After thirteen episodes, we’ve now arrived at the Season 14 Finale of “Project Runway.” During this season, we witnessed lots of crying, one too many smoke breaks, a trip to Los Angeles, Tim donning an apron to make tortillas plus much, much more. It was now time to see if the finalists rose to the challenge of showing an outstanding NY Fashion Week collection and more importantly, which one did it the best, or as it turned out, most cohesively. Time for one final recap.
The episode begins with the designers feeling bruised, battered and bewildered by the blunt critiques the judges gave them—except for Ashley. Even with just a three-look runway preview, it was pretty obvious whose collection was looking the best. The only issues Ashley had were fit and construction. Similarly, Kelly’s critique wasn’t too negative. They just said, “Amp it up!”
Edmond and Candice suffered the most debilitating critique blows. Edmond somehow needed to bring the sexy back (slash a slit or two, perhaps?), and Candice was told to tone it down and rein back the bells and whistles…and the witchy hat. The designers had two days to remedy what was deemed not-so-good. From the outside, it looked as if they had a lot of work to do with no assistance from eliminated designers this season. The remaining four designers were all on their own.
In absence of help, Tim announces that they would get a Mood trip and he volunteers to go on their behalf. In other words, a P.A. went to Mood and came back with bags for Tim to present. Kelly requests glitter and Ashley needs thread and notions. Back in the workroom, Edmond inexplicably drags out even more cray-cray ruffled creations (STOOOOOOPPPPPPP Edmond! Put them back in the bags!), Kelly is bedazzling headphones and shoes with the 20 pounds of glitter Tim “got,” and Candice is wisely thinking about taking that hoop skirt out.
Finally the moment has arrived: NY Fashion Week runway day. In case anyone is wondering why Edmond is proudly wearing an American flag scarf with his own outfit, it is because the actual finale show occurred on September 11th during the most recent Spring 2016 New York Fashion Week.
Heidi, Nina, Zac, and finale guest judge Carrie Underwood, also in red, white and blue, are on hand to take notes. Here are my thoughts on the top four collections:
Kelly “From the Deli” is first. She bedazzled all those accessories as well as her model’s makeup adding an exclamation to her “Studio 54 meets New Age” designs. Last week I said that she was at a disadvantage since her type of aesthetic would not get the full-on “runway treatment” unless the catwalk stage looked like a deli, her models were chomping gum, and there was an accompanying 80s new wave soundtrack. I still hold to this, but with a caveat: even without that kind of staging, her clothes still made an impact. My favorite look was the same as Heidi’s, the wood-like jersey dress with matching fanny pack. My least favorite look was that split-slit jumpsuit. It was too “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” costumey.
Next up was “Bring the Sexy Back” Edmond. I loved the first look: a halter-neck black gown. It was clean, elegant and oh-so-sexy. I also liked the white and black hi-lo bow-detailed dress. But beyond those, it was a disjointed mess. There was a dated fishtail number, a black-and-white mini that anyone can buy at Bebe, a toilet paper-like white cascade ruffled gown and an asymmetrical-cowl draped dress that was a very close cousin to the creation from first week auf’ed New Zealand designer Duncan Chambers-Watson. Heidi loved that one. Not sure why.
It was time for “Cherry Blossom” Candice. Candice’s collection was a “dumbed-down” version of what she originally intended. After seeing it, my first thought was that she should have just stuck to her original idea of going all out and not listened to the judges and Tim, but then I realized something. The judges told her to take all the “bells and whistles” out in hopes that there was actual forward-looking fashions somewhere in there. And there wasn’t. Most of Candice’s collection was North Beach leather circa 1992 with a dash of Frederick’s of Hollywood (as Nina said). That isn’t good.
With that said, I liked the red strapless mermaid style gown. But if I had to pick, I think her best look was the first cherry blossom dress, hands down. Not black and not even leather. Certainly better than any of those fashion school 101 basic bustier tops. Honestly, I wish Candice would have sent out ten versions of what she was wearing herself. Her black ¾ sleeve turtleneck, cool directional skirt, black tights and platform wedges look was more attractive and stylish than ANYTHING she created for her finale collection. Where’s the disconnect?
Cryin’ Ashley was up last. As she has told us (time and time again), her collection was inspired by “Mexico City in the 1950’s.” (Take a tequila shot!) As the judges said, it was, indeed, the most cohesive. It was also wonderful that she “dared” to put plus-size gals in crop tops (Dios Mio!) and made those delicate lace fabrications and moher of the bride colors look fab. My one and only complaint was the construction details. I know this isn’t “America’s Next Top Seamstress,” but am I the only one who noticed that the hem of the first look’s pink pencil skirt was coming undone? And that wasn’t the only problem, I also think her finale look was a “Frida Kahlo flower explosion” miss, especially with the glued-on flowers…yikes! On a good note, I think her strongest look was the plum-colored lace gown.
During the final judging, Heidi began the critiques by telling the designers that there were “hits and misses, but we were never bored.” Well, I guess that’s one way of looking at it, a 5 out of 10 on the “Project Runway” finale collections scale. I couldn’t help but laugh when Nina passive-aggressively said that it was “phenomenal…to see all of you.” I’ll call it as I see it: there have been better finale collections. I remember some as being true fashion moments: Jay McCarroll (Season 1), Jeffrey Sebelia (Season 3), Christian Siriano and Rami Kashou (Season 4), Leann Marshall (Season 5) to name a few. There was none of that this season.
Eventually, the blows were dealt: Candice was out first, followed by Edmond. And now, it was down to Kelly and Ashley. It was pretty obvious who the winner would be. Although Kelly’s was a fun and “kooky” collection, Ashley’s was the most cohesive, albeit poorly finished. And it cannot be overstated the immense impact of having the opportunity of a first-ever plus size “Project Runway” winning collection. I am sure this was on the judges’ minds even before seeing her complete collection and they were hoping she would pass their test. She did. Cohesion won over fun. That was the judging bar at the end of this season. Congrats to Ashley and like Heidi said, “Now you can cry all you want.” I’ll give you that!
