Christian Siriano talks about holiday plans, Leslie Jones, Melania Trump
Christian Siriano was once known as a reality star on “Project Runway,” but now his name is most tied with dressing celebrities for red carpet events and awards shows with gowns from his eponymous label.
Now, Siriano is taking Hershey’s chocolate to the drawing board and dressing the windows of the New York store for the holiday. He talked to CBS News about his holiday plans, Leslie Jones and if he’d ever dress Melania Trump.
How did you end up designing holiday windows for Hershey’s?
We launched these new holiday Kisses and we wanted to do something fun and festive. I designed my window display around Kisses. It was really fun, playful and I tried to bring my fashion element to it.
I actually have never really done a holiday window so it was new and exciting and obviously I’m a big chocolate lover, so that was also kind of fun.
What are your Christmas plans?
I do a very chill Christmas in Connecticut. I have a house in Connecticut and it’s one of those things where me and my family -- we eat and we craft and that’s it. It’s fun.
What do you make?
We really do make random things. We’ll just decorate, make ornaments and we’ve done everything, like cake decorating. It’s also just to pass the time so we don’t drive each other crazy, so it’s great and my mom is very crafty.
What’s the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
Oh my God, tough. Ooh … I don’t know. I mean I would say now I have gotten a few really beautiful pieces of art. My husband likes to buy art a lot so he’ll find really new and interesting painters and different, kind of random artists, so those are the things I like the most because they feel more thoughtful.
You stepped in and dressed Leslie Jones for the “Ghostbusters” premiere when she couldn’t find a dress.
Yeah, it was really great. I love Leslie. I think she is such a talented actress and amazing woman and yeah, you know, I think she had a great moment. We gave her a real “Pretty Woman” moment and I dressed her a few weeks afterward for the Emmys, so we stay in touch and I love her dearly. She bought me a fabulous wedding present I’ll never forget
What is it?
I can’t tell you. It’s a secret. I’m glad we met and hopefully we’ll have many more moments together.
Who is your dream celebrity to dress?
I’m a big fan of Cate Blanchett and I haven’t really done anything for her yet, so that would be kind of something on my list.
Would you dress Melania Trump?
I probably wouldn’t as of right now, but you know, we’ll see how it goes in the next four years.
Leslie Jones couldn’t find a dress because she had a hard time finding a designer who would accommodate her size. There’s been some back and forth on what it means to be high fashion. What is the high-fashion look now, to you?
What’s great about fashion is clothes are supposed to be an emotional change -- you can change your feeling, change your mood -- and I don’t think that has to do with any level of price point or anything. I just think women should feel great about themselves. Put on a dressy pair of shoes or whatever it is. That’s all I really care about. I don’t really care about anything else as long as you look and feel good. That’s my whole mentality about it.
Your wedding was star-studded. What was your big day like for you?
It was really nice. I got married at home in Connecticut and it was really nice. I loved having such a random mix of people. We had Danielle Brooks, who’s in “The Color Purple” -- she sang for us. It was just really, really nice. It was all white and really pretty. It was a great feeling.
How has your transition been from reality star now that you’re known foremost for your fashion designs?
I was on a show that was about making clothes and it was a talent-based show. Luckily, I wasn’t on just a show about my life, but obviously 10 years later, you have to work at it and the end all be all goal is to become a designer, have a brand, have a business and that’s what we do now and we try to make women feel great in our clothes.