Season 6 of famed fashion reality show Project Runway accepted into its contestants tall, blonde — and dare I say — bombshell Althea Harper. Hailing from Dayton Ohio, Harper was a recent college graduate when accepted onto the show. She was young and bubbly, but this designer also brought talent to match. On Project Runway she received much praise for her work from Tim Gunn, “Everyone [thinks] she’s only on the show because she’s a tall blonde beauty. But she’s extremely talented. She’s going to blow people away.” Others like celebrity guest judge Tommy Hilfiger declared Harper’s work to be “genius.”

Harper honed her craft at design school at University of Cincinnati School of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning as well as abroad at Central Saint Martins in London. During her studies she worked with some of fashion’s most prestigious names: Alexander McQueen, Ann Sui, Vivienne Westwood, and Zac Posen. On Project Runway she proved herself by making it to the final three designers, giving her the opportunity to show at New York Fashion Week. Although she did not win the competition her place as first runner up won her a position with the design team of well-known label, Tory Burch. While contributing there Harper began to build her own self-titled line, Althea Harper, which she now designs for and runs full time.

Since its runway birth in 2009, the Althea Harper line has shown consistently at New York Fashion week. Through this showing and the growth of her line, Althea’s work is starting to cement a place for itself in the world of fashion. Her work creates balance between soft and hard, using structure and tailoring juxtaposed with draping which automatically adds softness and femininity to her modern pieces. Her contrast melding puts her in the perfect place to design for the edgy, fashion-forward women of today.

The spring 2011 collection from Althea Harper was named Harmonics. Upon first glance it seems to offer something for almost everyone. The silhouettes in Harmonics vary from skin-tight dresses, skirts, and tops to oversized sweaters and loose fitting trousers. This range offers both clear and obvious sexiness as well as subtle grace. If the collection cannot dress everyone it at least attempts to speak to women everywhere. Harper explains, “I was inspired by sound waves-the shapes they make and how they symbolize our communication to one another. I took the curves of the waves and then contoured them on the body to enhance the female form through both cut and print. I wanted to create a statement for a woman, through the shapes of sound, to communicate to the world without even saying a word.“

The piping and different prints loop the collection from one piece to the next — like a sound wave extending until it fades. As she explained, Harper placed these accents along the curves of the body-this technique enhances the curviness of the wearer and gives this collection a greatly feminine heir. The designer makes her silent statement through a mostly neutral palette of creams, grays, blacks, and tans. An yet, just when it may seem that the conversation may not rise above a whisper pops of hot pink, royal blue and shiny black patent leather interrupt the conversation and snap the viewer to attention. These accents explain that this collection is pretty, but it is not sugar, spice and everything nice. There is a definite edge butting up against the softness that makes up the majority of the collection.

See Althea Harper’s Harmonics collection and more on her website.