You're Either In, Or You're Out

The Project Runway premiere was a wonderful two hours of television. Not only did I get to catch up with past favorites like Jay, Kara Saun & Austin Scarlet, I also found some new favorites. And new people to hate.

Speaking of hate, Wendy Pepper did make a guest appearance at the beginning of the show, helping the producers pick out the 16 semi-finalists. But, thankfully, that's the only time Wendy "graced" my screen. Whew. Hopefully Wendy, along with the Banana Republic "Are You Beautiful On The Inside" commercial will be out!

Note: Bravo has a really great website for the show and be sure to check it out if you'd like to actually see some of the designs I'm trying to describe.

Challenge #1

So anyway, 16 contestants were selected and brought to New York City. Before they arrived, however, they were sent 6 yards of fabric and $20 and told to make an outfit that best represented themselves. Once they were situated at Parsons, they were randomly given a model and two hours to finish things up. Once they hit the runway, two designers would be eliminated and the rest would move on to the finals.

Highlights from the show:

Santino's beautifully detailed turquoise baby doll dress
Marla's deep, dark blue shredded two-piece outfit
Diana's funky latticed cutout bodice
Lowlights:
- Daniel Franco from season one is back. Actually, I kind of liked the rich brown dress Daniel made, but I think his bad experience in the first season kind of broke his spirit. He was falling apart on the runway.
- John's boring, boring, boring orange tie-dyed sundress
- Heidi's overly perky personality coupled with her overly boring white, lacy dress
One of the many things I appreciate about Project Runway is the fact that the judges (in this case Michael Kors and Nina Garcia) appreciate risk taking and vision. Designers that take the easy way out or try to play it safe tend to be eliminated. And that's exactly what happened here as John and Heidi are "out", mostly because they simply didn't do enough. Santino, on the other hand, was the very deserving winner of the first challenge.

Challenge #2

The 14 finalists then picked models. After they made their picks they were informed that they'd have to stick with these models throughout the competition. Ouch. I don't like that development at all. A bad model (i.e. Morgan) can totally screw a designer over. It'd be a shame for that to happen again this year.

Models chosen, the designers moved into their beautiful NYC apartments and got ready for a party with their mentor on the show, Tim Gunn. And really, who wouldn't want to party with Timm Gunn. As Season One's Mario said, Tim's one sexy bitch.

At the party, designers were given their second challenge. They'd have the following day to make an outfit out of the clothes they have on their back right now. Ouch. I feel the pain of the designers who were wearing some of their own personal favorites.

But, for the most part, they sucked it up and really, as a group, created some really amazing pieces. I'm always stunned by how creative these designers really are. The should could just cast for drama, but they really do try to find incredibly talented people. It's that glimpse into the why and how of that talent that I find so fascinating.

Highlights from show #2:
- Kara's cute little denim bloomers
- Nick's leather jacket and white t-shirt transforming itself into an incredibly sexy skirt and skimpy t-shirt. Wow
- Santino's high fashion creation (that's a terrible description, I know
Lowlights:
- Andrae's complete meltdown on the runway. His dress wasn't that bad, but he turned into an emotional wreck and made the judges doubt him more than they probably would have if he just would have acted normal
In the end, Chloe's sleek, but, in my mind, plain, big-pocketed dress won the challenge (let's just say that Santino was pissed that he didn't win). Kirsten, who, like last season's Starr is a lawyer by day, was eliminated. I didn't think her outfit was that bad. She made a metallic skirt and paired it with a punk t-shirt. It was cute. I thought Zulema should have gone. There's no excuse for making clothes that don't cover the model's butt. Blech.

Impressions of the remaining designers:
- Santino: incredibly arrogant but also incredibly talented. I kind of like him because as Andrae was having his runway meltdown, Santino was killing himself trying not to laugh. I kind of appreciate that. I'd be laughing too. Plus, Santino has a good sense of humor. As he was unpacking he pulled a shirt he just had to have: a black velvet type unicorn t-shirt. Snerk.
- Nick: gives a great interview and reminds me of my beloved Jay just a little bit. Not his design sense, mind you, but in his general openness. His designs are a little plain, but I think he knows what's hot. I'm not sure how innovative he is, but so far I like him.
- Andrae: creative but fragile. He's the male Starr, but with slightly better taste.
- Emmett: this former menswear designer is one tall drink of water. He's a very good looking man. He and Tim Gunn would make the world's greatest gay couple. I really liked both of his designs tonight. He seems to have a good sense of proportion and makes things that move. I liked that the show compared and contrasted his method with Zulema's style. Emmett sits back and thinks about what he's going to do, while Zulema just jumps in and works on instinct. I don't think there's a right way to create. I just appreciate that the producers understand that type of information is interesting too. The show shouldn't be all about backstabbing.
- Kara: was barely on tonight and so it was kind of shocking to see her finished products. They were beautiful and completely different from one another. But, is it better to be versatile or to have a consistent style? I guess time will tell
- Daniel Franco: has improved since Season One, but his style doesn't speak to me. Daniel's clothes seem very well constructed, but there's no emotion behind that construction. That's what I loved about Jay, I could always feel where his designs were coming from. With Daniel, I don't feel a thing.
- Chloe: seems like a nice girl, but, once again, so far her stuff isn't my style. She's too plain and simple. Her clothes might be wearable but they're not original enough.
- Daniel V.: was barely on and so I haven't formed an opinion on him yet. His clothes made no impression on me, either positive or negative. They were just there.
- Guadalupe: was fresh and fun. However, she strikes me as being just a step away from disaster. There is so much going on in her clothes and while that's interesting, it might get to be too interesting.
- Raymundo: made absolutely no impression on me either. I honestly cannot remember what his clothes were like. I know that he was kind of punk rocky, but I don't think his own clothes reflected that image. I hope they start to.
- Diana: is a little geeky, but is showing something that's completely new. She's all about incorporating science into fashion. How cool is that? I don't know if that's always going to work, but I'm much more interested in watching someone try to do that rather than just making things that are "pretty".
- Zulema: is this year's Wendy. I hate her so far. She acts like a royal bitch to the other designers. Plus, her designs completely suck. I hope she's gone very, very soon.
- Marla: is the designer I think we're supposed to think is this year's Wendy as she's an older woman from Allentown, PA. But, unlike Wendy, I think Marla is amazingly talented. I saw some of her designs and I caught my breath a little. Design wise, she reminds me of Jay a little bit, which is probably why I like her, but her designs are much more feminine than Jay's and I'm interested to see where she's going with her look.
All in all, the second season is off to a great start and I can't wait to see what triumphs and disasters these designers have in store for us.

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