Kelli Martin is an American

fashion designer Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

. She was a contestant on the fifth season of the

Bravo Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels *Bravo (band), a Russian rock band * Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984 *Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...

television series ''

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted by time, mater ...

''.

Education and background

Martin, a native of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, graduated from

Westland High School Westland High School is a public high school located in Galloway, Ohio. It is one of 4 high schools in the South-Western City Schools District. SWCS is located in the southwestern portion of Franklin County in Columbus, Ohio. Westland High Sch ...

in 1998 and

Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising The Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) is a private college in downtown Los Angeles. It offers degree programs in majors including fashion, entertainment, beauty, interior design, and graphic design. The college was founded in 19 ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 2001. After finishing a degree in fashion design, Martin completed the Advanced Fashion Design program at FIDM on a scholarship from

Bob Mackie Robert Gordon "Bob" Mackie (born March 24, 1939) is an American fashion designer and costumier, best known for his dressing of entertainment icons such as Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Diahann Carroll, Carol Channing, Cher, Doris Day, Marlene D ...

in 2004.

Fashion design career

Martin created her Anti-Label fashion line in 1998,Kress, Brittany. "Kelli Martin: What are you wearing?" ''

Columbus Alive ''Columbus Alive'' (also presented as ''ALIVE''), was a free online news site serving Columbus, Ohio. The site focused on local music, art, dining, film and culture. Formerly distributed in print form each week on Thursdays, the final print vers ...

''. April 24, 200

/ref> and beginning in 2000 she sold a number of her original Anti-Label designs on the online auction site

eBay eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...

. After leaving Los Angeles in 2006 and moving back to her hometown she opened her own storefront boutique, Black Market. In an April 2008 interview, Martin said of her aesthetic, "I like really feminine silhouettes and form-fitting throwbacks to, like, the vintage pinup girls, but I like raw edges..."

''Project Runway''

Season five of ''Project Runway'' began with " Let's Start from the Beginning," which first aired on July 16, 2008. Contestant designers were tasked with creating a sexy, glamorous outfit for a night on the town, but were only allowed to use materials purchased from a Manhattan supermarket called

Gristedes Gristedes is a New York City-based chain of supermarkets. It serves a mostly urban customer base. History Gristede Brothers: 1891-1987 Charles Gristede and his brother Diedrich came to the United States from Germany in 1888, found work in groc ...

. Martin won this challenge,DeVille, Chris. "Project Runway Columbus." ''Columbus Alive''. July 24, 2008

/ref> which was judged in part by guest judge Austin Scarlett. Martin was eliminated after the fifth challenge, "Welcome to the Jungle," when she and her teammate Daniel were assigned the task of designing a look for

Brooke Shields Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress and model. She was initially a child model and gained critical acclaim at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film ''Pretty Baby'' (1978). She continued to model into ...

to wear on Season 2 of '' Lipstick Jungle''. The judges questioned her taste and made her the fifth person eliminated from the competition. She came back with other eliminated designers in the ninth challenge to assist the remaining contestants in creating an avant garde design inspired by their zodiac signs.

References

External links

Official website
for Anti-Label, Martin's fashion line, and Black Market, her Columbus, Ohio boutique

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Kelli Living people American fashion designers American women fashion designers Project Runway (American series) participants Artists from Columbus, Ohio Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women