Life After Project Runway -- on the Web

Each season, 15 designers compete for the chance to showcase their designs at New York's Fashion Week and to win $100,000 to fund their businesses. The competition takes place on the Emmy-winning Project Runway, a reality show all about discovering the next great American fashion designer.

For its contestants, the show means exposure, if not always the prize money or thrill of being on TV. “Exposure is really one of the most critical elements in getting a company off the ground,” explains Victorya Hong, a Season Four designer who managed to launch her label, na.be, at New York Fashion Week, the same week her elimination episode aired. For Season Two finalist, Daniel Vosovic, the reality of having made a name on the show opened up opportunities that just aren’t available to his more qualified, but less famous friends, many of whom have had trouble landing jobs. For example, he recently launched a line of uniforms and handbags for NYLO Hotel, all before ever designing a collection under his own name.

While the show’s popularity proves the designers’ potential, it can only go so far in turning unknowns into household names. Whether that name recognition translates into sales and a viable business is anybody’s guess, but determined alums like Zulema Griffin, Kendra Francis, Kit Pistol, Vosovic and Hong are not leaving their careers to chance. In fact, they have found creative uses of Web 2.0 technologies to build on their hard-earned fame.

"My mother taught us to fight through adversity, to never give up," says Griffin. The Season Two designer's mom suddenly passed away in late December, just as Griffin was preparing for her February runway show. She knew she had to find a way to show her collection despite her loss.

With just two-and-a-half weeks and hardly any money left after her mother's funeral, Griffin turned to the Web. Using her wife's film industry connections and her sister's tech know-how, she took her fashion show online.

The show, a polished and politically charged video entitled, Revelations, was created as low-budget as one can go. "It should have cost $5,000 to make -- in fact, that was the budget -- but we managed to do it for $200," she says. She saved by sourcing experienced African-American models through Craigslist and ModelMayhem. Fortunately, the models were willing to work just for the exposure. She was also able to call in favors for the post-production work on the video.

As a marketing strategy, Griffin cross-promoted the clip on social media sites, like YouTube and MySpace as well as her personal website. The show was also posted to relevant fashion and Runway fan blogs, receiving kudos for finding a new method for bringing a runway show to the masses.