The First Runway - Spoilers

Thursday night was the first walk down the runway for the designers and models of Season 16's Project Runway. The task assigned was to design a Red Carpet look for an awards show that would allow each designer to showcase their individual, personal style. It was a one-day challenge - nothing like throwing the designers into the deep end from the starting gun. As mentioned in yesterday's post, the models ranged in size from 2-22, reflecting the pool of real women who purchase and wear fashion every day. There were a lot of "safe" designs, but there were, as usual, three good and three bad looks that came under scrutiny and critique. Here are those six designs, presented in alphabetic designer order.

SPOILER BELOW - YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

The grey and red wasn't horrible, but those flowers! And
Bastani had added them in a straight run down from
the center back down past the model's butt. What was it
hiding? Apparently a hole in the back seam! 

Bastani has a magnificent and strong sense of personal design, but she fell short with this dress. When the model was questioned, she said that the floral appliques hadn't been on the design when she first tried the dress on. Additionally, the back detail down the center back seam across the buttocks was extremely unflattering, almost looking like a poorly attached tail. Heidi asked Bastami if the flowers had been put in that array to hide something but she denied it. Upon closer inspection, however, a hole in the seam where the stitching had separated made Bastini's lie quite clear and Heidi was less than pleased.

Brandon's outfit was a wonderful mix of formal and
sportswear, right on the fringe of the current trend
of formal athletic wear. The sleeve details and edging
on the skirt were discussed with positive notes
by the judges. The color was stunning on Liris. 

Brandon was designing the second women's wear design in his life when he got paired with Liris. Communication, an understanding of current fashion trends, and a strong sense of understanding a woman's curves, allowed him to design a wonderful, edgy outfit that was well received by both his model and the judges.

ChaCha's dress - the glittery tent, wasn't the favorite
of neither the judges nor his model. When I first saw it
walking down the Runway, all I could think of
was  Leoncavallo's "Pagliachi". All his
model needed was whiteface makeup and she
could have appeared on stage at the Metropolitan Opera. 

ChaCha is a unique designer from Taipei, Taiwan, with a childlike wonder and joy with the colors, shapes and possibilities of the world. His playful demeanor showed hints of a sweet design. When questioned, his model said that ChaCha said he had wanted to accentuate her body. But the dress looked like a tent and had strong clown-like tendencies, hiding the model's body under the fabric. Do people still like clowns? Although some people surely do, the judges were unimpressed by the dress, the fabric and the ruffled circus collar that dipped low in the back.

Using a print is often a death stroke for any Project
Runway designer, but Deyonte draped, cut and
stitched the print perfectly, creating a design that
complimented his model's figure. It was a stunning
triumph of floral placement which framed the model's
body and continued downward on the sides. 

Deyonte missed the birth of his son to heed the call from the producers of Project Runway, but it was obvious in his design that he not only understands the female body, but that he can celebrate it. Although he used a large print, often the death knell of a design, his draping and cutting techniques pulled the print together into a large flower with petals falling down the sides of the model. Tim Gunn usually snorts at prints, but he nodded at this one, and the judges loved it too.

Kenya - wow. Just wow. Look at what this girl managed
to pull off in a one-day challenge. And she added pockets
in the gown, one of the best design decisions, EVER.
If she had used a firmer fabric, she might well have
won this challenge. She's a force behind the sewing
machine and the dressmaker's form. 

Kenya pulled together a fully boned, fitted, pleated and hemmed mermaid gown in white for the Oscars Red Carpet. Her corset was perfect, but her fabric choice was poor, proving to be too lightweight to hold the bustier in perfect position for the entire runway walk and examination. Time constraints for the one-day challenge had precluded her adding a lining to the corset, which could have been beneficial to the structural integrity. Still, the mermaid gown was very impressive and exquisitely finished. Her model looked like a movie star.

Shawn - what was she thinking? The top was actually
cute, with that backward sleeve behind on the left, and
the long draping sleeve on the right. But the shorts
looked like a locker room throwaway, despite their
being made from leather. The styling was really poorly
thought out too. This model wasn't dressed for success. 

Finally, Shawn, one of the twins accepted into PR Season 16, looked a bit too laid back for any red carpet. The top was actually really nice - draped well with an unusual sleeve. She paired the white flowing top with a pair of glitzy shorts that really looked as if they might belong in a high-end gym. The shorts were made from leather, which was a small saving grace, but it wasn't enough to pull the outfit up from the bottom.

So, there you have the six - three on the top and three on the bottom. Did you guess who won and who went home? Here are your results. Winning the challenge was Deyonte with a well-deserved win for that wonderful print dress. The runners up were Brandon and Kenya. On the losing side were Batani, ChaCha and Shawn, and yes, it was the happiness and stuffed animal king himself - ChaCha - who was sent packing. His eviction reminded me of the first designer to be sent home in Season 15 - the guy I nicknamed the "My Little Pony" designer. ChaCha was a sweet guy, but his skills definitely were not at the level needed to win Project Runway. Goodbye little man-child.

So, as I head out to the pool, I'm wishing all of you a wonderful weekend. I'm already looking forward to next week's episode - the Unconventional Materials challenge which will take place at a recycling facility. Enjoy your weekend and make it work!