'Project Runway' Preview: Guest Judge Dylan Lauren Shares Secrets Behind Candy-Themed Challenge

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Project Runway viewers will be treated to one of the show's signature unconventional challenges this week -- one that involves creating garments out of candy.

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The 15 remaining contestants were asked to use confections from Dylan's Candy Bar, the New York-based store owned by Dylan Lauren that touts itself as being the largest candy store in the world. Lauren will serve as a guest judge on Thursday's episode.

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"It's definitely a unique medium for the show," Lauren said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. "These designers got to choose from so many shapes and colors. .... They created great patterns out of candy."

Lauren added that some of the designers did struggle during the challenge, whether it was from their glue guns melting the candy or from the sheer weight of all the candy or from the fact that the sweets didn't stick to the muslin fabric very well. She said many also chose smaller candies, not realizing how long it would take to cover an entire garment with them.

"That's what makes this challenge so exciting," she said, adding that she was most surprised that many designers chose to use only one type of candy or one color.

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"We have more than 7,000 types of candies, and I'm a color freak, especially in fashion," she said, pointing out that her store features items, including furniture, made out of candy.

Lauren is the daughter of Ralph Lauren, who designed the Olympic uniforms for the 2012 U.S. athletes. Ralph Lauren has been taking some heat since it was revealed that the garments were made in China. (The company has since pledged to begin making the Olympic uniforms in the U.S. starting in 2014.)

Dylan Lauren declined to comment, but she did talk about some of her favorite fashion trends, pointing to bright color blocks and neons. She added that she's not a fan of using multiple fingernail polish colors at once.

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Meanwhile, Lauren is set to open two more Dylan's Candy Bar stores -- one at the Grove in Los Angeles and another in Miami Beach, Fla. The L.A. spot is scheduled to open in late August or early September, with plans for a launch party, Lauren said.

The two new stores will join the flagship in New York as well as outposts in East Hampton, N.Y., and Houston.