Bishme Cromartie family with sister Chimere Didley and mother allowed him to pursue his passion. His sister passed away from cancer in 2022.
Bishme Cromartie, born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, began sketching his designs at the age of 8. He learned the basics of sewing from his aunt.
The African American male designer is a proud self-taught artist. After the creation of his clothing line, his modern yet simplified garments have earned him global praise.
A highly appraised contestant on Project Runway Season 17, his clothing molds and commemorate a woman’s body.
After competing in the show, he moved to Las Angeles and worked to establish his name and his work.
Clients such as Lizzo, Niecy Nash, Karrueche Tran, and Andra Day are dressed by him.
Bishme Cromartie has been featured in Elle, Essence, Forbes, Los Angeles Times, Vogue, The Washington Times, and WWD, as well as shown on Bravo and BET.
The designer makes a comeback to Project Runway season 20 All starts released on June 15 on Bravo; this time with advanced skills and high motivation.
Bishme Cromartie Family Life
Bishme Cromartie family includes his sister Chimere Faya Didley and his mother. His sister passed away from Cancer last year.
Growing up on Greenmount Avenue in Waverly with his mother and sister, the designer praises his East Baltimore background for building up his creativity at a very early age.
His modern and organized gowns seem like the art of a designer who appeared in a high and prestigious design school. But the actual talent of Cromartie is that he developed a business that sells custom garments out of his Saratoga Street Studio, all with his self-known skills.
His polite and optimistic intent, transmissible smile, and ability to spread joy and happiness around the area are what are loved by many. Celebrity stylist Wouri Vice expressed that “Bishme deserves to reach the top.”
Wasn’t a great surrounding, but helped him to concentrate, develop a work schedule and create a fictional world.
While he was still in his second grade, he began with his first garment design. He made many fabrics along with his own socks, and shorts to match his G.I.Joe action figure.
During summer in upstate New York, he learned the basics of sewing from his aunt Faye Dean Lacy.
His first real design was a T-shirt which he proudly wore to the Clifton branch of Enoch Pratt for an afterschool program at the age of 11.
He designed a prom dress in the tenth grade and continued till his graduation in 2011.
After school, he moved forward and applied to the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City but got rejected.
He took the other route and started making a line of designs that caught the attention of famous designers after tons of hard work.
Bishme Cromartie Sister Was His Inspiration
Bishme Cromartie sister Chimere Faya Didley passed away from cancer. She was the inspiration behind his designs.
The designer’s whole essence of strength was his mother and his sister who were both gorgeous, plus-sized women, through whom he was able to learn about all different types of bodies and what looks good on whom.
Cromartie’s vision is to make everyone feel beautiful irrespective of their size. The self-taught artist doesn’t want anyone to feel excluded from what he makes.
He made his sister’s wedding dress, something he will always remember. Didley appreciated his effort and said she was proud to wear a Bishme Cromartie dress.
Didley motivated her brother in whatever he believed. Bishme believed that he would appear on the Project Runway show, which the siblings grew up watching, and when he did, it was a full-circle moment for him.
Both siblings cried intensely when he received the news of being on Season 17 of Project Runway.
In April 2018, after eight months of marriage with her loving husband Scott, Chimere was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Her oncologist planned to begin chemotherapy immediately in May.
The therapy was conducted every other week. Throughout this time, she continued to grow and worked a full-time job.
The process was large and intense on her body, forcing her to leave the job and concentrate on her health finally, on July 24, 2022, she passed out.
Bishme Returns To Project Runway After Season 17
Bishme Cromartie returns to Project Runway after Season 17 on Project Runway Season 20. The show premiered on Bravo on June 15 at 8 p.m.
The new Season 20 of Project Runway All Stars brings back some of its biggest names as judges. They are Nina Garcia, Brandon Maxwell, and Elaine Welteroth.
They will be joined by a famous and well-known list of guest judges, who is an American actress, author, and activist Alicia Silverstone.
Season four ‘Runway’ expert Christian Siriano comebacks as a mentor to the participants, as done since season 17.
After being out from episode 13 of Project Runway Season 17, the designer moved to Los Angeles and worked hard to establish his name and brand. He also runs a direct-to-customer(D2C) e-commerce platform.
Throughout the show, he celebrated the female form and managed to be the final four by creating influential, authoritative designs that were modern and unique.
Definitely, there were highs and lows, the highest when his design was dedicated to Baltimore, like the organized bomber jacket embodied with “Greenmount” on the back that made him win the street style challenge in episode five.
The lows came to him when he was voted out of the show in the season’s next-to-last episode 13, due to a depressing presentation and troubled mind after learning about her sister’s colon cancer.
He was disheartened to leave the show after coming so far.
After losing his sister to cancer, he is committing his comeback to her memory. He is positive about enjoying his life to the fullest and making her proud by growing big on Project Runway.
His aim as a colored designer is to boost self-realization, support representation, and demolish the assumption about people of color.