Jack Mackenroth

Biography

Jack Mackenroth (born April 29, 1969) is an American swimmer, model, and fashion designer who competed in the fourth season of American reality show Project Runway.

== Life == Mackenroth was pre-med at the University of California, Berkeley, following in the footsteps of his mother, who was a nurse at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, but later graduated with a double degree in Fine Arts and Sociology.

== Career ==

=== Design === In 1991, Mackenroth moved to New York City to study Fashion Design at Parsons School of Design. After Parsons, he opened a menswear store on Bleecker Street in New York City's West Village called "Jack". In 1997, Mackenroth went to work for Tommy Hilfiger and then designed for Levis Slates brand. From 2003 to 2007, he was the design director at Weatherproof Active Wear. On October 15, 2008, Mackenroth unveiled a custom-designed wedding gown crafted entirely of condoms as a visual reminder of the importance of safer sex and correct, consistent condom use for San Francisco's Project Inform.

=== Modeling === As a fitness and fashion model through the 1990s, Mackenroth appeared in magazines such as Paper, DNR, Men's Fitness, Men's Journal, Men's Health, Genre, Blue (Australia) and L'Uomo Vogue . After Project Runway, he graced the covers of magazines including reFresh, POZ, HIVplus, and Gloss. His fashion illustrations have also been featured in Nylon, Elle, and in ad campaigns for Tommy Hilfiger and Sushi Clothing. In 2008, Mackenroth appeared as an extra in the Sex and the City movie as "Hot Guy #17."

=== Swimming === Mackenroth was a competitive swimmer in elementary and high school and continued competing after college at the Masters level. He earned three All-American titles, and in the summer of 2006, he set a national record for the breaststroke leg of the 4 x 50 meter relay at the Masters World Championships in Stanford, California. Mackenroth competed without a team in the Gay Games in 1990 in Vancouver, British Columbia, and won a bronze medal in the 50-meter breaststroke. He has won at least one gold medal in every one of the international competitions since. He competed in the 2009 Outgames, in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne, Germany, where he earned seven medals.

== Project Runway ==

=== Early win === Mackenroth appeared in Season 4 of Project Runway. He won the third challenge in the competition, which was to create an outfit for guest judge Tiki Barber. Barber wore the winning design during an appearance on The Today Show.