Christian Siriano was born to design. Raised by a creative family in Annapolis, Maryland, Christian was first introduced to the arts through his sister's interest in dance. Christian himself performed with The Ballet Theater of Maryland, though his passion for dramatic costumes outshone his plie. Christian began designing professionally at just 13 years old while working at Bubbles, a trendy Annapolis hair salon. The salon took first prize two years running at an annual hair competition thanks to the elaborate costumes he designed and constructed. Confident he wanted to pursue a career in fashion, Christian went on to study fashion design at the Baltimore School for the Arts and, upon graduation, at the American Intercontinental University in London.

Just months after arriving in Europe, Christian showed a small collection during London's 2005 fall fashion week. His ambition earned him an internship with punk legend Vivienne Westwood and, during his senior year, a prized position with Alexander McQueen.

Christian returned to the United States and moved to New York City after graduating. He worked as a freelance bridal designer and collaborated with Rosetta Getty on her Riser Goodwyn label, but his big break came when he earned a spot on season four of Bravo's hit program Project Runway. Despite fierce competition, Christian earned his spot as the show's youngest ever winner, fan favorite, and a rising star in the fashion world.

Since winning, Christian has designed for several celebrities, including style icons Victoria Beckham, Heidi Klum, Anne Hathaway, and legend Whoopi Goldberg, for whom he created an ensemble for her to wear as host of the 2008 Tony Awards. He created the dress Kimberly Locke wore to debut her new single on season seven of American Idol, designed outfits for Becki Newton and Vanessa Williams to wear on Ugly Betty, and created several outfits for singer Estelle's album release, as part of a special design project with Puma. He also made a cameo appearance in the music video for Estelle's single "No Substitute Love."

In addition to his guest starring role on hit television series Ugly Betty and Bravo's Make Me A Supermodel, Christian has appeared on daytime and late night talk shows - he was a red carpet fashion correspondent for the 2008 Emmy Awards, 2008 MTV Movie Awards, and the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, and a guest judge for the 2008 Miss USA Pageant.

Christian is designing a full couture collection to appear in the upcoming film Eloise in Paris, starring Uma Thurman, slated to film in 2009. He has a book coming out in 2009 with Grand Central Publishing and recently sold out of an exclusive line for Bluefly.com.

In September 2008 Christian showed his Spring 2009 collection at New York Fashion Week with sponsorship from LG, Sprint, Victoria's Secret Beauty, and Cibu International. In attendance at the packed show were Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn, Nina Garcia, Becki Newton, 30 Rock's Katrina Bowden, Gossip Girl's Amanda Setton, Leigh Lezark, and many well-wishing designers from several seasons of Project Runway.

Echoing his comment last spring that Christian is "his generation's Marc Jacobs," Gunn told Newsday that Christian's spring collection is "staggering… I'm extremely proud of him. What I saw today represents four or five years of evolution, not four or five months. He really is the next great American fashion designer, I'm confident of it."

Shop the Christian Siriano for Payless Spring ’10 collection now at select Payless store and online at www.payless.com.