Don’t look now, but there’s a Filipino participant in the roster of competing designers in the 7th season of Project Runway hosted by Heidi Klum. Jay Nicolas Sario, a 31 year old Visual Merchandiser and Lead Stylist for Gap, Inc. is out to prove his worth as a designer, on top of representing the Philippines instead of just being tagged onscreen as a San Francisco-based contestant.

Jay Nicolas Sario (2nd from right) together with the other designers of Project Runway 7 as the potato sack challenge was being introduced by Mentor Tim Gunn.

Mentor Tim Gunn and some of the fashion models wearing the potato sack to be converted into a party dress.

It’s only the 2nd episode for the current season, but he has already made his presence felt by winning the challenge to create a party look from a burlap potato sack. The judging panel, which included fashionable senior actress Lauren Hutton, picked Sario’s design as the best in the batch for the specific objective of the task at hand.

Jay Nicolas Sario with his model Kasey Ashcraft finishing the black party dress.

Jay Nicolas Sario's winning design during Project Runway 7's second episode challenge.

Can you imagine this expensive-looking party dress used to be a lowly potato sack?

Let’s see if Jay Nicolas can sustain the momentum in the next episodes. This is the kind of show where consistency and creativity are key factors for survival.

Here’s the link to the video of Jay Nicolas Sario for Episode 2.

Good luck, Jay Nicolas!!! 😉