Jeffrey Sebelia (born May 30, 1970) is an American fashion designer and founder of the clothing label Cosa Nostra, which he heads from a loft on Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles. He is the winner of Season 3 of the reality show Project Runway.
In the early 1990s, along with Mike Coulter, John Rozas and Anthony Scarpa, Sebelia was a member of the band Lifter, which was signed by Interscope Records. They had a minor radio hit with the song "402," but they disbanded. Lifter's song "Swing" was featured in Jeffrey's runway show at Olympus Fashion Week.
After a successful drug rehabilitation at the age of 31, Sebelia enrolled in sewing classes at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. It was there that he immediately fell in love with design, and shortly after he started the clothing line Cosa Nostra. Among his celebrity clients are Dave Navarro, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Lopez, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Tommy Lee. The Cosa Nostra label is available in about twenty stores worldwide.
In the spring of 2006, Sebelia auditioned for the Bravo series Project Runway after seeing the success his friend, former contestant Santino Rice, had enjoyed. Jeffrey was selected to compete, was one of the final four contestants to display their collections at Fashion Week, and was chosen the winner. He had been portrayed as the third season's "villain," notorious for his expletive language and making fellow contestant Angela Keslar's mother cry, but fellow contestants like Alison Kelly have disputed this, saying he was far nicer than the program's editing indicated.
Just two days before the runway show, Sebelia was investigated for charges brought against him by fellow contestant Laura Bennett. After seeing the amount of work completed, she brought her concerns about his having outside help to the show's designers' assistant, Tim Gunn. Jeffrey was cleared of any wrongdoing, and Gunn stated he "completely believed that Jeffrey sewed the garments himself." However, because he had exceeded the $8,000 budget, he was forced to eliminate 12 platinum blonde wigs he had intended for his models to wear. Because the receipt for the allowable pleating done on a pair of leather shorts couldn't be found, Jeffrey replaced them with a pair of leather pants he had made as an extra option.
As one of the final four contestants, Sebelia presented a full collection at Olympus Fashion Week. Filled with bright colors, flowing dresses, and smart separates, his collection was strikingly different from the trademark grunge, punk, and rock 'n' roll-style outfits he had created throughout the season. His winnings include $100,000 to develop his own clothing line, a 2007 Saturn Sky Roadster, a year's representation by Designer's Management Agency, and a 15-page spread - featuring Marilinda Rivera, the model with whom he was paired during most of the Project Runway challenges - in ELLE magazine.
Sebelia shared a very violent relationship with his Hells Angels aficionado father, who divorced his mother when Jeff was only 8. Soon after, Jeffrey, who felt responsible for the divorce, began experimenting with cocaine and marijuana. By the time he was 16, he was a heroin addict living in a friend's garage. The following 15 years were filled with numerous, yet failed, attempts to get sober at a number of West Coast drug treatment centers
At the age of 31, Sebelia's girlfriend left him and, after spending weeks crying and self-medicating with LSD and MDMA (ecstasy), he attempted to take his own life. His roommate came home just as he was starting to hang himself from a chandelier and thwarted the attempt. Following this, the Musicians' Assistance Program funded Jeffrey's final rehab facility stay.
Sebelia now lives with his girlfriend and their young son, Harrison.
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