Be still my autumnal heart. It’s that time of year where I can hide the fact that I never use my gym membership under oversized sweaters and hold my hot coffee greedily with both hands. Everything’s a little spooky and eerie and misty and grey. This is my season! But completely forget all of that because in total contrast, this week’s “Runway” is like a mid-‘90s Spring Break in Miami. And the spectacle of it all is, well, spectacular.
Our designers sit watching an empty runway while backstage, Tim and Heidi are up to no good. They pull a giant on/off switch and suddenly the designers are plunged into ultraviolet light. I love that something as simple as a change of lighting can bring out the inner children in anyone. Nathalia and Dexter both kick their feet like school kids, their bright white tennis shoes transformed into glowing orbs. Heidi and Tim dance onto the runway, also glowing. Heidi is delighted by how lit up her own toenails are. Their excitement is adorable and contagious.
The Challenge:
Inspired by Transitions Optical lenses, create a day-to-blacklight look that will transform when the lighting changes on the runway. The winner will appear with their designs in an exclusive spread in Marie Claire. The designers have one day to work and $200 to spend.
In Mood, our designers realize fairly quickly that this challenge is going to prove more difficult than most. Using the blacklight flashlight to test fabrics is a struggle in a well-lit room, and some of the ideas they had going in have to be scrapped based on fabric availability and reaction to the UV light. Jenni is already moving to Plan B as they leave Mood for the workroom.
As the designers begin manipulating their fabrics with ultraviolet-reactive materials, Alex wishes the only dad in the room, Mah-Jing, a happy Father’s Day. It’s clear that Mah-Jing is struggling with being away from his daughter and fiancee, and after a video call with them he’s rather emotional. But he refocuses the energy towards the task at hand and begins making a wedding-inspired dress that he believes will be fit for his future bride.
When Tim returns for his check-in, the designers are in varying stages of progress. Erin is working on a sweet to sexy look with some sheer baby blue fabric which she’s detailing with beads. She believes she’s found the secret to utilizing the blacklight without falling for the easy or expected gimmicks. Cornelius has the right idea with his concept of masking shapes and then spraying UV paint over top, but needs to take it up a notch. Nathalia, after revealing her plan to add a florescent yellow legging to an already very bright pink and blue look, is told this look is a costume. And then, one of my favorite quotes from Nathalia: “Tim is literally opening my eyes to this whole new world of…sophistication.” I would be first in line to a “My Fair Lady”-esque feature film starring Nathalia and Tim. Universe, make it happen! Roberi is doing a frayed-edge treatment on his purple look; the exposed threads turn orange under the black ligh, creating a very cool and unexpected effect. Kimber, Jenni and Mah-Jing are all basically advised to completely reconsider the direction of their looks.
After Tim’s critique, Cornelius removes the geometric shapes from his dress and instead masks emojis (well, emoticons) all over the dress. Kimber decides not to use white because it seems like an easy pop. Mah-Jing starts a new “sexy, sleek” look, adding a metallic rope that should pop on the runway and painting a galaxy by hand across it in UV paint.
And Jenni, poor Jenni, is put through the ringer in the hours that follow her critique with Tim. I don’t know what she did in a past life to deserve this strife but the mountains she has to climb make Everest look like a stroll in the park. After scrapping the “grandmother” look she had started, Jenni makes an orange maxi tube skirt—which rips apart as soon as the model puts it on. Jenni creates a jacket out of clear plastic and adds a white rib-knit collar and cuffs to make it feel more modern. Then she uses bright orange, pink, and yellow-green UV puff paint to add floral details throughout the jacket. The end result is magical and solid proof that hard work pays off.
Well, sometimes. Kimber is attempting to make her dense floral print pop under the blacklight. The colors aren’t nearly as dramatic as she had expected under the blacklight so she is hand-painting the dress with puff paint, but the material is absorbing most of the liquid and she’s worried the look won’t translate as well on the runway.
Mah-Jing is using UV dyes that are clear in daylight but light up in blacklight, but unfortunately (and too late) realizes that one of the dyes actually does show up in the daylight, essentially ruining his clean, white look. He attempts to add more of the pink to make it look purposeful but there’s kind of no saving this one
Runway:
Heidi introduces our judges, Zac and Nina, as well as mentor Tim, who are joined this week by actress/designer Jaime King.
