His homage to Alexander the Great won Sunny Fong the crown on the second season of Project Runway Canada.
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It’s Monday morning in a downtown-Toronto photo studio, and Sunny Fong is still buzzing from the news that he has been chosen as the winner of Project Runway Canada (PRC). The designer, in signature dark blue jeans and a pink scarf, surveys the scene: His winning model, Tori Leach — in a minidress from his finale collection and sky-high sandals from Dries Van Noten — is leaping for ELLE’s photographer while New Order grooves on the stereo, and there are Birks baubles and luxe H.Stern jewels sparkling on tables in the corner. Fong can’t stop smiling. “The stylist told me that I don’t have to hang around all day,” he says, “but I can’t imagine being anywhere else. It’s like a dream.”
Fong’s fashion dreams started early: He created costumes for high school assemblies and prom dresses for friends. He studied film at Toronto’s Ryerson University but kept “dipping [his] feet into fashion on the side.” In 2004 he launched Vawk, a clothing line characterized by strong silhouettes and masterful tailoring. It was the beginning of his sartorial education. “I really like couture — handmade elements that you can’t mass-produce,” says the Toronto-based designer. “But if it only looks beautiful on the hanger, it’s useless. You need to be able to fit something on a body without having it look like it’s fitted on a body.”
To learn the finer points of craftsmanship, Fong trolled Holt Renfrew — flipping clothes inside out to see how they were made — and spent hours researching online for detailed images of Dior and Chanel designs to see how the masters nailed it. “Being self-taught built my confidence,” he explains. “I saw that Rodarte can get away with this or that — they don’t have to finish the hem if they don’t want to. You can create what you want.”
'You need to be able to fit something on a body without having it look like it’s fitted on a body,' says Sunny Fong.Then the first season of PRC was announced. Fong applied but didn’t make the cut. “I still watched the show, of course,” he says, laughing. “I saw Lucian [Matis] as my competitor. We have a similar aesthetic. From his clothes, I could tell which designers he admires, and I’m like, ‘Me too!’” Fong was in a fatalistic mood when he auditioned for the show’s second season. “I decided that if I didn’t make it, it would be time to close that chapter of my life,” he says. “And when I did make it, I took it as a sign that I had to stick with fashion.”
