'Project Runway' Season 19 Finale Winner: Shantall Lacayo bags $250,000 prize
After coming second place on 'Project Runway Latin America', Nicaraguan born fashion designer Shantall Lacayo decided to try out her luck on the 'Project Runway' Season 19. Shantall's bold move paid off as she ended up being crowned the winner and bagging the $250,000 grand prize.
The season finale of the award-winning Bravo show featured Nina Garcia, Brandon Maxwell and guest judge Tommy Hilfiger, judging the top four designers- Chasity Sereal, Coral Castillo, Kristina Kharlashkina, and Shantall, to pick out a winning designer who they believed had a potential to become a household name in the fashion industry. With $10,000 as the budget, and six months time period to design collection, Shantall managed to put together an exceptionally well-tailored and unique collection that left all the judges tongue-tied.
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While Shantall's win didn't come as a huge surprise to the fans, considering her solid performance throughout the season, her journey on the show was however far from smooth. After nearly getting eliminated during a challenge, Shantall managed to retain her position in the competition thanks to Christian Siriano's coveted "Siriano Save" vote. Since then Shantall went above and beyond to prove that she was a force to be reckoned with by churning out stunning designs week after week.
For her finale collection, Shantall presented a wearable but unique collection that drew inspiration from her Nicaraguan roots. Despite some last minute setbacks such as the jackets that she had originally stitched not fitting the models perfectly, Shantall managed to deliver a stunning collection. The designer spent the last few hours ahead of the final show making alterations and tweaking her collection.
Thankfully her hard-work paid off as the judges noticed all the little details in her collection and were in awe of how she managed to manipulate the fabrics and put together such an intricately designed collection. They were especially impressed by a black dress with a long jacket, whose tailoring was raved by all the judges. The judges definitely had a hard time picking a winner as all the designer did a stellar job, but in the end picked Shantall as they felt that her collection had a commercial appeal while also giving off the couture vibes. We can't wait to see how Shantall utilizes her 'Project Runway' win to become a global brand that she has always dreamt of.
'Project Runway' Season 19 is available for streaming on Bravo and Peacock.