Meet The Louisville Fashion Designer Starring On Bravo's "Project Runway"

Kirby Adams

The Courier-Journal (2019)

"Louisville-born fashion designer Frankie Lewis glances at the floor of her Los Angeles studio and sees a pile of store-bought hair. 'Boy that would look great on a dress,' she thinks.

Wait, what? Hair on a dress? You bet.

Lewis is no stranger to unconventional materials. She has created dresses, skirts and gowns from items like mattress pad covers, wallpaper, soundproofing and those rubbery beige sheets of kitchen drawer liners — just to name a few. [...]"

Read the full article here.

Inclusivity In Fashion

Renee Shaw

PBS KET (2019)

"Renee speaks with two Kentucky fashion designers who are promoting inclusivity in fashion. Frankie Lewis, a former contestant on Project Runway, talks about her new fashion line, Frankie Lew, and body positivity. Next, RaeShanda Johnson, a stylist and the owner of the Louisville boutique All is Fair in Love and Fashion, advocates for diversity on the runway and uses fashion to help others."

Watch the full interview here.

Runway To Success

Jaliyah Grant, Jessie Hendrix-Inman

Kentucky Monthly, 2019

"It’s a hot summer afternoon at The Cabbage Patch Settlement House, and fashion designer Frankie Lewis is walking an imaginary runway in the basketball gym.

'How many seconds was that?' she asks as she pauses beneath a basketball goal.

Throughout the year, this is a safe space for children of downtown and west Louisville to participate in athletics and other youth development activities. But for one night only, it will be transformed for a fashion show benefiting the community center. [...]"

Read the full article here.

"Made Of Magic”

UofL alumna returns from ‘Project Runway’ to brighten up Louisville

Cheyenne Hill

UofL News (2019)

"As models glided down the makeshift runway at the gym of the Cabbage Settlement House in everything from sleek black numbers to colorful avant-garde pieces to ethereal white gowns, every eye was on them.

Especially designer Frances 'Frankie' Lewis’s.

Watching her creations pass by was another step in a design journey that began in the costume workshop at UofL’s Thrust Theatre nearly a decade ago. [...]"

Read the full article here.

Louisville Native Frankie Lewis Prepares For ‘Project Runway’

Mattie Townson

The Voice-Tribune, 2019

"Up-and-coming fashion designer Frankie Lewis is taking her creative mind and talents to Season 17 of 'Project Runway' on the Bravo network. The show’s season premiere is happening March 14 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, and before its debut, we spoke with Lewis over the phone to learn about her incredible experience and how Louisville has shaped her career.

[...]"

Read the full interview here.

From Backstage

To The Runway

Alex Roma

Louisville Eccentric Observer (2019)

"In the world of theater, we tend to talk about the actors, directors and maybe even the playwrights and choreographers. But there are dozens of parts being played offstage that go into making a theater production. As a theater major, Frankie Lewis designed costumes for productions put on by the UofL, where she graduated in 2010. Now, she’s taken a different stage as a contestant on the hit Bravo show, 'Project Runway.' I talked to Lewis recently about her experience both as a theatrical costume designer and how that prepared her for her career as a fashion designer, and current 'Project Runway' contestant. [...]"

Read the full interview here.