If it's true you should watch out for the quiet ones, then Project Runway season 4 designer Marion Lee might be trouble.

Not only is he one of the contestants without a lot of advance details circulating, he's also soft-spoken and reserved in his Bravo interview.

However, we do have some details about him, including the fact that he might have recently hit a big milestone.

His age is listed as 39-years-old in his Bravo biography, and he mentions in his interview that he is a Libra. Since right now it is Libra birthday time, he might have or is about to hit the big 4-0. Entertainment Weekly already lists him as graduated to that next age bracket.

This apparently reserved designer is from Tyler, TX, and currently resides in Dallas. But don't think his fashion palette is limited by not being from one of the more fashion-forward coasts. He was educated at Tim Gunn's own Parsons School of Design, where he won the silver and gold thimble for his work.

He then returned to Dallas, where he has worked as visual director for local upscale store Stanley Korshak. He also began producing custom pieces for the store, and working on his own line which has since been featured in Bazaar and Cosmopolitan. He still has a connection to New York, where stylists have used his work in editorial pieces with Nikki Taylor, Lenny Kravitz, Gisele, and Jade Jagger.

In addition to his design work, he's also recently started his own retail endeavor, with a retail home-décor shop in Dallas that he calls an “oversized curiosity cabinet.”

Tim Gunn thinks his wide-ranging visual sense could be effective on Project Runway, saying “Designers design. If you can design a house, you can design fashion. If you can design a table setting, you can design fashion.''

Marion's family appears to be the cornerstone of his life. He learned to design by helping his grandmother with her sewing, his sister encouraged him to apply for Project Runway, and he calls his stepfather (his own father passed away when he was young) his inspiration.

His approach to the show appears to be as measured and mellow as his way of speaking. He says he is trying to take each challenge as a task in and of itself. He is only focusing on doing the best he can in each stage, rather than getting too concerned with the pressure of winning the overall competition. We'll see if this Zen approach can work within the high-stress environment of a reality show.


- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Sources: Blogging ProjectRunway, Bravotv.com, Dallas Observer, Entertainment Weekly
(Image courtesy of Bravo)