Boston Fashion: Jay McCarroll Has 40 Minutes To Save Fashion

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A couple of weeks ago, we posed the question, ‘What happened to Jay McCarroll?’ We found out he that he had produced his first line and had a few other projects in the works. One of which, the documentary "Eleven Minutes," debuts tonight at the Boston Independent Film Festival. We got a chance to speak to Jay about the movie, fashion and what we can expect in the near future.

"HORRIBLE!" was the answer we got when asking how the ‘Project Runway’ winner how he was doing that sunny Saturday afternoon, but he quickly followed up with, “Just kidding, I’m good,” and a giggle. Talking to Jay McCarroll is like chatting with one of your friends over tea. The guard appears to be down; he’s silly and honest. He’s just being himself. We talk about fashion (he’s not a fan that lines of fashion are being skewed and not much of a fan of this whole rappers trying to be designers and visa versa trend that’s going on). He’s tell us he loves the new track from Madonna ("I sing it’s 40 Minutes, not 4. You try not saying 40!"). He serenades us with his favorite song from his youth ("No Myth" by Michael Penn), and then he professes his love for suburban living.

In the documentary "Eleven Minutes," you see McCarroll during the entire design process of his first collection: putting the concept together for the line, showing his collection, trying to sell his first line. He initially turned down the cash prize after winning Project Runway, hoping to find a licensing deal so he could spread the gospel of Jay McCarroll across the country.

McCarroll is very adamant about making fashion that everyone can wear.

“I mean, everyone wears clothes.”

A true statement that most major designers forget, but McCarroll is here to make sure that the woman at Bryant Park looks amazing and the working 20-someting working gal who's living on 35K a year looks fabulous. This summer, he will debut a line for QVC that will fit everyone from size 0 to 3XL. He admits to coming from a long line of big girls and then exclaims, "I’m a big girl myself!" Jay McCarroll wants his clothing to be fashionable and comfy. He wants to make fashion fun. He talks about living in this world where there’s a war going on and how we’re on the verge of a recession—two topics that would make anyone depressed on top of whatever other internal issues they're dealing with and sometimes you just need something as simple as a yellow sweater to brighten your day.

He understands that there are designers who will only design gowns and outfits that might be virtually impossible for the average woman to wear and he designs those outfits and dresses too. But he also wants to make something that his sisters would wear and would look flattering on their figures, too, instead of just catering to the women who look like living lollipops.

When we tell Jay we’re all set and all out of questions, he says, “That’s it?” and sounds almost sad to let us go. And to be honest, we were, too. For those of you who want a piece of Jay McCarroll, you can find his new line of t-shirts, bags and his blog on his website jaymccarroll.com.You can find Jay in Boston tonight for the Boston premier of ‘"Eleven Minutes." If you do run into him, please tell him that the author of this piece has also changed the lyrics of "4 Minutes" to 40 Minutes. It’s impossible not to! More proof Jay McCarroll is a trendsetter.

Image from the documentary ‘Eleven Minutes’