It’s a catwalk catastrophe!
A production company is suing “Project Runway” designer Irina Shabayeva for sabotaging her own Fashion Week show with drama-queen antics, a new lawsuit alleges.
The reality-TV show’s sixth-season winner, who has dressed celebs such as Selena Gomez and Carrie Underwood, signed a contract with New York Fashion Shows to provide models, a venue and marketing for the Sept. 7 debut of her evening and seasonal collections, the suit says.
But the diva designer allegedly “arrived very late” for the show, “did not cooperate with the models” and then swiped her frocks and exited the building, leaving 300 guests with tickets to a second viewing in the lurch, according to the Manhattan civil suit.
“Shabayeva, in front of guests, staff, vendors and models, announced that she was going to leave and would not participate in presenting her collection at the second show,” court papers say.
“Shabayeva abandoned the second show” scheduled for the rooftop of the Empire Hotel on West 63rd Street, the suit states.
But an attorney for Shabayeva, 31, said his client plans to counter-sue New York Fashion Shows founder Trisha Prasad.
The attorney, Kevin Malek, called Prasad’s suit “superficial” and alleged that Prasad “unilaterally” canceled the second show because she did not have models available.
“You can imagine Irina’s horror,” Malek gasped.
Fashion Week in New York ended last Thursday.
Prasad claims Shabayeva’s behavior resulted in overtime pay for vendors and “irreparable damage” to New York Fashion Shows’ reputation. It also accuses the novice designer of swiping sponsor makeup boxes worth $5,000.
But a former marketing director for Prasad, Jordan Gelber, 25, told The Post her boss had a history of delaying the start of fashion events by micromanaging staff.
Gelber, who says she quit her job with Prasad on the eve of a show for another “Project Runway” star, Michael Costello, said Prasad once threw a pen at her and regularly berated interns.
“She completely undermined Michael Costello’s work,” Gelber said. “She wanted to do things her way. She didn’t play his music, or use his makeup. For Irina to get blamed for this is ridiculous.”
Shabayeva has a record of pettiness. Rival contestants nicknamed her “Meana Irina” during the season for trashing their duds and sniping that some of them “should have gone home already” as the season finale neared.
Still, model-turned reality show judge Heidi Klum singled out Shabayeva’s talents, hailing her line as “sleek, modern and cohesive.”
Prasad says in the suit that she “has been forced to issue refunds to guests resulting in additional financial loss to New York Fashion Shows and damages to its reputation and goodwill.”