Ivy: Local designer overcomes her qualms to return to ‘Runway’

She’s back! Ivy Higa, the Hawaii designer all of America seems to have loved to hate — along with eventual winner Gretchen Jones — on Season 8 of "Project Runway," returns tonight for an all-star version of the popular TV fashion design competition.

Higa will be one of 13 designers from Seasons 1 through 9 who will get a second shot at becoming the next top American designer.

After the battering Higa took on the show the first time around, she was reluctant to re-enter the fray, and her first reaction when she got the call from producers was to tell them she had to think about it.

Two years after taping Season 8, she was in a good place in her career, with a full-time job working for an up-and-coming luxury designer she admired. Joining the new series meant leaving that job security, which was a difficult decision to make.

"People think that by being on reality TV you have instant success, and that’s not the reality of it," she said. "Being successful takes a lot of work. You have to be incredibly tenacious."

Season 2 of "Project Runway All-Stars," which debuts tonight with an episode titled "Redemption on the Runway," pays a small stipend, she said, but not enough to live on in New York City, her home for seven years.

"I had such angst about the show," she said during a phone interview. "I actually wasn’t going to do it until someone from Hawaii messaged me on my Facebook fan page. I took it as a sign. She told me, ‘You make island girls like me believe their dreams can come true.’

"She might be my only fan, but she saw me as a role model and I thought, oh boy, now I have to do this. Sometimes you realize you’re not living your life just for yourself anymore, and you have a responsibility to do something bigger than yourself. So, yes, I went back to the craziness. I must be some kind of masochist."

She’s learned a lot since her first appearance on the show, in which she finished eighth among 17 designers, while fellow Hawaii designer Andy South finished in third place. Prior to that series’ airing, I asked her jokingly whether we could expect her to be the bitch of the season, and she said she didn’t think so, saying at the time, "I was very true to who I am. I didn’t play a role or character. I hope I’m not going to be eating my words in a couple weeks."

Those who follow the show know how that went. She learned firsthand how traits that form just one small aspect of one’s personality can be magnified for the sake of drama, and how quickly television viewers can be manipulated to form judgments based on a few editing decisions. Many interpreted her competence and confidence as cockiness.

"I’m a strong, assertive woman, and that can be construed as being a bitch, so I own it," she said. "You just have to roll with the punches and laugh at yourself. The industry I work in is really tough, so I’ve had to be strong to last six or seven years now."

IN THE inaugural season of "Project Runway All-Stars" that began airing in January, designers seemed calmer than in the regular series, and the reduced anxiety may hold true this time as well.

"We still had the same schedule, but we knew what to expect," said Higa, who will be reunited with three of her Season 8 cast-mates: Peach Carr and Casanova, and Mondo Guerra, who returns as guest judge.

Familiarity with the other designers didn’t mean she glanced around the room the first day to determine who was beatable and who was likely to be a strong competitor.

"I’ve never compared myself to anyone because that’s where you can get messed up," she said. "I looked at it as an opportunity to show my best work. I’m confident in my abilities, my style and my aesthetic, and I’m really glad I had this second opportunity."

Instead of usual host Heidi Klum and judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia, those roles will be played, respectively, by model Caro­lyn Murphy and designers Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman.

Filling the Tim Gunn role as mentor is Joanna Coles, the former editor in chief of Marie Claire magazine who is now at Cosmopolitan magazine.

Guest judges during the season include Katie Holmes, Kylie Minogue and Liv Tyler, along with such fashion luminaries as Diane von Furstenberg, Jason Wu, Margherita Missoni, Charlotte Ronson and Elie Tahari, plus a cameo appearance by Karl Lagerfeld.

No matter what happens on TV this time, in the real world Higa has landed on her feet after filming the episodes this summer, working with another designer, while continuing to market pieces from her Ivy h. Essentials Collection online at ivyh.net.

Higa can’t say how far she made it in the show, saying only: "I made it farther than I expected.

"I don’t think I can watch this season, to be honest, because I really opened myself up and shared a softer side of me."

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Follow Ivy Higa’s progress through the "Project Runway All-Stars" competition on Nadine Kam’s Fashion Tribe blog at fashiontribe.staradvertiserblogs.com.