The season six designers for Project Runway were announced yesterday, unveiling a line-up that includes an impressive number of Midwestern designers. Of the 16 designers, the Midwestern talent includes: Althea Harper of Ohio, Ari Fish of Missouri, Christopher Straub of Minnesota, and Ra’mon Lawrence Coleman (most recently) of Minnesota.

Harper is a bubbly 24 year old, and is a recent graduate of the University of Cincinnati for fashion design. Her design influences have included architecture and 30’s glamour and her audition collection included dark pieces with an almost S&M flair.

Fish has dabbled in both painting and ceramics in college and from there matriculated into clothing design. The 26 year old is interested in designing dual-purpose pieces for both men and women with reversible qualities and unexpected pockets.

Straub is a 29 year old Visual Merchandiser from Minnesota that is best known for “Cricket Syndicate” his line of men’s underwear made from vintage T-shirts. Straub is a self-taught designer that describes his design esthetic as whimsical and young.

Coleman (at 31) has the most impressive resume of the Midwestern bunch. He was on the design team for the Target Corporation when he resided in Minneapolis, and is now creating a collection with Lauren Conrad for the Kohl’s Corporation. Coleman’s esthetic is modern with an avant-garde twist, and his familiarity with the human form (he was a pre-med student prior to switching to fashion design) should influence the fit and shapes of his designs. Coleman commented to the Minneapolis Star Tribune about the selection of Midwestern talent for the show: "It's really indicative of what's going on in cities billed as under the radar. We haven't necessarily been considered cosmopolitan, but it's really changing."

For more details you can head to the show's new network Lifetime to view the designers bio’s, closet tours, fashion tips, peer at their past portfolio’s and even watch their audition tapes.  Hopefully one of these four Midwesterners will “make it work” and manage to sew their way into the winners circle. There are 41 days until the August 20th season premiere when the story unfolds.  Not that I'm counting...

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