As the summer fades, trendsetters like Tracy Reese, Mark Jacobs and Zac Posen are getting ready to unveil their wares at Olympus Fashion Week in New York City. They, along with a select few, have shaped an exclusive industry that is all but impossible to penetrate without connections that are no less than other-worldly.

Enter the Beluga caviar of reality TV competitions: Bravo's 'Project Runway,' - built around the conceit that the last designer standing gets to launch a show at Olympus Fashion Week -- has effectively given away the keys to this gilded castle. The buttons are already flying on the third season of 'Runway' as 15 ambitious designers claw their way to the finish.

AOL Black Voices recently sat down to talk to 28-year-old Atlanta native Michael Knight, 'Project Runway's great black hope and the first ever Black male designer to appear on the show. Read on to see where his head is at after winning two challenges in a row -- the first for a "Pam Grier" inspired design, and the second for an outfit composed entirely of recycled goods.

BV: So are you going to have a show at Bryant Park? Can you give us ANY indication of how long you will be on the television show?

MK: You have to watch like the rest of the world! I'm just enjoying the ride and very appreciative that I was given this opportunity. I worked very hard to get to this point. I'm definitely trying to win this competition.

BV: How excited were you when you found out your model picked Pam Grier as the icon for you to design for? Also can you name some of your other favorite style icons? MK: I was really excited; I know Pam Grier's work. She's actually a muse for me. She's the type of woman I always imagined myself dressing - very strong, confident, fierce, and really secure with her own womanhood. I never go into any challenge thinking I'm going to win - but I'm trying to win in the end, in the long run. I try to do what I know, stay true to who I am as a designer, and try to come up with my best design. I love Diana Ross, Monroe - I love anything glamorous - and believe it or not, Lil' Kim. I might not agree with the taste level of some of her stuff - but she pushes the envelope and goes with something different every time.

BV: How stressful does it get behind the scenes on Project Runway? It seemed pretty tense after you won the second challenge in a row.

MK: The situation wasn't tense for me, cause I won! That's the thing; I'm watching this like you all for the first time too. So hearing the comments doesn't faze me. I never really got stressed about too much. Any added pressure just came from me trying to do my best.

BV: You probably made certain snap judgments about your competition on 'Runway' when you first met them. Who is, shall we say, really different off camera or at least not at all like they initially come off?

MK: To be honest, no one. You are who you are. Everything that comes out everybody's mouth is what they mean to say. Everything that everybody does is what they mean to do. You might see more of one side of the personality - but it's definitely a side of their personality. I know in the beginning I seemed to be the quiet person that was really into his craft, trying to work. What you all didn't see at first is that I'm actually an extremely silly person I love to have fun, I love to cut up. But I don't think there are any fakes or phonies.

BV: Regardless of how it all goes down on 'Runway,' what's next for Michael Knight? MK: As I said on the first episode, I'm trying to be one of fashion's biggest superstars. I have clothing line now called MIKA. My work has been word of mouth for the past five years. It really started off from me working with artists. I started with Jagged Edge. From there, I met other groups like Total, 112. I'm pretty much on a mom-and-pop level; I have a studio out of my home. I sell in a few boutiques in Atlanta. I'm striving to become a global brand, and hopefully for me, 'Project Runway' will help facilitate that.