When it comes to dealing with controversy, Project Runway judge Nina Garcia is as cool as the streamlined shifts in classic colours she often wears on the fashion design reality show.

In an e-mail interview with Urban to plug her latest style guide titled The One Hundred, the Colombian-born fashion editor nimbly sidesteps a request to dish up some unknown nuggets about her fellow judges, designer Michael Kors and model Heidi Klum, with a disarming 'Oh, that's going to get me in too much trouble'.

The delicate matter of her recent job switch - she left Elle magazine after 13 years to take up the fashion director post at Marie Claire last month - is handled with similar PR finesse.

A recent article in New York magazine had chronicled the internal power struggles at Elle in detail, painting Garcia as one of the unfortunate casualties of management changes at the magazine.

The article also noted that her growing celebrity status due to the visibility of the Project Runway gig had caused resentment among some colleagues.

All she will say is this: 'It was time for a change. If there is one thing that you don't want in fashion, it is to stay in one place for too long. I was ready for a fresh start.'

Born to a wealthy importer father and a fashion-obsessed, 'frustrated actress' mother, Garcia grew up in the town of Barranquilla and went to boarding school in the United States when she was 15.

After attending the Ecole Superieure de la Mode in Paris and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, she worked in PR for American label Perry Ellis in the 1990s before moving to Elle.

Riding on the success of Project Runway, the mother of a one-year-old son published her well-received first style guide, The Little Black Book Of Style, last year.

This year, she's pushing her sophomore effort, The One Hundred - a list of 100 items she thinks every woman should own.

The result is sometimes surprising, not least because some of the items in her list of 100 must-haves include a caftan, Converse shoes, cowboy boots and leather pants - none of which seems to suit her polished style. But we checked, and she confirmed it: 'If it's in the book, I own at least one.'

What made you decide to write a new book on style?

While I was promoting The Little Black Book Of Style, I learnt that women were hungry for even more advice. Specifically, they wanted me to give them lists: What were my favourite items, my must-have items?

And then, in the middle of it all, I had to move out of my apartment for eight months while it was being remodelled. We moved into a small space and I was forced to choose my 'can't live without' items. This is the list.

In your first book, you write about your mother quite a bit. How much does her style and your Colombian heritage influence you?

I inherited all of her old Pucci and bits and pieces of her wardrobe are all over my closet. I had it all tailored to my body, some of it has been cut down and reincarnated as new pieces altogether. Growing up in Colombia taught me to take pride in my style and how I presented myself. Women there do not leave the house unless they are in their best clothes and have their make-up on.

What is your biggest style splurge to date and your best bargain buy?

My biggest style splurge is probably a specialty Birkin which I know I will have forever. My best bargain buy would have to involve jewellery and a flea market.

What was your worst fashion mistake?

I would say that my most memorable mis-step was when I was 15 and I started boarding school in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

I had just moved from Colombia. I walked onto the campus in a short skirt, high-heeled boots and a little fur coat. The other girls were all wearing their classic New England prep school clothes: khakis, polo shirts, cable knit sweaters. I was in another universe.

What would you say are your favourite things about American fashion?

It's the jeans and the T-shirt. These are America's greatest gifts to the fashion world and we will all be eternally grateful for them.

You are often labelled the most critical judge on Project Runway. Do you think that's fair?

It's probably fair and I take it as a compliment. I'm a straight shooter, I don't like to tiptoe, but when people meet me in person, they always seemed shocked. They usually say something like, 'Oh, but you seem nice'.

What are some of your favourite moments on the show?

My favourite moment is perhaps from the first show in the first season when the contestants had to create their designs solely from items from a grocery store.

We saw clothing made out of crawfish and flatbread. I knew then that the show was going to be a hit. From the very first day, the ideas the producers came up with were always so impressive, so original, so unlike anything else on TV.

This article was first published in Urban, The Straits Times on Oct 10, 2008.