Michael Anthony Knight Jr. (April 11, 1978 – October 17, 2017) was an American

fashion design Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

er.

Biography

Michael Anthony Knight Jr. was born on April 11, 1978, in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

, Germany to Pamela and Michael Anthony Knight Sr. Although Knight spent his childhood in

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

,
''mychaelknight.com''. Accessed 2010-03-16. in 1996 he received his high school diploma from Washingtonville Senior High School in Washingtonville, New York. Later that same year, Knight began his freshman year of college at

Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hine ...

in Statesboro, Georgia. In 2001, this university awarded Knight a Bachelor of Science degree in Apparel Design and Merchandising. After completing his undergraduate studies, Knight broke into the fashion industry in Atlanta, Georgia by working as an intern at Wilbourn Exclusives in 2001'Mychael Knight Inspires SCAD Fashion Students with Life Lessons', by Tina A. Brown
''savannahnow.com''. (May 15, 2009) Accessed 2010-03-16. and then by becoming a fashion stylist in the music industry in 2002. In 2005, Knight auditioned for the second 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 ...

network reality television series, '' Project Runway'', but he was not accepted as a season two contestant. In 2006, Knight reauditioned for '' Project Runway'', and this time he was accepted as a contestant for season three. Knight went on to win season three's Fan Favorite award and to place fourth in the overall competition. In 2007, Knight introduced his label, Mychael Knight, on

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

's ''

Rip the Runway ''Rip the Runway'' is an annual fashion show and music show broadcast by BET, held at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. 2005 The first ''Rip the Runway'' show was hosted by Fonzworth Bentley and Eva Pigford. 2006 The 2006 ''Rip the Runw ...

'' and he designed a line of custom tees for the

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

Corporation. In 2008, Knight launched Kitty & Dick, his female and male lingerie label, and his unisex fragrance, MajK. On August 20, 2009, the '' Project Runway: All Star Challenge'' aired on Lifetime Television. Knight joined

Daniel Vosovic Daniel Vosovic (born March 25, 1981) is an American fashion designer and a finalist in season 2 of the reality show ''Project Runway''. Biography Vosovic was born March 25, 1981, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and raised in the nearby city of Lowe ...

and

Santino Rice Santino Quinto Rice (born 20 August 1974) is an American fashion designer and television personality. He is best known for his appearances on the reality television programs ''Project Runway'', ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and '' On the Road with Aust ...

season two Season 2 may refer to: * ''Season 2'' (Infinite album) * ''2econd Season ''2econd Season'' is the second and most recent album by Atlanta-based rapper Unk. Release It was released on November 4, 2008. Guest Performers The album features gu ...

Jeffrey Sebelia Jeffrey Sebelia is an American fashion designer and founder of the clothing label Cosa Nostra, which he headed from a loft on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. He is best known as the winner of the third season of American reality show ''Project ...

and

Uli Herzner Ulrike "Uli" Herzner (born 23 April 1971) is a fashion designer originally from East Germany, currently living in Miami Beach, Florida. She was a contestant on the third season of the Bravo network reality television series ''Project Runway'' ...

of season three, Chris March and

Sweet P "Wake Up" and "Escape from the Citadel" are the first two episodes of the sixth season of the American animated television series ''Adventure Time''. "Wake Up" was written and storyboarded by Andy Ristaino and Cole Sanchez, whereas "Escape from th ...

season four A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

, and

Korto Momolu ''Project Runway'' season 5 began filming the first week of June 2008 and premiered July 16, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. It was the final season of ''Project Runway'' that aired on Bravo. Subsequent seasons were shown on Lifetime. Returning as judges ...

season five A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pola ...

in a special, "one-shot" competition where the winner, Vosovic, received $100,000. On March 17, 2010, Knight debuted his Fall/Winter 2010 line at Charleston Fashion Week in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...

. In 2013, Knight became a contestant on '' Project Runway: All Stars (season 3)''. Knight died on October 17, 2017, at the age of 39. His cause of death remains a mystery. He had been open about his battle with irritable bowel syndrome and extreme weight loss in recent months, leaving many to wonder if the disease may have played a role in his death. Doctors believe that unlikely, however.Is irritable bowel syndrome fatal?
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References

External links

Official Website

Mychael Knight
on MySpace
Fall/Winter 2010 Debut at Charleston Fashion Week
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Michael (fashion designer) 1978 births 2017 deaths 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American fashion designers American fashion designers Artists from Atlanta Georgia Southern University alumni People from Montgomery, Alabama Project Runway (American series) participants pt:Michael Knight