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Armando Thomas "Mondo" Guerra (born June 6, 1978) is an American
fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...
who finished as runner-up on Season 8 of ''
Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. It was created by Eli Holzman and was hosted by Heidi Klum from 2004 to 2017. It has a varied airi ...
'', and later won the series' first season of ''
Project Runway All Stars ''Project Runway All Stars'' is an American reality television series, and a spin-off of ''Project Runway'', featuring returning designers competing for grand prizes. Angela Lindvall and Carolyn Murphy have each hosted one season before Alyssa M ...
''. After coming out as
HIV positive The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause AIDS, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of th ...
on the show, Guerra has become a
spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...
for two national HIV campaigns — Merck's
Project I Design A project is a type of assignment, typically involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a specific objective. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be ...
and
Subaru is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...
's Dining Out For Life. Guerra was also the first contestant on the show to come from
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
,
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
.


Early life

Guerra is a fifth-generation
Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...
from the Denver area. He attended high school at the
Denver School of the Arts Denver School of the Arts (DSA) is a comprehensive arts secondary public magnet school, serving grades 6–12. Located at 7111 Montview Boulevard in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, the school is operated by the Denver Public Sc ...
. In 2001, when living in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, he tested HIV positive, at the age of 22. He didn't start
antiretroviral therapy The management of HIV/AIDS normally includes the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs as a strategy to control HIV infection. There are several classes of antiretroviral agents that act on different stages of the HIV life-cycle. The use of mul ...
until several years later and struggled with adherence, experiencing several side effects and being hospitalized more than once later in the 2000s. In an interview he has spoken about struggling with AIDS in the American healthcare system and reliance on Ryan White programs as well as having depression and keeping his HIV status secret, including from his family. He has also spoken about HIV stigma and "AIDS phobia" within the gay community.


''Project Runway''

Guerra was on the eighth season of ''
Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. It was created by Eli Holzman and was hosted by Heidi Klum from 2004 to 2017. It has a varied airi ...
'', aired in 2010. After placing in the top, but not winning, on a number of challenges, then placing in the bottom but not being eliminated in the seventh (Resort Wear Challenge) episode, he won the challenges on the eighth (
Jacqueline Kennedy Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...
Challenge), ninth (L'Oreal Makeup Challenge) and tenth (HP Pattern Challenge) episodes. He also won $20,000 for the ninth challenge, which involved both a "couture" look and a "ready-to-wear" look. During the tenth challenge, after a question from
Nina García Ninotchka "Nina" García (; born May 3, 1965) is a Colombian-American fashion journalist, the editor-in-chief of ''Elle'', author, and a judge on the Bravo/Lifetime reality television program ''Project Runway'' since its first season. Early li ...
and without having expected to do so, he revealed to the judges that his pattern of bright, bold plus signs on a pant was inspired by his HIV+ status, and that he had been keeping his HIV status a secret for ten years; in an interview he mentioned that the schedule was particularly difficult for his medication adherence, despite coming shortly after a very low CD4 count. He had not previously disclosed his HIV status to his family and the show's producers and
Tim Gunn Timothy MacKenzie Gunn (born July 29, 1953) is an American author, academic, and television personality. He served on the faculty of Parsons School of Design from 1982 to 2007 and was chair of fashion design at the school from August 2000 to March ...
spoke with him about how he wanted to handle the issue; Guerra has described feeling a sense of relief and self-love at going public with his status. He finally disclosed to his family shortly before the tenth challenge was broadcast. With a collection themed on the
Day of the Dead The Day of the Dead () is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. The multi-day holiday involves family and friends gathering to pa ...
fan favorite Guerra came in second place in the final competition held at
Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is a series of international fashion weeks sponsored by Mercedes-Benz, a brand of Daimler AG. Designers featured during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weeks include notable designers such as Rosenthal Tee, Mary Katrantzou and Davi ...
at the
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
in New York City. Oregonian Gretchen Jones took first place, and Hawaiian Andy South — now Ari South — came in third. ''Project Runway'' executive producer
Heidi Klum Heidi Klum (; born 1 June 1973) is a German and American model, television personality, producer, and businesswoman. She appeared on the cover of the ''Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue'' in 1998 and was the first German model to become a Vict ...
— who had pushed for Guerra to win over Jones in a lengthy split debate over the winner — appeared in a modified version of one of Guerra's final collection gowns for the Los Angeles premiere of the movie ''
Black Swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large Anatidae, waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent ...
'' a few weeks after the airing of the final episode. Guerra was the winner of the 2012 series first season of ''
Project Runway All Stars ''Project Runway All Stars'' is an American reality television series, and a spin-off of ''Project Runway'', featuring returning designers competing for grand prizes. Angela Lindvall and Carolyn Murphy have each hosted one season before Alyssa M ...
'', beating out season 1 designer Austin Scarlett and close friend from season 8 Michael Costello. In 2019, Guerra appeared in the seventh season of ''
Project Runway All Stars ''Project Runway All Stars'' is an American reality television series, and a spin-off of ''Project Runway'', featuring returning designers competing for grand prizes. Angela Lindvall and Carolyn Murphy have each hosted one season before Alyssa M ...
'', where he assisted Irina Shabayeva for the final challenge. Guerra also was a judge for Project Runway Season 10, episode 9, in which contestants had to make their own print for fabric and design an outfit using the fabric. The episode flashed back to Guerra's win for this challenge during Season 8.


Other notable work

On November 30, 2010, Guerra appeared with
Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, and dancer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, ...
, Kenneth Cole and
Cheyenne Jackson Cheyenne David Jackson (born July 12, 1975) is an American actor and singer. His credits include leading roles in Broadway musicals and other stage roles, as well as film and television roles, concert singing, and music recordings. After beginn ...
on the trading floor of the
New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...
to ring the opening bell on behalf of
amFAR amfAR, the Foundation for AIDS Research, known until 2005 as the American Foundation for AIDS Research, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and the advocacy of ...
, to usher in
World AIDS Day World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. The acquired immu ...
. Also in commemoration of World AIDS Day, he designed a limited edition of T-shirts, one with a Day of the Dead sugar skull and one with a
tree of life The tree of life is a fundamental archetype in many of the world's mythology, mythological, religion, religious, and philosophy, philosophical traditions. It is closely related to the concept of the sacred tree.Giovino, Mariana (2007). ''The ...
. These shirts were sold on Piperlime.com starting at midnight on December 1, 2010. For each shirt sold, $20 was donated to amfAR. In his statement to
Fox News Latino The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American multinational conservative news and political commentary television channel and website based in New York City, U.S. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is own ...
for his motivations in doing this, he said, "The Day of the Dead is celebration of our loved ones who have passed. When I was thinking of World Aids day I wanted to create something very true to who I am, and what I know. Who I've known and miss and those people in my life that still fight this disease. It's about love and continuation." In the
season 10 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...
finale episode of the hit reality competition show ''RuPaul’s Drag Race'', contestant Blair St Clair appeared wearing a gown designed by Guerra himself. It was rewarded the “Top Toot of the Week” by the show's official fashion review online series, '' Fashion Photo RuView''.


Filmography


Television


References


External links

* *
Project Runway
'' on MyLifetime.com
Interview
with Poz-I-Am Radio {{DEFAULTSORT:Guerra, Mondo 1978 births Living people American fashion designers LGBTQ fashion designers LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people LGBTQ people from Colorado Project Runway (American series) participants Project Runway (American series) Mentors People from the Denver metropolitan area American people of Mexican descent People with HIV/AIDS