Project Runway Season 10, Finale: It Might as Well Be Spring

Greetings!

And so it was down to four designers after all.

Oh, and judging by what most of the models were wearing, Spring, 2013 trends are black and white, leather jackets, and fringe.

Fringe?

Also, if things seem a bit...inconsistent, quality-wise, consider that these four had only five weeks to produce their collection.  That's THE SHORTEST TIME TO PRODUCE A FINAL COLLECTION IN PROJECT RUNWAY HISTORY.

If the producers can't see fit to give their designers sufficient time to produce a quality runway show, then why should I spend lots of time analyzing it?

We've got 40 looks to examine, so let's just get this over with.

Christopher

His inspiration was his mother's X-rays?

The print was...visually arresting, indeed.

 Leather shorts, black under sheer.....it's distinctive.

I was surprised there was no prudish commentary from Michael Kors about the first model's clear lack of undergarments.  His models were clearly going for a goth Spring look here.

Jackets...in black. Just the thing for spring!

Gown!  Got to end with a gown!

I totally disagreed with Michael when he said that this look belonged in a different collection.  There was plenty of cohesion, color-wise.  What was jarring was that this was the only gown and the only garment that featured ruffles.  

Christopher is brilliant when he had the time and clarity to produce a beautiful garment.  Does he have the vision and range to send out good collections or is he just limited to producing brilliant garments here and there?  Time will tell.

Melissa

Nothing says spring like jackets and dresses with a huge collars....

 Oh, look?  a bathing suit!  This must be a spring collection, no?

 The collection did have her strong point-of-view, that's for sure.

As she got toward the end, the collection lightened up significantly.

Until it ended with the worst and best looks of the collection.

I liked her clothes, don't get me wrong...but I didn't think this was the strongest Spring collection.  Clearly the most arresting dress was the red one she produced the day before the runway show.  It would have been nice to see pops of that color...or some color...throughout her show, besides the ones that were added haphazardly with accessories, but she simply didn't have that vision.

At this point, I'd like to say that once again this year, we had the judges look at previews of each collection.  Either Christopher and Melissa came away with the wrong messages or the judges didn't communicate the right ones.  To each of these two designers, I would have said, "I'm just not seeing 'Spring' here."

Dmitry

Springtime in Belarus.....

I love the idea of this dress...but I hate the execution.  It was too stiff, the fit was too loose and the hem was just an inch too long.  The illusion across the neckline was a bit too much as well.

I like the idea of the jacket and would have liked to have seen more cut-out works throughout, but that was it for the cut-outs.  The weird waistline of the pants didn't do a whole lot to flatter the model.  The sheer, black illusion fabric did even less.  Looking at the collection overall, I guess this was Dmitry's toss to a casual look...only, I can't see a casual event where this look would fit in.  My least favorite look...well, almost my least favorite look...

 I know Michael thought that that the yellow dress was boring.  I thought it was one of the most gorgeous dresses that walked the runway.  I would have liked to see more of this yellow interspersed throughout.  And I would have liked to see less of...

.....the ATTACK OF THE FRINGE MONSTER!

I'm simply not seeing the beauty of these two looks.  I would LOVE to see Nina wear what she thought was "one of the most beautiful dresses on the runway."  Go ahead, Nina!  I'd use some Photoshop magic here, but I really don't think that comment is worth any more of my time and effort.

I read the comment on another blog that said, "gorilla arms." Yes, nothing says Spring to me like fringy jacket sleeves and loud, chevron wool.

At this point, I should probably tell the less-informed that the judges declared Dmitry the big winner this season.

Really.

I have my theories, which I will share in a moment, but let's continue on.

 One-armed evening looks.

Can I say here, too, that judges have previously tossed out designers who did not show range?  I'm not seeing range with this collection.

At all.

Here comes the big finish.

Boom!  Bow down, you designers...my fringe is FIERCE!  And your bodice is tacky.

I was NOT IMPRESSED with this collection at all.   I thought that Dmitry had serious taste issues, but I was not on the panel that day, so who cares what I have to say.

Fabio

The ghost of Jay McCarroll and Anya Ayoung-Chee haunted this collection.

Everyone in the audience gasped a collective sigh of relief when these garments walked out.  Spring was finally here.

