One of Us: Dom Streater, Fashion Designer

The 26-year-old Project Runway winner dishes about her affection for Johnny Cash, the biggest fashion blunders men and women make, and her worst job. (It involved goats.)

Illustration by Andy Friedman

Illustration by Andy Friedman

My name is … Dom Streater. It’s short for Dominique. Growing up, I had myriad nicknames: Domo, Domino, Domino Brown Sugar, Dom. And Dom was the one that stuck.

I am a … fashion and textile designer.

My childhood home was at … 58th and Chestnut in West Philadelphia.

These days, I live in … Francisville. At least, I think that’s what it’s called. There are new names for these neighborhoods every day. But I’m near 15th and Poplar.

My most closely guarded beauty secret is … coconut oil. I use it all over. It’s like nature’s miracle.

I count among my heroes … my parents and Johnny Cash.

For breakfast, I usually have … orange juice, a cup of coffee and Cream of Wheat.

I drive a … Lexus IS Sport. It’s my baby: black on the outside and red on the inside. I won it on Project Runway.

One thing about Philadelphia that really pisses me off … is subway etiquette. People tend to be ruder on the subway than they are on the street, for some reason.

I graduated from … Moore College of Art & Design in 2010, and I went to Bodine High School for International Affairs in Northern Liberties, back in the days before it was called NoLibs.

My mother is always telling me … everything. What isn’t she always telling me? But she’s always telling me to call her. She wants to be in constant contact.

If I were mayor of Philadelphia, I would … fix the homeless problem. There is this idea that they don’t want to come out of homelessness, but a lot of times that’s not true.

The most beautiful spot in the city is … Penn’s Landing. I always go there to think. What a great open-air space.

One talent I wish I had is … singing. We go to Happy Rooster karaoke a lot.

On Saturday nights, you’ll find me … either at the movies — usually the Ritz East or the Bourse — or dancing at Silk City or the 700.

For those who wonder whether I’m single … I am most definitely not. I am very much engaged to a Ukrainian man. We haven’t picked a date, because I have a lot of culture, language and tradition that I need to get up to speed on.

I decided to stay in Philadelphia because … there’s no other place like it.

My fashion designs are best described as … never seen before.

My own fashion sensibility tends to be more … bohemian, Lenny Kravitz-ish. I buy most of my clothes at American Apparel or Free People.

If I’m going to have one drink, make it a … Moscow Mule.

My least favorite job was … working at the Philadelphia Zoo in the children’s petting zoo. There’s a lot of goat poop there.

The biggest fashion mistake most women make … is not being adventurous enough, but the biggest mistake most men make is being scared that they don’t look manly enough.

My three favorite musicians are … Jimi Hendrix, Radiohead and Björk. My last concert was Gogol Bordello and Man Man at the Electric Factory on New Year’s Eve. It was insane.

If I could change one thing about myself … I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t change anything.

Originally published as “One of Us: Dom Streater” in the April 2015 issue of Philadelphia magazine.