After finishing in third place on Lifetime’s “Project Runway” Season 13, Hawaii designer Kini Zamora was leery of appearing on the follow-up, “Project Runway All Stars,” when producers casting Season 5 called. But after consulting many of his friends and fellow designers, he decided to take the plunge for a second chance at winning the top spot.
On Thursday, he was rewarded with a second-place finish behind Philadelphia designer Dom Streater, the first woman to win “All Stars.”
But with the potential of reward came risk, as his reputation for being a soft-spoken, fan favorite who was cheated out of many a win in his original appearance, was turned upside down.
In a contentious season that had the designer pitted most vocally against Boston designer Sam Donovan, viewers and reviewers called out Zamora on social media for appearing “catty,” “snarky” and “petty.”
Relieved the episodes he taped 10 months ago have screened, Zamora said he is glad for a chance to clear the air about the storyline the producers had months to craft and which he chalked up in part to “creative editing.”
“I wasn’t surprised because producers warned me, ‘You and Sam are a storyline,’ so I knew already.
“I can’t change anything that came out of my mouth, but I didn’t bash anyone,” he said. “I tried to keep it professional by giving constructive criticism, and the judges and other designers were saying the same things too. But the producers only used me as the bad one. I said a lot of good things and I was kind of bummed that they never used the good stuff I said.”
The storyline fell into place beginning in the third episode, when Zamora and Donovan were teamed up to dress the female singers of country music act Little Big Town for the Academy of Country Music Awards. Building on his reputation as a fast worker, Zamora finished his pieces quickly and helped Donovan by finishing his pair of pants and creating a top. The look he created for Donovan earned high praise, and for avid viewers of the show, it was a deja vu moment. This also happened to Zamora in his initial “Project Runway” appearance, when he created the look that gave Sean Kelly a first place win. Kelly went on to win the season, with Zamora finishing in third place.
He and Kelly remain good friends today, the difference being that, “Sean did say I helped him on stage.”
Donovan did not acknowledge Zamora’s help, even in subsequent episodes that had Zamora giving him extra fabric when none of the other designers would help the novice designer. Yet, Donovan paid him back with insults, including suggesting Zamora is a great sewer, but not a designer.
Today, Zamora takes it all in stride, saying, “They played it that way for ratings, so they needed something like that.”
He said being on the show was worthwhile and he was happy for another opportunity to show his capabilities.
“My construction was on point and in a design competition I created things that were out of the box and gave them something to judge. It was my vision and I didn’t regret anything I sent down the runway all season. I made the commitment to send out designed pieces, not basic silhouettes with embellishment.”
He’s also happy he can go back to working as normal, without deflecting inquiries as to whether he won.
In addition to opening his Halawa retail/workspace The Clique by KZ, Zamora continues to produce three labels — KZ Hawaii, a Kini Zamora bridal and evening wear line, and ready-to-wear line. He’ll be working on costuming for Ballet Hawaii’s holiday “Nutcracker” production, and has many more projects in the works, including motivational speaking engagements to inspire youths to pursue their dreams.
