Runway's unintentional winner

MELBOURNE: Brisbane designer Juli Grbac has become an accidental hero after being named the inaugural winner of reality television show Project Runway Australia. Twenty-nine-year-old Grbac did not intend entering the awards but was persuaded by organisers of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Festival to represent Queensland alongside fellow Brisbane local Leigh Buchanan.

The pre-recorded show, which aired on Arena TV on Monday night (September 15), saw Grbac, Buchanan and Victorian finalist Petrova Hammond charged with creating an 11th piece for their final collection from the fabric of outfits they had created in previous challenges.

The judging panel, which included designer Jayson Brunsdon, buyer Sarah Gale, L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival director Karen Webster, Madison editor Paula Joye and host model Kirstie Hinze, eliminated Hammond first.

While Brunsdon said there was a "raw sensuality" to her work, Gale said Hammond needed to rein in her overt creativity. "There's always a trick to your garments but you need to ensure they're not too kooky and everyone else gets its as well."

Buchanan was placed second with judges stating that his final collection had an "air of opulence and Victorian decadence" to it, however Joye noted there was a discrepency between his womenswear and menswear.

Grbac, judges noted, had been clever in the way she had managed to exercise restraint on her final collection.

"It took you on a beautiful journey, it was so heavenly," Brunsdon said.

Contestants gathered at Sydney's Oxford Hotel in Darlinghurst to watch the final episode with show mentor Henry Roth and judges Jayson Brunsdon and Sarah Gale.

Grbac - who has run her own label for six years from her mother's basement - won $100,000 towards creating a collection for L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Week, a six-page spread in Madison magazine and a car.