The Top:
Jenni: A yellow tank and high-waisted booty shorts paired with a clear plastic knee-length jacket. The jacket has a white rib-knit collar and cuffs as well as a henna-style floral pattern concentrated at the bottom, with a few flowers trickling up and some at the collar. In the blacklight the jacket disappears and all that’s left are lovely floating floral designs. It was a very clever move on Jenni’s part. Nina appreciates the overall effect of the jacket, Zac calls the concept of the plastic “fresh,” and all of the judges are in awe of how professional the floral design looks.
Cornelius: A structured white mid-calf-length dress with a sleeve just shy of elbow length. Cornelius has also included an interesting pocket detail at the chest. When they turn the blacklight on there are of pink, yellow, and orange sprays of color that reveal “emojis” like a sad face, a smiley face with glasses, questions marks, etc… The judges love the reveal, Nina citing “the element of surprise” as her favorite part of the dress. The judges also think the use of “emojis” is current and trendy.
Erin, the Winner: It’s a tea-length light blue organza dress with hand-crafted beaded details that create a pattern. The top portion of the dress has fluttery sleeves and is nearly sheer, covering only the necessary bits. When the blacklight goes on, the beaded details, the piping on the dress, and the bra portion all light up, while everything else is muted. Heidi is fascinated by the fabric that Erin manipulated into a new textile and Nina loves the way the look lights up like a jellyfish. It’s very ethereal and looks very polished.
The Bottom:
Kimber, the loser: A colorful floral one-shoulder A-line mini-dress. The bottom quarter of the dress is made of a large block of solid pink airy material. It’s cute but basic, and when the blacklight hits, it’s super underwhelming. Zac expresses his disappointment at the blacklight let down, Heidi explains that she was generally bored by it, Jaime King and Nina agree that the look doesn’t feel special.
Rik: Pulling inspiration from his days as a raver, Rik has made a corset-esque top out of silver holographic material and neon yellow cord. Zac agrees with Tim’s earlier assertion that the top is well made. The problem really comes from the skirt. It’s a fitted black pencil skirt that has been tied together with the same neon cord in three different places. As Nathalia earlier pointed out, Rik’s model has a great booty, and it happens to be a problem for Rik’s fit: The skirt is pulling every which way, prompting Heidi asks on the runway, “Am I seeing cheeks?” Yes, Heidi, you are. Nina worries the taste level is off, essentially calling a girl who would wear this a stripper. Heidi also notes that the styling is far too much. Rik admits that the look “is a little over-designed.”
Mah-Jing: Similar to Cornelius’, it’s a fitted dress that hits just past the knee. Mah-Jing’s dress has a slit up the left side and a blue and metallic rope detail around the neckline. The pink dye he accidentally used looks like spilled Kool-Aid, and try as he might to defend it, it’s a mess that can’t be saved. The judges do NOT care for it. They say it looks like a crime scene or a dirty hotel room. Mah-Jing was going for galaxy but accidentally achieved a “forensic disaster.” The judges can tell that it was a total mistake and that he was salvaging what he could at the last minute. Oof, I feel bad for Mah-Jing.
Author’s note/honorable mention: Dexter and that fringe look slayed me. I am writing from beyond the grave. I am a ghost writer. If you haven’t gotten a chance to get a good look at it, I highly recommend that you do so! But read this last paragraph I wrote first.
Sadly, we have to say goodbye to Kimber. When it comes to taking Tim’s critiques, a general rule: don’t err on the side of caution so much that you wind up making something boring! If you’re going to fail, at least do it in a big way so that the judges know you’re willing to take a risk. And speaking of risks, they can pay off in a big way, as Erin has learned twice now. With another win under her belt, is she unstoppable or is this like a “the larger they are, the harder they fall” kind of thing? Cornelius believes that Erin’s totally undeserving of the praise, as he considers himself a superior designer. All I have to say to that is: Mmmmmokay, my dude. Only time will tell.
