July 09, 2026
Heidi Gutman/Disney
Varvara 'Bobby' Diakonenkova, of West Philly, is one of 22 contestants on the new season of 'Project Runway.'
Varvara Diakonenkova applied to compete on the newest season of "Project Runway" as an antic while joking with friends. Instead, she found herself thrown into the deep end of the fashion industry and will make her debut as one of 22 contestants starring in the show’s season premiere Thursday.
Diakonenkova, who goes by Bobby, has lived in West Philly since she moved from Moscow to study fashion design at Drexel in 2021. Although the 23-year-old has been drawing and designing garments since she "learned how to hold a pencil," she said the experience challenged her creatively and emotionally more than she expected, and it left her with a deeper appreciation for her home in Philadelphia.
Despite her longtime passion for the craft, "Project Runway" was never Diakonenkova’s goal. She said she and her friends would often poke fun at the quality of projects that were showcased on the series and roll their eyes at the restrictive timelines that contestants had to abide by. But, when Diakonenkova saw an open casting call for the series, she decided to throw her hat in the ring — if for no other reason than to say she did.
"We were just watching it and commenting on everything," she said. "Honestly, it was like 2 a.m. and we were all tired to the point where you're delusional and laughing. So, as they're talking I'm filling out the questionnaire for the casting. … I made this really funny video that I edited with stupid iMovie music in the background, and then I got a call the next morning."
Diakonenkova describes herself as an outspoken person who admittedly allows spite to play a major role in her motivation, but she saw an opportunity to showcase her passion for design as a storytelling medium, which she has used to touch on topics like domestic violence awareness, oppressive governance in Russia and the "American Dream."
"It's hard for me to find a poetic theme and evolve it without really, deeply relating to it," she said. "With trends, I try to stay away from that. I'm dodging those things. … Obviously, I can't speak on everything because some things just haven't affected me, but it's really important for me to continue speaking about my country … my family, my friends that are being silenced. That still continues to be my mission."
She wasn’t shocked when she made it through the successive rounds of interviews ("things like that kind of just happen to me," she said), but there was one roadblock standing in her way — her disdain for sewing.
"I absolutely hate sewing," Diakonenkova said. "I just don't have the patience for it. I would sit at the machine sometimes and it's like I have imaginary red crosses over my head. If I f--- up, I’m throwing things around, leaving, crying, scolding myself, because that’s just part of how I was raised."
Varvara 'Bobby' Diakonenkova, standing second from left, will compete on Season 22 of 'Project Runway.'
"Project Runway," entering its 22nd year on the air, has promised its upcoming season will be its biggest yet, with a grand prize of $100,000 cash and industry mentorship on the line. Heidi Klum, Law Roach, Nina Garcia and Christian Siriano, all towering figures in the fashion industry, will return to host and mentor the largest cast in the show’s history, putting contestants through several rigorous challenges that test their technique, taste and time management.
Motivated to prove herself, Diakonenkova said she tried to brush up on her skills as much as possible before shooting in March, by attempting to memorize silhouettes that she felt comfortable replicating on the workroom floor. But once she arrived in New York to film, she said her plan went out the window. Diakonenkova felt confident in the ideas she brought to the table and tried her best while sewing, but admits that she "lost (her) s---" a few times in the process.
"When you're there and when you have that little time and stakes are so high of course the entire strategy leaves your mind, especially with how anxious of a person I am," she said. "I just had to figure things out and tackle my anger as it came."
Growing up in Russia, Diakonenkova said she was raised by "shopaholics" who surrounded her with good taste. She recalled regularly wearing designer clothing in kindergarten. Some of her most formative memories were sketching clothing designs while watching "America’s Next Top Model" before completing her homework, often filling up full-length sketchbooks within a week.
She attended art school in Moscow for three years before her parents urged her to to take advantage of better opportunities and escape the country’s increasingly fraught political climate by applying to college in the United States. During her time at Drexel’s College of Media Arts & Design, she said she was frequently picked on by classmates and found that she was harshly criticized for her ideas.
"I would leave up my drawings and people would take them down and leave me a note like 'Bobby, you're not her,'" Diakonenkova said. "People would collectively not talk to me. It was weird. It also charged me to prove them all wrong. They can hate me all day long, but I’m still going to do my best."
In her junior year of college, she and her collaborator and friend Elias Yahn, who goes by the stage name Elias Frost, founded the art collective "Most Hated," a nod to the "haters" from her past. Diakonenkova says she traditionally spearheads design ideas while Frost perfects the pieces' construction.
Under the brand, the two hosted a fashion show in FDR Park last summer and collaborated on a collection called "Scarred by Wires," which earned Diakonenkova a win at the 2025 Supima Design Competition. She also received a nod this summer from editors at Vogue as one of the 50 young people from across the country who they say best represents modern American style.
"I just like doing things out of spite, I think it’s my greatest motivation," she said. "'Most Hated' is just reclaiming that, like, 'Yes, hate me.'"
By the time she wrapped on the show, Diakonenkova returned to Philly with a newfound respect for her city and peers in the design industry and entertainment business — she said she will never joke about a reality TV star crying on camera again.
"While I was on 'Project Runway,’ I realized how close of a home Philadelphia has become to me," she said. "... I think Philly was the city that I was destined to be in. People that I met in Philadelphia may misunderstand me, but they are trying to understand and they are welcoming and caring. Philadelphia being the city of brotherly love, I have experienced exactly that."
Diakonenkova said she is working on a new collection dedicated to the people and places that make Philly home. In the meantime, she said she's feeling a mix of emotions about the "Project Runway" premiere, but she hopes that it will set her on the right path.
"I'm excited about opportunities and I really hope they come," she said. "I'm also worried and really nervous because I don't know how I'll be edited and appear on millions of screens. But I really hope that people don't make conclusions about my designing abilities based on what they see."
Catch Diakonenkova on the season premiere of "Project Runway" on Freeform on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. Episodes are available for next-day streaming on Hulu and Disney+.
