designer in such a short amount of time and talk to people I look up to,” she says.
The show was not only an opportunity for Rickert. Sheridan says it helped her better understand her daughter’s talent and potential.
“As a mom, it’s such a turning point when you realize your daughter is better at something than you are,” Sheridan says. “My perception of her capabilities changed. I really learned more about who she is as a person.”
Although the mother-daughter team know the results of the competition, their lips are sealed. You’ll just have to watch the show and find out, they say with a smile.
