What a Dahl

STARE MASTER Kelly lounges in one of her dresses.

Mention the name Alison to Project Runway fans and the reaction is always the same: “Oh, I love her! She got voted off way too early!”

Alison Kelly may have been “auf’d” from the show before she should have, but the fan favorite is remembered for her fashion-forward designs and Brigitte Bardot looks. “I get that all the time,” she says over avocado toast and lattes at a café in New York’s Soho district. “It’s so nice to know that so many people were drawn to my attitude and my style—especially when I’m having a bad day.”

Judging by her warm demeanor and überfriendliness (the girl even drives this reporter to another borough after lunch), it doesn’t seem like the Cape Cod native has had too many bad days recently. She admits that she was pretty bummed right after she finished the show but quickly adds that she’s good at moving on. “You can’t rethink everything,” she says.

And she has moved on. The spring/summer collection of her line Dahl (taken from her middle name, Dahlgren, which is also her Swedish grandmother’s maiden name) launches this week on Shopbop.com. Her inspiration is sweetly romantic: “I was in love the whole time I was designing this collection,” she confesses. The day before leaving to film Project Runway, Kelly fell hard for a Brooklyn boy. Due to the rules of the reality show, they couldn’t see each other during the six weeks she was filming, but they starting hanging out when she returned and have been together since.

“It’s very romantic; it reminds me of what beautiful antique dolls might be wearing,” Kelly says of the new clothes. She’s been musing over Victorian pieces, and that shows up in her jumpers, a crocheted halter top mixed with subtle beading and a complementary jewelry collection she created with designer (and high-school friend) Rachel Leigh. Like the clothing collection, the accessories have a romantic angle, using old keys, hearts with pins, and Eiffel Tower charms.

For her next collection, though, Kelly plans to reach out to brick-and-mortar boutiques. “What’s really important to me is the experience you have with clothes,” she says. “I feel like people should be able to go in and look at it. I like that process.” Melissa Shipley, who focuses on emerging designers at her boutique, Lissa on Maxwell, says Dahl could work in her store. “What I like about Alison’s collection is that it is feminine and pretty,” she says. “The interesting details give each piece an edge, and I love the color palette.”

Kelly’s aware of the fleeting nature of fame, especially fame rooted in reality TV—but don’t expect her to design tees for corporate coffee chains anytime soon, like fellow contestant Mychael Knight. “Everybody [is] telling me to strike while the iron’s hot,” she says when asked about upcoming projects. “I want to build my reputation as a designer and not a TV personality. I’m not just going to jump on the bandwagon of anything.”

Dahl is available at www.shopbop.com.