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

fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and place. "A fashion designer creates ...

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 Washingtonville is a village in the town of Blooming Grove, Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 5,657 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

. 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 Hi ...

Statesboro, Georgia Statesboro is the largest city and county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, United States, located in the southeastern part of the state. Statesboro is home to the flagship campus of Georgia Southern University and is part of the Savannah–Hine ...

. 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 network reality 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 ...

'', but he was not accepted as a season two contestant. In 2006, Knight reauditioned for ''

'', 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 ...

's '' Rip the Runway'' and he designed a line of custom tees for the Starbucks 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 Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...

. Knight joined Daniel Vosovic 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 Aus ...

of season two,

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 ''Projec ...

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'' ...

season three 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 pol ...

Chris March Christopher Andrew March (February 25, 1963 – September 5, 2019) was an American fashion and costume designer, best known for his appearance as a contestant on season 4 (2007–2008) of Bravo's ''Project Runway''. He was also on season 4 (2 ...

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 ...

of season four, 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 judge ...

of season five 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. 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 Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a "disorder of gut-brain interaction" characterized by a group of symptoms that commonly include abdominal pain and or abdominal bloating and changes in the consistency of bowel movements. These symptoms may ...

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?
/ref>

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