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"Milwaukee is taking center stage in the cutthroat world of high fashion. Not just one, but two area designers are battling it out on the latest season of \"Project Runway.\"WISN 12 News reporter Shelby Croft got the dirt on the behind-the-scenes drama.\"That's made from an army wool blanket,\" Project Runway contestant Miranda Levy said about one of her designs.The military uniform is a big inspiration for fashion designer Miranda Levy. She grew up in the tiny town of Wilton, Wis., and then joined the Army.\"I basically fixed the vehicles that fix the roads,\" Levy said.She landed in Milwaukee after that and stayed.The city's also now home to designer Timothy Westbrook, transplanted from upstate New York after doing an artist residency at the Pfister Hotel. He works mostly with repurposed materials and weaves his own fabric.\"This is actually audio cassette tape woven into cloth,\" Westbrook said, referring to some fabric he designed.\"You could say Miranda is a militant fashion designer,\" Croft said. \"Westbrook considers himself a fiber artist. They took different roads, but each led to the same runway.\"\"I had just gotten laid off at Kohl's corporate, and an hour later I got that phone call, and I was like, 'Whew,'\" Levy said.After trying three times, Levy finally landed on Project Runway this season. She said she didn't expect the 15 to 18 hours a day shooting and didn't realize the deadlines are real.\"There is no TV magic, and we are working on those extreme pressure time situations,\" Levy said.Levy said she was shocked to see Westbrook also in the television workroom. He won't utter a word about the show, only the work that may have gotten him there.\"It was actually my Italian grandmother who taught me how to hand sew when I was five,\" Westbrook said.His love of sewing, combined with his love of nature and anything green, led to his career path.While Westbrook stays silent about the show, Levy is dishing.\"There was a lot of drama,\" Levy said.And that drama may be between Milwaukee's runway rivals.\"I'd say we're frenemies,\" Levy said.The finale hasn't been shot yet, so not even the designers know who won.If you're curious where to find their work, Levy sells items at Lela in the Historic Third Ward and does custom jobs. Westbrook has a space in the Grand Avenue Mall."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wisn.com/article/two-project-runway-contestants-from-milwaukee-1/6316621>