by Gina Scarpa and Allie Giffes

On The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection, Cindy came into the competition with her business partner and best friend, Golnessa, who was eliminated from the competition in episode 5. Cindy left the competition shortly after and was deemed "out of fashion" after she was (unfortunately) matched up with Calvin to design a wedding look for a gay couple.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Knowing that menswear is not your specialty - what was going through your mind when you found out that you were, of course, designing for the only male couple in the challenge?
A. Cindy: Oh my God! So many things were going through my mind. Obviously, I was thinking to myself, "Are you kidding me? What else can go wrong for me?" Other than picking Calvin as my partner, having to design for men was a complete shock for me. I was trying to get out of that shock but I tried my best.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you think the judges' decision was fair after experiencing the way Calvin treated his client?
A. Cindy: Like I said on the show, I'm obviously not blind and I know that my garment wasn't the best. It's sort of like having to choose between a person with a bad attitude or the person with the bad garment. Obviously, they chose the worse garment. That just happened to be me. Maybe I could've done better but I felt like I threw myself into the biggest black hole and I couldn't have gotten out of it. Making menswear is not what I do. It's not what I create. When I make patterns, I make patterns for curves.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You certainly had one of the more emotional exits from the runway after your elimination, and you said you were not ready to leave the competition. Were you expecting to be eliminated after this challenge because of how much you struggled?
A. Cindy: You really don't know. At the end of the day, you really don't know who is going to be eliminated. It's up to who the judges want to eliminate because every week, it was just shocking. It was like, "Why did this person go home? Why did we lose?" I didn't know what to expect. I wasn't ready to leave. I really did go there to win the competition. I left so much back home. It was what it was. I couldn't beg them.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Do you think working with someone as difficult as Calvin hurt you in this challenge?
A. Cindy: It was a challenge within a challenge. Maybe working with somebody else would've been a bit more helpful. I don't want to think about that because then I'll be on the "What ifs" and not move forward. I'm going to learn from this.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Before you walked off of the runway, Iman told you that you have "all it takes." That means a lot coming from her! As a designer, how did you grow during this competition and how do you incorporate what you learned into your career after The Fashion Show?
A. Cindy: As a designer, just being part of this competition was a bit more eye opening to try to grasp other people's ideas and try to get good and bad criticism without taking them too hard. I really tried to learn from that. What Iman said to me was probably the best thing that happened to me on the show. I was just so torn apart, knowing that I was leaving. She grabbed my hand so hard and stopped me. She even stood up for me and told me that I got what it takes. It meant so much to do. Even to talk about it right now, I get emotional and it's hard to talk about. That's something I'm going to have with me for the rest of my life.

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What is your main focus as a designer right now?
A. Cindy: I'm working on my collection, which I'll be showing at a fashion show by February. I'm just trying to make the best collection I can and learn everything from the show. I just want to have the best collection ever. I'm still working with Golnessa. For everyone out there, look out for our collection. It's going to be a really, really great collection. We're really pushing ourselves this time. We're not sleeping!

The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

Follow Gina @ginascarpa and Allie @agiffes

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