ShaVi Lewis Dies: ‘Project Runway’ Season 18 Designer Was 38

ShaVi Lewis, a Project Runway contestant, has died. He was 38.

Lewis, who participated in Season 18 of the Bravo competition, died on February 24, according to his aunt Deidra DivaDoll Elkerson.

“My fabulous talented nephew Sha’Vi lewis is gone from this place,” Elkerson shared in a Facebook post. “I won’t hear his greetings to me anymore, ‘Hey Auntie Diva’ (Yes, I am shouting). Please keep his mother Joyse Solomon-Frierson, his father Franklin Frierson, his brother, Troy Solomon Frierson, and his sister, Akira Frierson Wood, in your prayers.”

Elkerson didn’t disclose Lewis’ cause of death in her statement but noted that he was “in a much better place.”

“I can just imagine the welcome he received when he got to those pearly gates, with so many loved ones who had gone on before,” Elkerson continued with her tribute to the designer. “Oh what a time. What a time he is having with his grandmothers, grandfather, uncles, aunts, cousins. And good friends. Rest in joy nephew knowing that you left a hell of [a] mark on this Earth!!! You will be always loved and never ever forgotten.”

Lewis was featured in Season 18 of Project Runway, which aired on Bravo between December 2019 and March 2020. Lewis was eliminated on Episode 6 of the competition, placing in 10th place.

Fellow Project Runway Season 18 alum Brittany Allen remembered Lewis with a touching tribute on Instagram.

“I don’t have the words. My heart aches,” Allen posted. “The world and this industry will be dim without your light in it. Your love, your laughter, and your continuous support no matter where we were in life was everything. Season 18 forever and ever. Rest in power @shavilewis. Love, your Brit Brat.”