Los Angeles designer Johnny Sakalis has big ideas for the future of fashion. Best known for appearing on the most recent season of Project Runway, Johnny demonstrated his flair for color and glamour before being eliminated in the controversial fifth episode after the newspaper challenge.

EthicalStyle.com sat down with him over brunch this month to talk about Project Runway, Lady Gaga, and what he sees as coming up next for the eco-fashion movement.

A lot has been made about the situation surrounding your elimination from Project Runway, where you were accused of lying about why you scrapped your first dress in the newspaper challenge. Was it hard to cope with the pressure of the show?

The hardest part was how people who blogged about Project Runway were so hateful to me before we even started. I had to stop reading them. They took the fact that I’m sober now for granted, and I’ve been sober four years. How can you do that?

To be perfectly frank, I could try to defend that episode until I was red in the face. But they don’t care if it’s true or not. They just wanted the drama of it.

It was a good time, though. I have a lot of friends from the show — Qristyl, Malvin, Irina, and Ra’mon-Lawrence.

You graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (FIDM) and you’ve been living in Los Angeles for a while. How do you think the city influences your aesthetic?

I’ve been living in Southern California my whole life. L.A. is a microcosm of everything. Our fashion district is seven times bigger than New York’s. And it’s very multicultural. I always think about mishigoss — Yiddish for “mess.” If I want to jump into a different culture, I walk across the street or take a bus. You soak it in.

Would you rather design something classic that will be worn time and again or something outrageous?

As a young designer, you have to be ready to do both. From a saleability perspective, you want to have that return customer with a closet full of staples and one or two showstoppers.

I like bringing out people’s inner beauty. As long as you’re comfortable, that’s all that matters. Trends are evil. Maybe I’ll do more wedding dresses. But they’re expensive, and I’m obsessed with detail and hand sewing.

What is the most frustrating part of the design process?

Besides all of it? [laughs] Not having inspiration.

You’ve said your favorite designer is Alexander McQueen. Do you have any thoughts about Lady Gaga, since she’s been wearing a ton of his designs lately?

He’s been wearing a ton of her, actually. She’s great, her style is off the wall. I dig it. But he knew what he was doing when he dressed her for that video [for "Bad Romance"]. He knew it was going to be huge.

You’ve used fur in past collections. Will you continue to use it going forward?

I don’t use any fur when there’s been a drop in the population in the wild. But when you use local traps and native traps, you’re keeping an entire community alive.

I’m not using ermine or Siberian tiger or seals or anything too exotic. People have to realize it’s not all bad. It’s something we as human beings have been doing since we came out of the primordial soup.

As long as I know fur farms aren’t torturing their animals — I mean, I’ve watched the PETA specials, which I find a bit graphic — then I don’t have a problem with it. They’re not all like that. You have to do your research. You have to know where your fur is coming from: the conditions of the farm, the treatment of the animals.

Here’s why I don’t use faux fur: So much pollution, so many chemicals, and so much energy wasting goes into it. It’s not biodegradable, it’s not rewearable, it’s not renewable. I have my grandmother’s furs from the ’30s and ’40s that are impeccable. Fur is extremely sustainable and in most cases, if taken care of properly, it can keep forever.

What do you think the future of fashion looks like?

Sustainable fabrics. Manufacturing certain fabrics is horrible. The dyeing process is horrible. People don’t realize how many petroleum-based products are used in the dyeing and treating process of some fabrics — faux fur being one of them. I think people think the future will be avant garde but we should be shooting for a smaller carbon footprint.

Who would you like to dress?

Can I pick someone who’s not alive? Rita Hayworth or Jean Harlow. I love old movies. Or Charlize Theron or Angelina Jolie. Classic beauties.

So what’s up next for you?

I’m currently working on Fall/Winter 2010. My inspiration was Zelda Fitzgerald and the 1930s. I was inspired by her biography [Zelda by Nancy Milford] — she wanted to be a flapper, she wanted to be a mother, she wanted to be all these different things. I had to honor her.