'Project Runway' Winner Season 6 Is Irina Shabayeva

In last night's season finale of 'Project Runway,' the show wrapped its first season in Los Angeles, wrapped its first season on Lifetime and, to pretty much no one's surprise, named New York designer Irina Shabayeva the season six winner.

Shabayeva, who'd been portrayed as a hard-working, driven and, according to some of her fellow designers, sometimes less-than-friendly competitor, was the only designer to win three challenges during the season, and had wowed the judges and viewers with her slick, well-tailored looks, including what had become her signature, lavish coats and sweaters.

Shabayeva took time out from celebrating her victory to chat with AOL TV about her victory, about those fabulous hats that were a highlight of her winning collection, about the ever-changing line-up of judges the designers had to deal with this season, about what she's up to now (hint: lots of coats) and about how she feels about being portrayed as the designer who wasn't there to make friends ...In last night's season finale of 'Project Runway,' the show wrapped its first season in Los Angeles, wrapped its first season on Lifetime and, to pretty much no one's surprise, named New York designer Irina Shabayeva the season six winner.

Shabayeva, who'd been portrayed as a hard-working, driven and, according to some of her fellow designers, sometimes less-than-friendly competitor, was the only designer to win three challenges during the season, and had wowed the judges and viewers with her slick, well-tailored looks, including what had become her signature, lavish coats and sweaters.

Shabayeva took time out from celebrating her victory to chat with AOL TV about her victory, about those fabulous hats that were a highlight of her winning collection, about the ever-changing line-up of judges the designers had to deal with this season, about what she's up to now (hint: lots of coats) and about how she feels about being portrayed as the designer who wasn't there to make friends ...

Congratulations, Irina! I thought you were going to win from the middle of the season on, but I knew for sure when I saw all the hats in your collection in the finale. No one else went for that level of detail ...
(Laughing) Thank you so much. I definitely made sure I covered all my ground.

The hats really helped tie the whole collection together, too, and the judges thought yours was the only collection that was cohesive. Were they part of your plan all along?
No, you know what, they really weren't. I wanted to do hats, but I just couldn't figure out what kind of hats ... I didn't want to do anything that was predictable. And the week before everything was due, actually ... I've never hand-blocked a hat, which is sort of the old millinery way of making a hat, hand-blocking and selecting the felt and a whole process that I'd never done ... but a week before [the deadline], I go, you know, I'm going to run out and buy all the supplies and try one and see what happens, because I couldn't find hats that I liked that would go with the collection. So then I made one, and I thought, 'Oh, this is kinda cool,' and then I made another one and another one, and before I knew it, I had made seven or eight hats.

So will hats become one of your signatures now? Will you make them again?
You know, I think so. I really like it, really like the process. I'm probably going to take a class or a mini course at some point on millinery, to really learn all the ins and outs of it. And I did handbags, too, for the collection, so I'm so glad they showed them, because I love accessories, and they're so important. They make or break an outfit, and I'm glad I went that extra mile.

What's your favorite piece in your winning collection?
I have a few. I love coats, obviously, and I really like the black one with the leather detail in back, and I feel like a lot of people have responded to that one. I'm a coat person, and I think, especially with the recession, if you can't buy new outfits, you can buy a new coat and sort of revive the old things you have. Or even if you're not wearing the greatest outfit underneath, a great coat or a great jacket kinda makes it.

So much was made of the judges this season, and the fact that there was this rotating line-up instead of the same people every week. Did that have an impact on you?
Oh definitely, because we didn't really get to know any of the judges very well. Sometimes when you get to know the judges, maybe they have kind of a loyalty to some designers, or they're a fan of yours, or not, but at least you know where you stand. With the revolving door of judges, you just never knew who was going to show up next and what their point of view, their design aesthetic was, so it was always a stressful time right before runway, because we had no idea.

How did you adapt to it?
One thing I learned being on the show is that you just have to be yourself as a designer. You can't try to be someone else. And if you keep working at your craft, and sooner or later you have believers, and some non-believers, but if you do what you do well, people will catch on.

I'm sure you anticipated with your finale collection that there might be some criticism about the fact that it was all black and gray, but obviously you had a vision and stuck with it and it turned out well ...
Yeah, and with that, it was more about all the textures. If I had thrown color into it, it would have detracted from all the details and the handwork and the criss-crossing. And I just wasn't in a colorful state of mind, maybe because it was winter and I was sewing all winter ...I don't know, but that's just where I was at that time. A collection is almost like a painting, and it all has to make sense and tie together as a story, and I just didn't think color belonged in it. And I even told Nina [Garcia, 'Project Runway' judge], 'Listen, I had that 13th look, and if I really wanted color and I thought I had made a mistake, I could have always added it, but I didn't. If I had 45 of those [pieces] in the same collection, then I would have added color, but in the 13 we had, I didn't think color was necessary.

And who doesn't look good in black, anyway?
Definitely. And it always looks sleek. That's the other thing: I wanted everything to look very sleek and city. And black is that color, gray is that color, that city, concrete jungle, the sand, stone color I did. It was inspired by New York, Manhattan, and that's really where I was going with it.

Did you grow up in the city?
I grew up in Brooklyn, which is just a train ride away, and then moved into [Manhattan] when I was 17 and started at Parsons.

So were you bummed that this was the first season the competition was in Los Angeles instead of New York?
(Laughing) No, because, I feel like with all the stress and the tension, if I had been so close to home, I might have just given up. Knowing that I was so far from home, and that, even if you're out, you can't go home until the end, I thought, 'I better stay in the game.'

Were you happy with the way you were portrayed on the show?
You know, it's a show, and I understand that they have to build characters, and I'm certainly very assertive. I've never been shy about speaking my mind to anyone, but I wish they had just a little more of everyone. After the middle point of the season, it was just like me talking all the time. (Laughing) It was like, other people have things to say. So yeah, I thought that was a little lopsided, but I always owned everything I said, and I'm happy with it.

It seemed a little unfair though that they kept showing you in this hyper-competitive light, when, really, that's why everyone is there, to win. But they kept showing you saying, 'I'm not here to make friends' ...
I know! I said that once, and it felt like it was on almost every episode.

Exactly. And even in the finale, they made a point of showing you saying there was nothing you could do for Carol Hannah when she was sick, but that was true. No one could really do anything. You couldn't stop your own work ... she couldn't even really take time out if she wanted to be able to finish on time ...
And, I don't know if they showed it, because I didn't get to see the episode in its entirety yet, but I actually gave her one of my models, because she was short on models. She was really short on models, and she was sick, so I told her to take one of mine and I would wait for another one [to show up].

What have you been doing since the finale?
I just went back to work, went back about my business. I finished a spring line that will be on my Website today or tomorrow. And right after, I'm planning to work on fall.

Have people been coming to you about custom designs, especially for those great cardigan sweaters and coats?
Yes, a lot of people have e-mailed me about coats, wanting custom designs, but I unfortunately don't have time to custom make coats for 100 people. So I told them to stay tuned for my fall line and there will definitely be a variety to pick from.

Was the best part of the night having your parents there?
It was! I couldn't believe my dad was crying. It was really nice to be able to share that with them, and to see that he's proud of me and my work.