"Project Runway" has put a Minneapolis designer one step closer to being "in" -- Raul Osorio will compete on the Lifetime TV show's 10th season.
Osorio, 27, has participated in many Twin Cities fashion shows, including Voltage, Pale Rider, Sceneasota and a Third Thursday event at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. He's known primarily for menswear, but he has more recently been designing women's clothing, which usually is the centerpiece of "Project Runway" challenges.
Currently filming the show in New York, Osorio studied apparel technologies at Minneapolis Community and Technical College, but he credits his mother in his native Honduras for his sewing know-how. His passion for design runs deep.
"Fashion helps define who we are, and I wouldn't have it any other way," he said last year. "I'm a very emotional individual, and I think that every time I make a collection I try to tell a story through my designs."
Osorio is the fifth designer with close ties to Minnesota to compete on the reality competition show.
"It is showing that Minneapolis has talent," said Christopher Straub, a Season 6 competitor who made it to the top five.
He crossed paths with Osorio earlier this month at a fundraiser but didn't know about his TV role at that time.
"It would be great to have somebody from Minneapolis go far, far, far," Straub said.