S potted at the Julep Ball during the 2012 Kentucky Derby, Louisville native Gunnar Deatherage is in his second year working with the Survivor Ambassador program that benefits the James Graham Brown Cancer Center mission.
As for fashion in his hometown, he said that the Derby reminded him of a Barbie Paradise and loved how everyone is less fashionably inhibited.
I definitely was festive. I was wearing my mom’s fringe 70s gown, which made me look like a Disco Indian with my sparkle headband. I needed some professional stylist help. Luckily, Gunnar as well as fellow Project Runway designer Christian Siriano, who was also in attendance, felt that Derby appearances weren’t a serious event for me to worry about my failed elegance. Derby is about having a good time, sort of like the Mardi Gras, not like NYFW when everyone is being scrutinized to the hem. I know a little about that having forged two Fashion Weeks with a watermelon in my pants, I mean pregnant.
Accidental Mama with Gunner Deatherage at the Julep Ball
My most important question for Gunnar was if there was something from his childhood that influenced his ambitions as a designer.
“When I was five or six,” he replied. “I remember my grandma, before she passed away, would have these amazing Chanel and Dior pieces. I still have them and are pieces I always keep with me.”
