You probably remember the bowl cut. Or maybe the "no-shit-taker" attitude that sliced through the manufactured drama of reality TV like a pair of high-end fabric shears. Michelle Lesniak Franklin didn’t just walk onto Season 11 of Project Runway and win; she basically staged a hostile takeover of the workroom.
Honestly, most reality TV winners vanish. They get their check, they do one collection for a mid-tier department store, and then they're gone, swallowed by the brutal economics of the garment district. But Michelle? She went back to Portland. She kept her hands dirty.
The Myth of the "Untrained" Designer
People love a good "scrappy underdog" narrative. During her original run, the judges constantly harped on her lack of formal fashion school training. It’s a bit of a misnomer, though. She didn't just wake up one day and decide to sew.
She grew up in a house full of quilters and seamstresses. Instead of buying off the rack, she spent her youth raiding Portland’s thrift stores, ripping apart vintage coats, and figuring out how to put them back together. That’s not "untrained"—that’s forensic engineering.
By the time she hit the Project Runway workroom in her 30s, she’d already spent a decade in the wine industry. Making wine, teaching people about wine, tasting it. You’ve got to be meticulous to survive that world. It gave her a perspective most 22-year-old Parsons grads lack. She wasn't designing for a mood board; she was designing for a woman who needs to look like a boss at 2:00 PM and a "diva" (her words) by 8:00 PM.
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Why Michelle Lesniak Franklin Stayed in Portland
In the fashion world, there is an immense, almost suffocating pressure to move to New York or London. If you aren't in the Room where it happens, do you even exist?
Michelle basically said "nah."
She’s stayed fiercely local. If you look at her work post-win, it’s all about small-batch production and emotive clothing. She calls it "fashion with a purpose." In a 2026 landscape where "fast fashion" is increasingly a dirty word, her approach looks less like a regional quirk and more like a blueprint for the future.
- Materials: She’s obsessed with leather, wool, and silk.
- The Vibe: Hard meets soft. Think structured tailoring paired with flowy, almost fragile silks.
- The Inspiration: The Pacific Northwest rain. She famously joked about making "sportswear-inspired rainwear" because, well, look at where she lives.
The All Stars Redemption
Winning Season 11 was one thing. But coming back for Project Runway All Stars Season 7—the "World Champions" edition—was the real flex. She was competing against winners from the US, UK, Australia, and beyond.
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The finale collection, titled "Harvest Mood" (a nod to Neil Young’s Harvest Moon), was a 1970s-inspired fever dream that actually felt wearable. While other designers were doing "costume," Michelle was doing clothes. She took the crown, proving that her first win wasn't a fluke of the team-format season.
What’s She Doing Now?
If you’re looking for her old online boutique, you might find a digital ghost town. She’s pivoted. Like many top-tier designers who value their sanity, she’s moved toward private commissions, limited-run boutique drops, and major collaborations.
She’s a fixture at FashioNXT, Portland’s premier fashion event. She’s also mentored the next generation through accelerators like UpNXT 2026. She’s basically become the godmother of the Portland fashion scene. Even her "side quests" are cool—did you know she designed for Darienne Lake on RuPaul’s Drag Race?
The Real Talk on Her Success
Success in fashion isn't always about having a flagship store on 5th Avenue. For Michelle, it’s about control. She produces things from start to finish. She chooses "dirty chartreuse" (her favorite color) over whatever Pantone says is "in."
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She’s a professional rule-breaker who realized that the biggest rule you can break is the one that says you have to be miserable in New York to be a "real" designer.
How to Support Independent Designers Like Michelle
If you want to move away from the "disposable" clothing cycle, here’s how to follow the Michelle Lesniak Franklin playbook:
- Look for "Small Production": Follow designers on social media who announce "drops" rather than mass-market releases. This usually means higher quality and ethical labor.
- Invest in "Hard and Soft": Look for pieces that mix structure (heavy wool or leather) with movement. It’s the key to a wardrobe that lasts decades, not weeks.
- Support Regional Fashion Weeks: Events like FashioNXT are where the real innovation happens. They aren't just for industry insiders; they're for anyone who actually cares about the art of the stitch.
- Embrace the Alteration: Michelle started by reworking thrift store finds. Don't throw away a garment that doesn't fit—take it to a local tailor and make it yours.
Michelle Lesniak Franklin proved that you don't need a fancy degree or a Manhattan zip code to be a "World Champion." You just need a point of view and the guts to stick to it.