BPR: Hi Mondo, congratulations on your win!
MG: Thank you.
BPR: Our readers agree with your win.
MG: Thank you for the support.
BPR: Have you received your check?
MG: Not yet, but I will be checking my mailbox this afternoon.
BPR: How will you spend the money.
MG: I'd like to take a vacation.
BPR: Where will you go.
MG: Maybe to Spain.
I also plan to put the money into my line and to begin doing the trade show circuit again. I like getting to meet my customers face to face.
BPR: What is your favorite part of the prize package?
MG: Definitely the guest editor position at Marie Claire. I have really grown to love Joanna. Not only will I be working with Joanna, but also with Nina Garcia.
Hopefully we will be able to revisit some moments from Season 8.
I'd like to get the real story. (Laughs.) I'll write about it too.
BPR: Will you have a regular feature or column in the magazine?
MG: We are talking about it. Joanna is really allowing me to have creative license and to do my own thing. I think they are excited to have someone like me who is an admirer of fashion to write for the magazine and to present a different point of view. Perhaps I can bring a new audience to the magazine.
BPR: What kind of designs can we expect to find in your Neiman Marcus boutiques?
MG: Well it is going to be very true and honest to my aesthetic that the viewers of Project Runway have grown to know. Of course there will be lots of prints and color…I mean it is going to be very wearable, let's say that - Very edgy and wearable.
BPR: Will you be involved in the casting of season 10?
MG: Yes I will!
BPR: Are you still living in Denver?
MG: Yes, I am still living in the same studio that you see in the audition video for season 8. It is still "raspberry fizz." I have some Keith Haring murals on the walls now. I really love it.
BPR: Do you have any plans to move to New York.
MG: Everyone is on my case to do that, but right now, I am going to say no.
BPR: Will you be showing a collection in September?
MG: I don't have any plans to show in September. I guess it is sort of expected, and that is one approach, but it's not really me. I know I am capable of doing it. I want to focus on other things. I want people to be able to purchase my clothes.
BPR: When you arrived and saw the other All-star designers, who did you believe would be your biggest competition?
MG: Who do you think?!?!? RAMI of course, and Austin Scarlett. I know what they are capable of and I really respect them both,
I mean Austin really set the bar by winning the first challenge of season one. His cornhusk dress is iconic. And Rami. Come on now. He is so talented. I really focused on him during his season. I'm a big fan.
BPR: How helpful was it to have your friend Michael with you at the end?
MG: Awwww it was great. To be in the finale together was amazing. I mean it was heartbreaking when he was eliminated just before the finale in season 8. I was really hard on him.
It was amazing to have the experience together. We were really rooting for each another.
I mean I also need to take the space that I needed to be able to continue to work.
I was really really really frustrated with the process during this season.
It was hard for me to watch the season. I need to learn that I don't always have to "go to that place" to get my work out. This is something that I am personally working on, to really grow, not only as a designer, but also as a person.
BPR: Are you still working with Merck?
MG: Yes, we are starting a brand new HIV education campaign. Details will be coming very soon.
BPR: Mondo we are almost out of time, is there anything else you would like to say to your fans?
MG: Yes, to my friends, I want to say to all of them that I really appreciate your support and your honesty, and I have enjoyed sharing the journey with all. I hope that you continue to check in and enjoy the ride.
BPR: Thank you Mondo.
MG: Thank you Laura.
