(PCM) From the first episode to the final crowning of Project Runway’s milestone 10^th season, Dmitry Sholokhov has proven himself not just a phenomenal designer, but someone we want to be best friends with. In order to come on the show and pursue his dreams, he gave up everything – his apartment, his job – and at NY Fashion Week we saw a polished, luxurious and impeccably made collection from him that was well worthy of the Project Runway title…

Suffice to say, when he was named this season’s winner last night, there were a lot of happy and excited people – Dmitry included.

“It’s a second wave of excitement,” he explained when I had the chance to catch up with the incredible Belarusian professional ballroom dancer-turned-designer this morning. “I was already kind of calm…, but with the show last night, it all came back and all the fan mail I get and all the calls and text messages… I’m excited again!” He laughed.

Throughout the season, Dmitry time and time again sent wow-worthy designs down the runway and kept us laughing with the things that would come out of his mouth. Whether it was his “one-way monkey” comment about Ven or his self realization of “I forgot, I’m a father now,” during the kids challenge when they had to carry around fake babies, he could return as the whip smart, witty narrator for future seasons and we’d be more than content. (His accent doesn’t hurt either…)

But believe it or not, the funny man didn’t realize he was funny until seeing himself on TV! “I never thought of myself as being funny, but I guess I am,” he laughed. It was far from the only thing he learned, though, between the competition and seeing it back on TV.

“I never really thought of myself being such a perfectionist. I knew I was a perfectionist to a point, but [on TV], you know,” he revealed with a laugh, “I got a chance to see my work from a distance and hear that I am a great tailor. I never thought of myself as a great tailor and I never really thought of myself being so diplomatic and being so calm. It’s just overall image, because I am who I am and I just go, never really think twice. It’s nice to know that I came across as a genuinely nice person,” he laughed again.

Dmitry also came across as a confident man. We’d heard him say on the show that he’d be the one to win and explained that he really did have that level of confidence and self-belief throughout the entire competition.  “I actually did,” he remarked. “I just think, in general, you have to have the confidence and you have to have the positive thinking when you go off to anything. Otherwise, what’s the point? Of course I had my doubts on and off, but I always knew I’m going to win.”

While this season proved even more emotionally-charged than ones before, with multiple designers leaving the competition on their own, Dmitry embraced the challenges and opportunities, seeing them as a means of “challeng[ing] the creativity and just challeng[ing] yourself.”

That doesn’t mean he wasn’t surprised by some of his own creations, though. The candy dress stands out, in particular, to him in terms of what he was able to create. “That was the craziest ever,” he laughed. “I really, really thought that I’m going to go crazy with it. With all those candies, I was gluing those little candy balls one by one and I don’t know how many hundreds of them it was. So, I was really, really proud of what I did just because it looked like a real dress. It was a great challenge.”

Don’t go thinking that such intense work made him swear off candy. Turns out, he’s “not really into sweets,” to begin with, but he does note that “now I know that you actually can make a dress out of the candy!”

In the wake of the big announcement, it was an absolute pleasure to speak with Dmitry – my personal favorite from the start – to discuss the win, the competition, what’s next and more. The charming designer America met and fell in love with on the show is exactly the same Dmitry in real life. As Tim Gunn on Twitter said after Dmitry’s win, nice guys do often finish first.

Dmitry promised fans that you’ll “see more of me very soon!” and that’s exactly what we wanted to hear! Now that he has the title and his wings, the sky is the limit for our favorite Belarusian and we can’t wait to see what’s next for him. His plans are already setting into motion.

Check out highlights from the rest of my morning-after chat with Dmitry below:

 

On whether it was difficult to keep the results a secret…

Well, a little bit. It’s more because I couldn’t really take my next step. I had to just sit and wait [the finale] airs to go out there and try to figure out what’s next for me.

On watching the competition back on TV…

Well, it’s great. It’s really the first time in my life that I had the chance to reflect [on] what I do and just reflect [on] myself and my life story. It’s a good feeling, you know, because you never really think of what you do and who you, so I think it was a great opportunity to reflect your life.

On whether there was ever a moment he thought he may not make it to the next week…

Not really. I was a little bit nervous, maybe, with the kids challenge when I made that cute red outfit for a kid, because it’s really hard to go wrong with kids and I felt like everybody did a great job. So it was just a matter of taste and opinion and that’s probably the only challenge when I was not sure how it was going to go down.

On his relationship with Tim Gunn…

Tim, he’s a big supporter of everyone. He’s so genuine with everyone. I felt like he was pushing me all the time. He was never really, ‘Oh, Dmitry, he’s so great, it’s so amazing.’ He would always question things and he would always make you think and by doing that he was pushing me and it was great.

On processing critiques…

Well, constructive criticism is crucial. It’s very, very important. That’s how you learn, that’s how you grow, because sometimes you are [so] caught up in your vision and your designs that you need a critical eye and very often you just need someone else’s opinion. You need to step back and look at it. I always take something from the critique if I feel like it’s the right thing to do, but at the end of the day, I always go with my sixth sense.

On sharing the experience with Fabio, Melissa and Christopher…

Well, they are all amazing people and we are so different, but at the same time we have such a great dynamic. Maybe because we are so different, I didn’t really feel like it’s a competition. We were just being ourselves and it was anybody’s game. We’re all like a family and I am really happy that I won, but I would be so happy if any one of them would have won, you know. I even felt, like in the beginning, I even felt a little bad that I won and they didn’t. It was kind of mixed emotions.

On the woman who would wear his designs…

First of all, my woman, she is ageless. She can be any age. She definitely knows and appreciates fashion. I think she is the woman who collects her wardrobe, you know? She buys those kind of unique [and] timeless, in a way, pieces that are basically for many, many years to come. So I’m the designer that always creates those special, great quality pieces that you can dress up or dress down and you could wear it ten years from now.

So she’s definitely someone who builds their wardrobe. It’s not – I wouldn’t say that I go after the trends. I just do those timeless, cool pieces that you can wear for years and years and years. Anyone can wear it, a young girl or a more mature woman.

On what’s next…

Well… I have no idea! [laughs] Hopefully, what I really want to do, I’d love to start my own brand, but I really need a business partner and I need to attract investors because I want to start big. I feel like I have so much experience and I have what it takes, but I need to find the right people. It’s all about the people around you, it’s so important. So it’s definitely meeting the right people, attracting investors and starting my own brand.

On Inspiration…

You know, everything inspires me. Life inspires me. I never know what’s going to inspire me. It can be someone on the street or it can be a building or it can be a sound. Just everything around me inspires me, so you never know! It’s a moment!

 

For more information on Dmitry and his latest creations,
Follow Him on Twitter @DmitrySholokhov
And Check Out His Official Site