Project Runway Moda Director, Elizabeth Warburton Smith, started her career in the fashion industry at age 4 when she asked her two Grandmothers to help her create clothing for her dolls. By the time she was in junior high, Elizabeth was taking evening classes on sewing and design at a local community college. After she and her husband moved to San Francisco in 1990, Elizabeth finished her first degree with an award of a Bachelor of Arts in Clothing and Textile Design. While in San Francisco, Elizabeth was honored to be chosen to participate in an old-world style apprenticeship with the San Francisco Opera under the expert tutelage of Costume Shop Director Jenny Green, formerly of London's Royal Opera House. Elizabeth was also a pattern maker for the Gap Kids and BabyGap divisions of the downtown San Francisco Gap Inc. design headquarters and to top it off, she had 2 different clothing lines of her own. 

Tucson Arizona is where Elizabeth and her family now call home where she has created costumes for several productions at the Arizona Theatre Company and made custom clothing with a Master Tailor from Russia while employed at Leandro's Fabrics and Custom Clothing. These days, Elizabeth does custom design work for her company, Liz-Era Clothing Design. Elizabeth feels strongly about cultivating the art of fashion design so she also actively shares her creative skills and expertise by teaching both privately and in Pima Community College's long running Fashion Design Program as well as supporting and mentoring the next generation of Fashion Designers brave enough to test their skills and talents in Project Runway Moda.