A former 'Project Runway' contestant turned dollar-store items into a showstopping dress on TikTok

• Gunnar Deatherage was a contestant on "Project Runway" and "Project Runway: All Stars."
• The designer recently mimicked the fashion competition's "unconventional materials" challenge on TikTok by turning $20 worth of materials from Dollar Tree into a glamorous dress.
• Deatherage's "Moulin Rouge!"-inspired outfit took him eight hours to complete.
• "I want to crack open people's imaginations. I think people can watch what I'm doing and see some possibility," Deatherage told Insider.

Former "Project Runway" contestant Gunnar Deatherage challenged himself to create a dress using only items from Dollar Tree, and in the famous words of the fashion competition's host, Tim Gunn, he made it work.

Earlier in August, Deatherage re-created the reality show's famous "unconventional materials" challenge — where designers are tasked with creating an outfit using supplies from places like hardware shops or drugstores — in a TikTok video.

The 30-year-old designer headed to the discount store with a $20 budget, which got him a metallic tinsel rope, glitter ribbon, and metallic cellophane wrapping paper.

Because he opted for a black-and-red color palette, Deatherage decided to create a "Moulin Rouge!"-inspired cancan dress.

Deatherage, who starred on seasons nine and 10 of "Project Runway" and season four of "Project Runway: All Stars," said that the hardest part of his personal design challenge was getting back into the zone of working with something other than traditional fabric.

He also reminisced on participating in the show's design challenges, saying that turning unexpected items into wearable pieces always made for an adventure.

"At the time, it was my favorite because I was so young and not as well-versed as the rest of the designers because I'm self-taught," Deatherage told Insider.

From start to finish, the detailed dress took him eight hours to create.

"You never know how it's going to turn out, so it's always fun to see it unveil itself as you go. I was a fan of it," he said.

Deatherage brings his designs to life in other TikTok fashion re-creations of pop culture moments

The Los Angeles-based designer put his own spin on a Vivienne Westwood wedding dress Sarah Jessica Parker wore in the "Sex and the City" movie.

"I think re-creating something is a really good way to practice your skill set, so I will definitely be doing more," he said.

He also re-created a colorful Ralph & Russo gown worn by Zendaya to the GQ Men of the Year Awards in 2018.

Deatherage told Insider he's currently planning his next dress made with unconventional items, which he will debut on TikTok.

"I want to crack open people's imaginations. I think people can watch what I'm doing and see some possibility," he said. "Because I'm self-taught and everything that I'm doing is a learned skill set, they can do that too. I hope I'm inspiring people to start creating."

Deatherage's designs can be found on his website.

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