Unconventional. The word means unexpected, not conforming to what is generally done, out of the ordinary. On “Project Runway,” the Unconventional Challenge means using materials not typically used in creating fashion/garments. It’s always a challenge that fans LOVE even if the designers themselves, for the most part, dread. (I did back in Season 2!) We are only in the second week of the new season and it was time for the Unconventional Materials Challenge. Some of the designers rose to the occasion, while most created expected and rather apathetic looks. Let’s delve deeper.
The episode began with the designers in their apartments musing on about the first challenge. Finally (After a cue from one of the producers perhaps?), the designers read a card that just happened to be on their kitchen tables. The card was from Heidi and it read, “It’s important that you play your cards right.” My first thought was, “A card to give out a hint of the next challenge?” As the scene progressed, I was fixated on how weird it seemed that the note was written on such a formal greeting card. (Usually it is just a plain ol’ note card) I subsequently feel bad for the poor P.A. who had to make a trip to Walgreens to pick up “Heidi’s” card…
Soon enough, however, we realize why it was a card: The designers have all gathered at a Hallmark store in NYC where Tim Gunn and Amy Merchant, Director of Branding for Hallmark Signature, are to introduce the challenge. Amy explains that “cards are pieces of art with a story to tell,” teeing off the introduction of the Unconventional Materials Challenge: Create a look using Hallmark Signature cards. Tim reiterates, as always, that the creations need to look like real, wearable clothes. The designers get one day for this challenge and two minutes to destroy the Hallmark store before heading back to the workroom.
In the workroom, we get to meet Gabrielle (who?), a designer who had near-zero presence in last week’s episode, and “fabulous” Blake is doing his best to make an offensive and rather racist remark to fellow contestant Swapnil. Swapnil, who hails from India, was announcing to the designers information about machines in the back of the workroom and what they can be used for. For some reason Swapnil could not understand what Blake said, so Blake proceeded to double-down and add, “I don’t know how to speak Indian.” A) WHO FRIGGIN’ SAYS THAT?! and B) someone may need to give Blake a lesson in foreign languages and how not to say uneducated things. In case Blake wants to know, “Indian” is not a language, there are 750 languages spoken in India, with Hindi and English being the two official languages. Now that I got that off my chest, let’s move on.
One can always get a good sense of who will be on top and/or bottom while watching a “Project Runway” episode simply by seeing which designers are continuously being highlighted. In this episode, the “Special Guest Stars” were “Project Runway” Hall-of-Fame Try-Out Boy Edmond, culturally-ignorant Blake, his not-best-friend Swapnil, I-Almost-Made-It-Into-Season-9 Amanda, and Italiano David. During the Tim’s check in, we find out Edmond is making a “secret” garment inspired by a wedding card (Could it be a wedding dress??); Blake is making Mariah Carey blush with all the glitter he is using; Swapnil is cutting circles and flowers; Amanda is creatively stuck, and finally, there’s David. Tim pulls no punches when he tells David that his top looks like a paper card project and deems the entire look “constipated.” Mamma mia!
Following Tim’s visit, David is obviously shaken and disconsolate. What follows is what I like to call “The Kiss of Project Runway Death”: the call to a loved one. It seems like every other time there’s a teary phone call to a significant other on “Project Runway,” it’s an omen that the designer is 95% guaranteed to go home. In this instance, David calls his husband and, well, you now know the rest.
Runway day and actress Ashley Tisdale is on hand as the guest judge. Heidi informs us that she has a new “Style Site” titled “Hot Mess” (Ummm, OK!?). Overall, I was a little disappointed with what the designers created for this Unconventional Challenge. There were A LOT of 5.0’s but not many 9.9’s. (It’s like Old-school Figure Skating Points for me.) My thoughts:
Ashley’s gold stiff, unflattering cocoon coat was a lot of muslin, little cards. Joseph’s pink wonky skirt was a bit of a geometric eyesore. Lindsey’s was a stiff overdesigned sheath; Merline did a flap-in-the-front-and-back creation — she loves a good flap/extension as seen from her first challenge creation last week — that was awkward at best. Gabrielle’s ombre pink look with a front fishtail looked like a cheap sushi roll. I was also not a fan of Blake’s — it looked like a papier-mâché promalicious dress and Amanda’s design looked more as if it was created from a piñata as opposed to Hallmark cards.
I did like Candice’s silver “Barbarella” dress; it was sexy and impacting. Jake’s LBD should have gotten a special mention for making the cards look like fabric. Hanmiao made a look that was unique and slightly more avant-garde as opposed to unconventional, but she definitely upped her game this week. I enjoyed Kelly’s two-piece look; it was Katy Perry-at-the-Super Bowl fun and she repurposed the cards and envelopes creatively. Swapnil’s look was Giambattista Valli-like in its appliqué originality. (I would have done without the boots and waist bow, however.) But it was obvious the hands-down winner would be Edmond and his “Hallmark Bride.”
A couple of things shocked me during the post-Runway: Blake being on top. I. Do. Not. Understand. It. What were the judges drinking? And secondly, I wanted to say, “Oh no you didn’t!” when Zac threw Ashley Tisdale “Taste Level Shade” by saying “But it’s YOU!” after Nina questioned the taste factor of Kelly’s crop top and fringed skirt design. Did he really just call Ashley tacky? Yep.
What didn’t shock me was Edmond winning and David being out. Edmond’s dress, pardon the pun, enveloped, his model in Hallmark fabulousness. While I personally wouldn’t use superlatives such as “phenomenal” to describe it, it was outstanding…compared to the rest of the lot. And David, well, I knew he was gone from the minute he called his husband, and once I saw that there was more muslin than cards, it was “Ciao Bello!” I don’t think he cheated as one of the judges suggested, he just didn’t follow directions. Overall, this wasn’t a great Runway show; it was mediocre-to-okay. I didn’t get the goosebumps I’ve gotten from past Unconventional Runways. Let’s hope there will be another Unconventional Challenge and I can give these designers another chance to give me those fashion goosebumps I am used to.
