Though her “Project Runway” fellow finalists Kelly Dempsey, Edmond Newton and Candice Cuoco, also had high spots in their collections, the judges ultimately chose Tipton as the winning designer.
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“Project Runway” is co-hosted by supermodel Heidi Klum and the designers’ mentor, Tim Gunn.
“I would describe my style as having fun and being funky, showing your personality through your clothing and having fun with it”, Tipton told E! “That’s what I love to design-I love to design the clothing that is not out there for your average plus size woman, and I want to fill in the gap of that industry and not design cookie cutter things”.
Tipton described her aesthetic to E!
Tipton’s win in the long-running show is a victory for plus-size fashion and the industry as a whole, shining a light on an often-neglected part of the business.
As the victor, Ashley’s prizes include $100,000 to develop her line, a new auto, a fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine, and a cruise vacation.
Project Runway Junior features teens aged 13-17 who are probably the most passionate designers we’ve seen from the franchise … ever – and EW has your exclusive first look.
However, a few fans of the show thought that Ashley won only because of the current trend towards plus-size fashion.
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The spunky purple-haired 24-year-old has said of her previous collections, “I love color and I’m very inspired by curvy women and helping them feel good in their clothes”.
