Project Runway is bringing a taste of Queens with its newest season, debuting July 31, featuring locally based contestant and designer, Yuchen Han.
The Northern Queens resident first moved to New York City in 2017 from Xining, China, to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan before settling in Queens. Since then, Han has been making a name for himself in the fashion realm and has a personal mission to empower others through futuristic and enlightenment-focused designs. He often draws inspiration from his love of sci-fi films and aliens.
“I’m telling my personal story, but at the same time, I wanted to reference social issues, so I’m talking about domestic violence, mental health, and spiritual awakening,” said Han. “After all these years, I started to transfer all this pain into power, and it turned into this mission of uplifting people.”
Han described growing up in an abusive household, and the experience often left him feeling alone and like he didn’t belong. The feeling drew him to sci-fi films and alien movies as an outlet, at times even wishing to leave Earth and discover alien life. Han initially became interested in fashion after discovering Lady Gaga’s music and fashion sense, which gave him a sense of confidence and empowerment after the things he’d gone through.
His love of sci-fi and futuristic themes crossed over into his work, where he combines social issues and his passion for all things sci-fi. After graduating from FIT and creating connections in the fashion industry, Han has had his designs featured during NY Fashion Week and Harvest Fashion Week, as well as Shanghai Fashion Week in China. After building a following on Instagram, a producer from the reality show reached out to Han to ask him if he would be interested in being a contestant on the show. After years of watching the show on his own throughout his life, the incredible opportunity was too good to pass up.
“Project Runway is such an amazing TV show,” said Han. “I’ve been watching it since I was in middle school, and this show inspired me to learn fashion to some degree. With Heidi [Klum] coming back, everything is getting upgraded for the show, so this is going to be a very, very exciting season.”
The popular reality TV show, now in its 21st season, features designers and stylists from all over the world who compete on a series of challenges throughout the show to design clothes in various challenges with different themes, materials, and time constraints. This season will feature star-studded figures in the fashion realm, such as Heidi Klum, who will return to the show to host after an eight-year hiatus from the program, former winner Christian Siriano, who will return as a mentor, Nina Garcia, who is returning to the show as a judge, and fashion stylist Law Roach, who is joining the panel as the newest judge. The drama and excitement between designers is definitely elevated to make for an exciting program.
“I do think this season is very intense, because we have very busy schedules and a lot of interesting and hard challenges, and all of the candidates are very talented, which makes it even harder,” said Han. “I think all the designers give all this drama and stories that are good TV; I think that’s the most important part. We love each other on the show, we hate each other on the show, but after all, it’s all about love. There’s this friendship we shared on this show, no matter what happens, so it’s really a beautiful show.”
The show will feature 12 contestants from throughout the U.S and other countries, all coming from different backgrounds and experiences in design and styling. With challenges that are constantly pushing contestants to the next level, the experience was inspiring for Han to be amongst other talented creatives who each have their own story and perspective. As viewers watch the episodes unveil each week, it’ll certainly be just the beginning of Han’s journey, especially for Queens residents who might want to root for the fellow Queens native.
“I feel very lucky, and I feel like it’s such a coincidence that we met all the designers on the show this season,” said Han. “We come from different backgrounds, and we have different design perspectives, so everyone’s very interesting.”
Project Runway’s 21st season will air this Thursday, July 31, on Freeform at 9 p.m., as well as on Hulu and Disney+. To learn more or keep up to date with the season, follow @projectrunway. To stay up to date with Yuchen and all of his work, follow him at @yuchenhan_1.
