What's next for Christian Siriano?

Silk jersey turtleneck, $495, silk organza flounce skirt, $1,600, feather and silk hat, $1,200 by Christian Siriano

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"It’s been six months since Christian Siriano swept Project Runway with his “Musketeer” collection and became a reality TV star whose “fierce” expressions and “Asian lesbian” haircut (his phrase) spawned a hit Saturday Night Live sketch, an Ugly Betty cameo, and fashion commissions from Victoria Beckham. But curled up in a leopard-print chair in his New York walk-up apartment, where a single garment rack takes up nearly half the living room, the 22-year-old looks more like a struggling college student than a celebrity fashion designer. His bedroom is still a glorified closet with a mattress propped against a wall. (A high school friend has the actual bedroom.) The cardboard check for the $100,000 prize money is on display next to a crated stack of sweaters, as are his sewing machine (currently broken), fabric swatches, and sketches for an upcoming project with Puma—everything immaculately organized and showcased, like some sort of Siriano shrine. “It’s a hot tranny mess up in here!” he says, quoting his on-camera character. “What up?!”"

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As Siriano’s celebrity has grown, keeping the focus on creativity has become increasingly difficult. He gets more than 200 e-mails a day about speaking engagements, red-carpet events, and bar mitzvahs (he recently got paid $10,000 just to show up at one), and has a manager and an agent at William Morris. Now, however, his goal is to start distancing himself from reality TV stardom. “I really do want to follow in the footsteps of designers like Rodarte and Proenza Schouler,” he says, noting that he plans to stage a runway show during New York Fashion Week and finally sell his collection. (He declined to off-load the Project Runway pieces because he didn’t believe he was ready.) At the moment, he has one intern and a friend who occasionally helps him sew. Everything else, from a gown for Vanessa Williams’ character on Ugly Betty that’s due after this interview (and which, in typical Siriano style, he’s not yet begun) to possible samples for Ashlee Simpson, he designs himself. For Siriano, working with such people feels like nothing short of a dream: “To have Cameron Diaz run up at the Kid’s Choice Awards and actually want to chat with me, or watch Victoria Beckham running around her house on her tiptoes in my collection, is so surreal. The fact that she wanted to wear my clothes? Nobody can ever take that away from me.”



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[Photos: Elle.com]