Last week on Project Runway, Princess Korina was dethroned after in impromptu one-hour challenge against Char. The attitude and bitterness was strong in that one. I’m so glad she’s gone.
Fashion on the Streets
Tim gives the designers a wake-up call at their apartments. They all meet him and some suit from Lexus on the roof. For the final challenge before Fashion Week, the designers have to take inspiration from the streets of New York to create a street chic look. It must be fashionable and progressive and leave a lasting impression on the judges.
Emily doesn’t find it difficult to find inspiration in the graphic architecture in New York City. She’s planning on making a mega hoodie that she has wanted to make this whole competition but hasn’t found the right challenge for until now.
Amanda is attracted to the graffiti and graphic street art. She’s making a maxi dress with bright colored knits.
Char is drawn to the window displays of local shops and boutiques. She is making a skirt with handmade petals and a top with a tribal print. Char talks to the other designers about how Korina left. She says she definitely thinks differently of her now. She says it’s hard to be eliminated but you have to be a good sport. All of them agree that now that Korina’s gone, things are a lot more relaxed and fun.
Because it’s the last challenge, Kini wants to do what he does best: denim. He’s making a long trench coat and an exaggerated pencil skirt.
Sean’s inspired by a man wearing a long white caftan. He appreciates its purity on a dirty city street. At Mood he picks out crisp white fabric and a light teal to mix it up.
Project Runway Season 13: Ranking the Looks of “The Highest Bidder” >>>
The “B” is Back
The designers arrive in the workroom on the second day to get to work and they see five losing looks in the middle of the room. Tim comes in to tell them that they have to choose a losing look to re-work into a winning look. It’s a completely separate challenge, so it doesn’t have to be cohesive with the first look they’re creating.
The designers make their choices not knowing that the designer of the look they choose will be their assistant for the rest of the challenge. Emily chooses Samantha’s blue red carpet dress, Char picks Korina’s outerwear look, Amanda opts for Fade’s “press play” dress, Kini selects Mitchell’s really red red carpet dress, and Sean is left with Sandhya’s “demon baby” American girl doll jumper.
All of the designers seem happy to be back and helping, except of course for Korina. From the moment she walks in, Kini says it’s like a black cloud coming into the room. Her body language is defensive and her facial expression is sour.
When Tim tells her that she’s working with Char, she all but stomps over to her and crosses her arms. She shakes her head and tells Tim that this isn’t going to work. She says that she’s still really upset and that it’s obvious that she should still be here. She says that she doesn’t think she can be productive helping Char.
Tim tells her that it’s understandable and that she can leave. She stomps off and slams the door. Kini says that she acted like a cry baby. Sean says that she is so bitter and it’s a dark quality of hers. Amanda says it hurts to be eliminated (she’s been there) but it doesn’t hurt Korina more than anyone else. Char says she could have made it work, but she never even got to the chance to try.
Instead, she gets to work with Alexander, who was mad at Char after his elimination too, but he’s a good enough sport to just suck it up. She’s making a black gown with knit details from Korina’s look. Tim is worried her street chic look is over-designed, and her re-work is under-designed.
Tim loves Amanda’s color blocked maxi dress. She’s not sure what she’s doing with Fade’s old look though. She gets some leather from Mood and tries to use it to cover some of the neon piping in some places, and accentuate it in others.
Emily likes Sam’s navy blue and red carpet dress, so she’s going to use the same bustier but with more details around the shoulder. She picks out a blue print from Mood for the skirt. Tim cautions her to differentiate the re-work from something someone could buy in a department store. Emily admits that she’s way more concerned with her street chic look that she pretty much just lets Sam handle the re-work.
Kini wants to simplify Mitchell’s red carpet dress and really just lets the red fabric speak for itself. Tim tells him his street chic look is impeccably made (as usual) but he’s afraid it’s not enough to wow the judges. Kini decides to make ruffles on the skirt to make it more “him.”
Tim warns Sean that his street chic look with the white and teal looks a little too much like hospital scrubs. He decides to ditch the teal after that and make a structured white skirt. He’s using Sandhya’s look to make shorts and a fringed jacket. It’s still kind of ugly, but it might just be because of that terrible dusty rose color.
From the Streets to the Catwalk
Shay Mitchell, from Pretty Little Liars, joins Zac, Nina and Heidi on the judging panel.
Top
Kini- The judges don’t love his street chic look, though they think the trench coat is really cool. Nina says the skirt is too much and that less is sometimes more. They do love his red re-work dress. Nina thinks it accentuates all of the right body parts and thinks the one shoulder/sleeve is very successful.
Amanda- Nina loves the street chic look. but doesn’t like her styling. Heidi loves it too and it’s so indicative of her signature style. The judges don’t care for her re-work. Shay says the neon piping reminds her of the movie Tron and Heidi says she looks like a nightclub hostess.
Sean- The judges are stunned by his white structured look. Heidi says it’s fantastic and spectacular. Zac says it’s modern, original and exquisite. Nina says it may be one of the best pieces she’s ever seen on Project Runway (and Nina is not one for superlatives). The other look, however, they all think is heinous. Nina says it was silly before, and it’s silly now. Heidi says that pink and the fringe is just not cool.
Bottom
Emily- Heidi doesn’t mind her street chic look, but she thinks it looks a little like pajamas. Zac things the big hoodie looks like it belongs on a homeless person. Nina says she has a definite point of view and she’s disappointed that she didn’t see it in her re-work at all.
Char- Nina says she appreciates Char’s eye for color. But there’s too much going on in her street chic look. Zac says she has a lot of good ideas, but they aren’t executed well. He outright says that her re-work just isn’t good enough.
Project Runway Recap: The Designers Team Up for Storage Wars >>>
On To Fashion Week
Kini is the first person to make it to Fashion Week. It’s a solid decision even if they weren’t crazy about his final showing. He’s been consistently good throughout the competition, not only through his designs, but his great tailoring as well.
Heidi tells Emily that she wishes she had wow’ed them more with her final runway. She’s out. While I have personally enjoyed a lot of what Emily has made, it’s clear that the judges were never really her biggest fan. I’m sure her collection would have been very interesting and it’s a shame we won’t get to see it.
Sean is in of course, the judges’ darling. He’s had a couple of really great pieces throughout the competition and I think his spot is deserved.
Amanda is in as well. Heidi says they appreciate all she’s done with her second chance.
Speaking of second chances, Char gets her millionth chance of the season. She’s in as well, even though she was eliminated once, got an extra ten minutes for a challenge, had to do a one-hour challenge to prove herself, and never won a challenge. I’m not sure what it is about Char that makes the judges want to keep seeing things from her. I think Emily deserved a spot over Char.
Next week: The designers travel to Rome for inspiration for their collections. And Tim Gunn does the Hula!
Watch Project Runway every Thursday at 9pm on Lifetime.
Want to add Project Runway to your very own watch-list? Download BuddyTV Guide for free for your phone.
(Image courtesy of Lifetime)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