These looks were casual or dressy, depending on how you styled them.

Beautiful, flattering draping....cropped pants that didn't look matronly....

Pulling these two looks together and possibly adding a long sleeved jacket, would create a mix-and-match ensemble perfect for travel.  It had a multi-cultural feel to it.  Nothing was too gaudy, too tacky or too vulgar.

From modern elegance to casual elegance....this collection had a strong point of view and a fresh take on modern design.

However....

Here we have another self-taught, home sewer that dared to crash the big, fancy designer party.  The exchange between guest judge, Jennifer Hudson and Nina Garcia was the most revealing of all.  Nina asked what we could expect of Fabio in the future.  Jennifer countered that of all the designers, Fabio needed the win the most to jump start his design career.

That, was the death knell right there.  If you NEED Project Runway too much, you might not be deserving of the win, whether or not you answered the brief in the final collection.  Jay walked away from a fashion design career and is content to explore the fringes of the industry.  We'll see what Anya ends up doing, but so far, there's been no big splash.  It was as if they didn't want to send another unseasoned designer out there with a bunch of cash who only intended to spend it on past debts and nothing else.

They wanted a designer who could hit the ground running.

In my perfect dream world, I would love to see Jerell Scott or Epperson team up with Fabio Costa to produce modern, easy-to-wear clothes.  I would love to see more multi-culturalism explored and design that addresses problems that real women have, such as how do I look good post-pregnancy or what should I wear to still look cool after 60?  Dmitry will just give us expert tailoring and who knows what else.

I would have loved to have seen the judges take a risk with a designer willing to take a risk, but twas not to be.

As an aside, Crazy Elena Slivnyak won the fan favorite award.  This is interesting because had she not been booted off, I believe she would have won.  Her collection was fresh, spring-like, modern and had a very strong point of view.  Here are a few looks to close:

Oh well....It does make you wonder how many "I think Elena should have won" comments that the editors had to edit out of the final commentary montage.

Thus ends another season of Project Runway!

Project Runway, Season 10, Episode 12: Avant Grrrrrr!

Greetings, Project Runway Fans!

This week, I only caught the last half of the show.  As far as I was concerned, that's the only half I really needed to watch.  The judging on this show and the ultimate results infuriated me to the point where I had no desire to go back and watch the rest.  So if my theories on what happened seem a bit hackneyed, so be it.

This week was a return of the avant garde challenge.  Project Runway has done this before and just about every single time, I get frustrated beyond belief.

Avant garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard."  The term was first applied to art in a French essay written in 1825. There have been many avant garde movements in visual art, literature, theatre, and music over the centuries.  The term most often describes art for art's sake, applications of form over function, or any artistic expression that challenges conventions.

Sophie Tauber-Arp, 1920's

Alexander McQueen - Fall 2008, Maxi dress with cape

And on Project Runway, it usually means "design the most outlandish thing you can make in one day...."  unless it doesn't.  Let's take a stroll down memory lane.

Remember this Chris March/Christian Siriano dress from season 4?  The designers were in teams and had to create an outfit based on their model's hairdo.  This was the only challenge that was vague enough to allow the designers a complete flight of fancy.  The challenge occurred late enough in the season so that the strongest designers were left.  The results, as you can see above, were spectacular.  Even the runner-up, designed by Victorya and Jillian (in a much argued decision) was top notch.

But then...Project Runway started fiddling around with themes and this is where things started going downhill for this challenge.  Remember the Zodiac challenge in Season 5?

Blaine's...outfit still gives me nightmares!

Next year, they tried it again...only on the beach this time.  Most viewers would have picked Chris and Logan's outfit for the win.

But Nina Garcia fell in love with a little neoprene dress that was dyed in the toilet.

We're STILL scratching our heads over this one.  Perhaps reeling from that outlandish result, the Project Runway producers retired this challenge until last year, when the designers were teamed up with students from the Harlem School of Art.  The designs were to be based on artwork on which the designer and artist worked together.

We can argue forever whether Anthony Ryan's dress is really avant garde, but it did successfully follow the brief of taking inspiration from the artwork without becoming too literal or costume-like.

