With his signature silhouettes, Orlando designer Jeffrey Kelly Abess will be fashionably representing the City Beautiful on the upcoming season of popular reality competition Project Runway.
“We have so many talented people here, but for some reason, when you put them in a group with people from LA or New York, they’re automatically gonna have in their head, ‘Well, what is there in Florida? What is there in Orlando?’” Kelly says. “They didn’t know me at this point, walking into the competition, nobody knew me. Once they did get to know me, it was like, ‘Oh my god, you do all that and you live in Orlando?’”
Kelly is a self-taught designer renowned for snatched silhouettes and signature fit. He is the only employee of his Jeffrey Kelly Designs brand — although his partner, Eric, does help.
“I’ve always had a signature fit. I don’t see it, but people, when they see my things, before I even post it, are like, ‘I know Jeffrey made that because it’s cut this way.’ I think the reason people recognize them so easily is because I am a self-taught designer,” Kelly says.
Project Runway marks the first time that Kelly has really worked with other designers. To Kelly, it was like a whole new world. Contestants had interns assigned to them, but Kelly didn’t really understand what an intern would do. “I’ve never had that,” Kelly says. “And they didn’t believe me because they went to my page and were like, ‘There’s no way that you do that by yourself.’ But yeah, that’s literally my life.”
On top of working solo, a lot of his real-life commissions require quick turnarounds. And that includes designs for another reality flagship, RuPaul’s Drag Race, for contestants like Myki Meeks, Heidi N Closet and Jewels Sparkles. For many commissions, he gets two to three weeks to craft his intricate designs, some of which are finished without a fitting.
“I have become an expert at fit,” Kelly says. “If my clients are fit and I send them a garment, you don’t have to pay $1,000 for a tailor to come in and have a fit session with you.”
All of these factors prepped the local designer for the fast-paced world of Project Runway, where turnaround time is usually one day. “In my heart, I never had a day where I was like, ‘I don’t think I can do that.’ I’m one of those people that this is my life every day. I am a one-day challenge kind of person because that’s what people hire me to do,” Kelly says.
One of the greatest strengths a designer can have on Project Runway is knowing their own skills and limitations. This is something Kelly knows very well. “I knew no matter what, I will have something and something good, ” Kelly says. “Even at 35 years old, just a few years ago, I wouldn’t think that confidently. But for some reason, in the last two years, I’ve gotten just more confident and assured because there’s nobody there to do that for me when I’m at home by myself. It’s just me on my machine.”
Another source of pride for Kelly is being a designer in Central Florida. Jeffrey Kelly Designs was started in Orlando in 2020. Kelly began making designs for a client list that included his good friend and Drag Race star Trinity the Tuck. “I did it, not really knowing anything,” Kelly says “It’s actually funny now that I think about it. The very same look I did for that aesthetic has carried through my brand.”
Although there is no shortage of talented creatives in Orlando, there are precious few stores for these creatives to shop at, especially since Joann Fabrics shut down. Despite that, Kelly creates all of his looks at his Central Florida home.On Project Runway, Kelly hopes to prove that it doesn’t matter if you come from a fashion capital and you don’t have the resources that someone else does. If you have a goal and a drive, you can make it — and that’s exactly what he did.
“I had so many opportunities to move to New York and LA and I said no because I like that about myself,” Kelly says. “I like that I live here and I can still do what everyone else does [and] more sometimes.”
Season 22 of Project Runway starts Thursday, July 9, with a two-episode premiere on the cable network Freeform. The episodes will be available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu the next day. This season is set to be the largest yet with 22 designers competing. To accommodate these 22 contestants, there is a brand-new workspace for them in Manhattan. Host Heidi Klum returns with Nina Garcia and Law Roach to judge the competition. This season the trio will be joined by the infamous Tyra Banks. Guest judges include celebrities like Nina Dobrev, Ice Spice and Winnie Harlow.
“I want Central Florida to be proud,” Kelly says. “Jeffrey Kelly Designs is representing Orlando 100 percent.”
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This article appears in July 8-14, 2026.