Project Runway alum and renowned fashion designer Sha’Vi Lewis has died. He was 39.
Lewis passed away on Monday, according to his aunt, Deidra DivaDoll Elkerson, who revealed the news in a heart-breaking Facebook post.
“My fabulous, talented nephew, Sha’Vi Lewis, is gone from this place,” she wrote in her post. “I won’t hear his greetings to me anymore, ‘Hey Auntie Diva’ (Yes, I am shouting).”
Elkerson asked fans to keep Lewis’ family in their prayers, including his mom, Joyce Solomon-Frierson, his dad, Franklin Frierson, his brother, Troy Solomon Frierson, and his sister, Akira Frierson Wood.
“I know he is 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 before. Oh, what a time, what a time he is having with his grandmothers, grandfather, uncles, aunts, cousins [and] good friends.”
“My, my, my, [I] rest in joy, nephew, knowing that you left a hell of a mark on this earth!!! You will be always loved and never forgotten,” she concluded.
Elkerson included a photo collage of her nephew, including one of him working at a sewing machine.
“We’re in a state of disbelief as we come to the reality that our star has been cast into eternity,” Lewis’ sister Akira told TMZ on Tuesday. “As the days move forward, we will continue to wrap our minds around a future without your presence.”
“While the world is just catching on to the name Sha’vi we knew he was and is great! Continue to pray as we mourn the loss of our loved one, Franklin Shavi Lewis Frierson Jr.”
The family did not reveal Lewis’ cause of death.
Lewis (full name Franklin ‘Sha’Vi’ Lewis Frierson Jr.) grew up in New Jersey and attended Clark Atlanta University.
After graduating with honors, he pursued fashion design, launched his own clothing line, and worked as a creative director for the Italian menswear company Stephen F.
Some of his designs were featured on Emmys red carpets and season 2 of Pose, as well as on celebrities like Cynthia Bailey.
Lewis was notably a contestant on Project Runway Season 18, which premiered on Bravo in December 2019 and concluded in March 2020. He finished 10th after being sent home during Episode 6.
His fellow Project Runway contestants Brittany Allen and Nancy Volpe Beringer shared heartfelt tributes to the late designer on Tuesday.
“I don’t have the words. My heart aches,” Allen wrote via Instagram. “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.”
Allen also added Instagram Stories of Lewis, writing:
“Hold your friends so tight. Sometimes you wonder WHEN you will see them again. Not IF you will see them again,” she captioned the Instagram Stories. “Just doesn’t feel real.”
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Volpe Beringer also penned a heartfelt tribute:
“If you are lucky, you get to meet a person who instantly fills your heart and soul with a love and a bond so strong, you know will it will last forever. Shavi Lewis, you were that person in my life. Your family became my family.”
“And I simply don’t know how to make sense of it or navigate my life without your unconditional love, your infectious humor, and pure spirit. But Shavi, I do know that I am blessed to have had you my life and that you will forever be a shining star for your family, friends, and the fashion community. I will never stop missing you or loving you. Rest in peace.”
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RIP Sha’Vi Lewis.