And last year's All Stars did an avant garde challenge using lights.  The results were underwhelming, given that the throw-away "24-Hour Catwalk" did a one-day light challenge with three looks and a runway show that was way more spectacular.

Austin Scarlett's winning gown.

Which leads me to my four rules about Project Runway avant garde challenges:

1. If you give designers too much specific inspiration, they will concentrate more on the inspiration than they will on making something avant garde.

2. If you run this challenge too early in the season, the designers will just give you garbage.

3. If you don't give your designers enough resources in time and materials you will get garbage.

4. The judges need to have an intelligent definition of "avant garde" and not just judge how pretty or wearable something is.

So since none of that occurred, kindly toss discard everything I've written thus far.  Let's just get this week over with.

Dmitry

Dmitry concentrated on the cockamamie story that producers gave the designers about designing for some sort of queen.  Really, I'm not making this up.  The contestants were to design an avant garde outfit for a queen.  Whatever.

What would you, dear reader and Project Runway fan, have criticized about this outfit?

It's too safe, don't you think?  Except for some teeny tiny details that you cannot see BECAUSE THE DRESS IS BLACK, there is very little that says "avant garde" to me.

So I settled in to hear the judging. Michael Kors said that the collar and the shoulders were not exaggerated enough overdone.  Wait...overdone?  I will agree with everyone that this suit is impeccably made and the details are exquisite....but this outfit is in no away avant garde, except for the collar...maybe.

Melissa

I guess on Project Runway, avant garde = exaggerated collar.  It's the only thing that propels this look forward.  That's about it.  I thought the skirt was something of a mess.  Yes, she works miracles with leather and the outfit was well made, but the challenge was avant garde, in case anyone remembers or cares.

Christopher

Apparently, feathers = avant garde, too.

   

Someone should have told Kim in Season 9!

My point here is that a treatment that the judges thought was like a costume in Season 9 was not a costume in Season 10.  Yes, it was another beautifully designed outfit, but the challenge was to push the envelope and I don't think it was avant garde...but by now, it should be clear to you that avant garde is not the subject if this challenge.

Fabio

At some point during the judging, Michael Kors remembered that this was an avant garde challenge and when the other judges started piling on Fabio's outfit, he reminded them that Fabio actually followed the brief.

Fabio designed a polymorphic jacket.

Yay!  Polymorphic outfits rule!

This is the jacket flipped over.  While it was a nice gimmick, was it the entire outfit avant garde?  Look at Fabio.  He knows how to dress himself in a style that defies convention.  Why can't he translate that to a queen female model?

Sonjia

Sonjia suffered some kind of producer-manipulated fabric loss textile malfunction this week.  Because I refuse to go back and watch this episode, I cannot venture a guess as to whether this effected the outcome of the garment.

Michael Kors hated the green and the wrinkly, flesh colored material underneath.

Nina and Heidi debated whether her queen would wear green.  Because I refuse to go back and watch the first half of the show, their argument will forever remain one of the silliest judging exchanges I've ever watched.

It's a shame that she created an entire bodice from the light-weight illusion fabric.  That stuff really bunches up.  It would have been enough just use a little to hold the pieces in place.  It's also a shame that the back of the dress is so conventional.  Had she played with the shapes below the waist in some way to make it look like the entire dress was just folded fabric in strategic places, perhaps it would have been interesting enough for the judges.

So you know where I'm going with this.  Sonjia was given the boot this week.  Not only that, for some reason ONLY Sonjia was given the boot, so now the other four designers go to Fashion Week with another elimination to face.

Thing is, the judges agreed with me.  None of these looks really fulfilled the brief.  But no one really collapsed this week, either.  It was a five-way draw.  So the judges turned to the guest judge, Zoe Saldana and told her that it was nice that she joined them for the week, but they would proceed to judge the designers on past work.

After talking endlessly about what the designers did to date, they came back to the folded illusion on Sonjia's outfit.  Why the retrospective when it didn't really mean anything toward the outcome?  What would have been the problem with sending five to Fashion Week with two eliminations or giving both Sonjia and Fabio the......come to think of it, the optics of sending two designers of color home in the same week look pretty bad.

So there goes my favorite designer, Sonjia, from the competition.

Until next week's elimination before the Fashion Week show....