A whirlwind visit to Hawaii proved to be a boot-camp experience for “Project Runway” designers who found themselves waking up before dawn to hit morning news shows and a full schedule of appearances and club rounds late at night.

The designers — Casanova, Christopher Collins, Mondo Guerra and Michael Drummond, all hosted by fellow cast mate, Hawaii designer Andy South — were a hit with fans, starting with an appearance at South’s alma mater, Honolulu Community College, last Thursday. Casanova, Guerra and Drummond shared their audition pieces (Collins was to arrive the next day), talked about their experiences on the show and had uplifting messages for the fashion technology students. (Visit bit.ly/hlw9Iy.)

And we learned the source of Guerra’s creativity. He said that when he was a kid, “I had no motor skills. I had a hard time walking.”

As part of his rehabilitation, a therapist would put objects into a paper bag, and he would have to feel it and tell what it was, even what color it was, fueling his imagination.

“I was able to apply what I was feeling to color and mixing patterns,” he said, to the point that his garish combinations drew incredulous stares from his fellow competitors.

“Whenever they’d see my stuff on the table, it just looked like a lot of mess, but it’s really my process,” he said.

Then on Saturday the designers staged a show to remember at Ala Moana Center’s Centerstage, where Guerra showed why he should have won the TV design competition, with his Mondrian-meets-3-D movie collection. Visit http://bit.ly/j2IwtF.

Cheers could be heard all the way toward the Macy’s end of the mall.

And the designers were in the house at the HCC student fashion show Saturday night, where afterward they shared some of their thoughts on their favorite collections.