What!? The designers get to go to Austin! Seriously the best season of “Project Runway” ever! I love Austin and Nick Verreos is a friend of mine, so I think the designers score another major win with this challenge. The slogan for Austin is, “Keep Austin weird,” so the designers are told to have a lot of fun and get funky with this challenge. They first head to Georgetown Farm Supply where they take the advice “go weird” very literally. They keep this attitude at Stubbs BBQ with their selections, and even get to enjoy some of the good eatin’ after shopping.
Over too quick, and the designers head back to NYC to work in the studio after enjoying the Best Western continental breakfast (this episode is seriously making me hungry). Luckily the designers have two days to complete this challenge, but of course at a price. Tim comes in and says that the designers have to go to Mood for the fabric needed to create a second look. This will become a collection with their unconventional materials garment. I am most excited about Roberi’s dress. I hope that he can find a way to make his dress not too transparent because the work he is doing is amazing. I love his ambition. I am really rooting for him.
Once again, I am not too impressed with Cornelius’ look. It just seems a little juvenile compared to all the other designers’ looks. I really think the remaining designers are incredibly talented and frankly, Cornelius just seems a little young in his attitude and taste compared the others. I agree with Erin it seems a little odd that he went all the way to Austin and came back with plastic cups as his unconventional material. I am also not really inspired by Laurence’s design so far, however she always seems to pull through with a tasteful beautifully crafted design. I am not too worried about her.
The designers are all starting to feel the pressure of it being so close to Fashion Week. I remember that time well and how hard it was to do your best work with all the pressure, not to mention the exhaustion that comes from working so hard nonstop during all the previous challenges. I really think that they are handling it well considering everything.
On to the runway:
Erin – Wow, she really is so talented with the unconventional materials challenges. I thought she did an amazing job using the worms to create something beautiful in the flowers. I could not see that they were worms from the runway, but it will definitely be an added surprise for the judges when they take a closer look at the garments. She is very talented at creating embellishments and using them in a tasteful way, and that helps her succeed in these types of challenges.
I am not as impressed with her second look, it seems like a little bit of an afterthought, and does not seem to mesh well with her first look. I would have preferred pulling a color from her first garment and making the jumpsuit a little cleaner with longer lines and a better finish.
Rik – I thought Rik also really succeeded at this challenge. I love that he used records because of the importance of music in Austin. I also think that it was cool that she used horse reins and dogs leashes with the importance of horses to the history of Austin and the amount of dog parks that there are in Austin! It was a beautiful dress that I definitely think puts him in the running for the win.
I also like his second look. I would have liked to see a little more materials worked into the tweed, but overall it was a fun, modern twist on traditional fabric. Granted the silhouette is very simple, it is a garment a lot of women would love to wear, myself included.
Laurence – These designers are blowing me away! The unconventional dress from Laurence was flawless. I love the harness across the shoulder and the beautiful material the she created with the bird seed and roping. So far I feel like I have seen three winners.
Similar to the first two designers, I thought her second dress looked a little like an afterthought. The fit was beautiful and the color complimented the first dress nicely, however the leather detailing threw me off a little. I didn’t think the leather was finished as well as her construction prowess, and the color of the brown leather didn’t mesh well with the tone of the yellow.
Roberi – Wow, I am very impressed with the construction level of the first dress. It is completely stunning. I wish that he had a little more time to make the dress longer. The length cheapens the dress a little with of the amount of skin that shows through. It also would have looked a little more polished if the length were a little longer. I hate to complain about the length because the focus really should be his gorgeous craftsmanship.
The second look is the only one so far that does not look like an afterthought. I wish that it would have been a little more cohesive with the first look, but I do appreciate that he was able to create something really unique and unexpected.
Cornelius – I don’t dislike this dress, but I really think that it looks a lot more juvenile then the other designers’ looks. I wish that he would have kept this idea, but incorporated more unique materials.
The second look was very tasteful, but unfortunately it was not enough to carry the unconventional look.
I am glad the judges agreed with my assessment, and sent Cornelius home. I think the four remaining designers are going to create some of the best collections that we have seen on “Project Runway,” and I cannot wait to see what they have in store for us at Fashion Week. Congrats!
