Words by Jesse Serwer, via Marie Claire—
Fresh off of her recent Project Runway win (or, more accurately, as a result of it), Anya Ayoung-Chee appears in this month’s issue of Marie Claire. Featuring her Spring/Summer line in a spread, the women’s fashion magazine also spoke with Anya about her experience on the reality series. The interview, posted on Marie Claire‘s website on Wednesday, begins with a rather bold proclamation from Anya: “For Trinidad, this has been the equivalent of the World Cup.”
It may be a stretch to compare an individual victory on a U.S. reality show to a group victory in a worldwide sports tournament, but Anya’s victory has certainly provided a big P.R. boost for the region’s fashion industry. As Anya put it when we interviewed her back when the Project Runway season was just starting in August, her individual victory is actually a shared victory in the eyes of many Caribbeans, because “there’s a sense that maybe there’s a chance for us people who come from a small place to make it.”