The “Project Runway” judge who once worked in public relations for Perry Ellis is Nina Garcia.
Garcia began her fashion career at Perry Ellis, working in its public-relations department while Marc Jacobs was the company’s head designer. That early experience connected her to both fashion communication and the designer-driven side of the industry.
She later moved into fashion journalism and magazine editing, holding positions at Mirabella and Elle before becoming fashion director at Elle and later Marie Claire. Garcia joined Project Runway as a judge when the series premiered in 2004, making her one of the show’s longest-running judging personalities.
A common mix-up is confusing Garcia’s role with that of the show’s designers or celebrity judges. She is not primarily known as a fashion designer; her background is in fashion journalism, editorial direction, and industry criticism. Her Perry Ellis public-relations work was an early step in that broader fashion-media career.