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Chris March, a celebrity costume designer and former Project Runway contestant on Bravo, died on Thursday. He was 56.
“We are deeply saddened by the news of Chris March’s passing,” a Bravo spokesperson said in a statement to Variety. “He was a favorite among Bravo fans and the fashion community. Our condolences go out to his family and friends. He will truly be missed.”
Bravo’s Andy Cohen mourned the news with an Instagram post on Friday, writing that March “had a big booming laugh; he was a joy and delight.” According to TMZ, which first broke the news, March died of a heart attack.
March had been in and out of the hospital for the past year after suffering a nearly fatal fall in 2017. The designer fell and hit his head in his apartment, where he passed out and laid unconscious for the following four days, according to a statement he released to Entertainment Weekly last year. When he made it to the hospital, he had to undergo a tracheotomy and be put on a ventilator after his organs started to fail and his right lung collapsed.
He was then put into a medically induced coma, during which his medical issues continued. “My kidneys failed, my lung kept collapsing, my gall bladder was infected. I had a wound on my right leg. My body went septic… The coma lasted about 2 months,” March wrote in a statement. “I came close to death many times — they called my family and they were told if they wanted to say goodbye to come right away. Somehow I miraculously woke up — I couldn’t talk and didn’t know where I was for a couple of months. I ended up being paralyzed in both legs from the knees down. My right hand and arm are paralyzed.”
In addition to being a finalist on the fourth season of Project Runway, March also starred in his own Bravo series Mad Fashion, which followed the high-profile designer as he created custom-made looks for A-list stars. Regular clients of his include Beyonce, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Meryl Streep and Jennifer Coolidge. He also made cameos on The Real Housewives of New York City where he helped find elaborate costumes for socialite Sonja Morgan.
Prior to entering the spotlight on Project Runway, March served as a longtime costume designer for the musical Beach Blanket Babylon.
