Jay McCarroll

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Jay McCarroll (born 1974) is a fashion designer who gained fame in 2005, when he won during the debut season of the competitive reality show Project Runway.

McCarroll, an openly gay Lehman, Pennsylvania native, is known for his fondness of cowboy hats, which he wears often. According to McCarroll, his first work as a designer was when his sisters were on a school team and he sewed a flag for them. Apart from designing clothes, McCarroll also likes baton twirling and color guard, having been involved with that activity since he was a kid. He was a member of Field of View winter guard based out of West Chester, PA. He designed flags and costumes for them, as well as other color guards in the Northeast. He also likes traveling; at Heathrow Airport in London, England, he was briefly detained because of a magazine he had in his possession when he arrived in the country.

McCarroll, who lists Alexander McQueen as his favorite designer, graduated from Philadelphia University in 1995. He, like the show's other participants, was struggling to get recognition as a fashion designer before the show began airing on December 1, 2004, on the Bravo cable television network. McCarroll earned $100,000 as the winner of the show. Along with the money and fame from the win, he also earned a mentorship from Banana Republic, and a spot on the prestigious 2005 New York Fashion Week event. However, due to an undisclosed reason[1], he did not take the $100,000 he earned on the show.

"Well, I need a lot of money, and $100,000 sounds great," McCarroll said, "but I didn't take the money. I basically opted to pursue other financial avenues." He has been interviewed by various types of media, including magazines and websites, such as The Village Voice, after winning the contest. He has had to spend part of his time living in New York (the site of the contest), working on his new projects and trying to strengthen his position as a designer.

McCarroll helped pick contestants for the second season of Project Runway, and filmed a one-hour documentary on his attempts to establish himself after his win. The special, Project Jay, first aired February 22, 2006 on Bravo.

Jay returned to Fashion Week on September 15 of 2006 with a show under the prestigious tents. As mentioned on his website, the collection was entitled "Transport". His collection was sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States, reflecting his anti-fur stance. He also mentioned that "My new collection 'Transport' will take the fashion consumer to a higher plane of consciousness and encourage people to see fashion from a different perspective." This was his first showing since the first season finale of Project Runway. He changed the theme of the collection, which was initially inspired by Pet Shop Boys' West End Girls. The collection featured more of a futuristic theme and had both men's and women's looks.

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Preceded by
(none)		 Project Runway
Season 1		 Succeeded by
Season 2
Preceded by
(none)		 Project Runway winner
Jay McCarroll		 Succeeded by
Chloe Dao
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