Here are the winning and losing looks. Remember, there are only nine designers left at this time, so 2/3 of them remained on the stage after the Runway walk. The challenge was two-fold - designing a custom print to be used both in the fashion as well as to be the inspiration for a new Dixie cup design. (The winning designer would also receive $25,000 from Dixie cut - probably paying for the rights to use the design on their cups.) The other aspect of the challenge was to design a custom outfit for several of the staff's family members or friends. So, real women and original design motifs were to be combined with new, cutting edge fashion. It should have been wonderful. You judge for yourself.
Brandon, Ayana and Amy were declared safe this week after the Runway. Here are the other six designs, and after the judges critiques, I'm not sure there is a 3/3 split at all. But there was a winner - or was there?
SPOILERS BELOW - YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
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| Batani designed this purple gown for her customer - Sabrina. |
Batani designed for Sabrina, who loved her new gown. Unfortunately, there were some issues. The judges felt the gown didn't accurately reflect the styling of the model's hair and makeup, and Barani's use of her custom print ended up in stripes down the sides - certainly not the focus of the fashion as the challenge indicated. The comment of "hippie, dippie" was made about the dress, and Sabrina said that it just wasn't 'her' above the shoulders, but the dress itself was a positive in her eyes. Heidi did not agree and the rest of the judges followed her lead.
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| Claire, the remaining twin, designed this peek-a-boo blouse with a ruched look alongside pants featuring her print, for her customer, Cecelia. |
Cecelia, Claire's model, really loved her patterned pants, in spite of her having said that she didn't like prints. Of course it was a print challenge, so designing for someone who didn't like them was one more stumbling block in Clair's way to success. I liked the higher cut above the ankles, stovepipe skinny legs, and the off-set black and white on the pants. But ... were they an original design?
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| Kentaro designed for this diminutive pixie named Kekina. She was going to attend an Indian wedding and wanted a dress for the event. Kentaro designed this colorful dress in orange and magenta with accents of purple and a highly pleated back half-cape. |
Kentaro had been criticized for having too simple of a design when Tim toured the workshop so he changed the dress and made the design more elaborate. Kekina floated down the runway and loved her dress. But the judges were divided, with Heidi hating the fact that Kekina was in such voluminous fabric, while Nina called the design "sublime" and loved it. Heidi's voice usually prevails in these situations, but Nina dug her heels in and refused to back down.
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| Kenya and her model, Michalle, bonded and I think Kenya made a friend for life. I know she has already received an invitation to Michelle's place for Thanksgiving. |
What is it about peplum? I fail to see the appeal. I didn't mind it at the bottom of the skirt, (although the skirt was WAY too tight), but I didn't think the blouse peplum begining just under Michelle's breasts was attractive. I did feel that Kenya's original pattern was the best. She designed a small print of dragonflies for her fabric and it was really cute. It would look great on a Dixie cup.
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| Margarita wasn't happy with her print fabric, so she took it and dyed it, making a much nicer fabric. I couldn't remember her model's name, and couldn't locate a reference to it in an online search. |
Margarita was livid as she watched Claire design a blouse that was a thinly veiled copy of her winning dress design of the week before. In fact, she was so overcome with anger at this that she miscut the grey fabric that her dress was originally supposed to feature, requiring her to choose a secondary fabric for the dress. It worked, but it didn't really work well with the short grey jacket and wasn't quite what her model really had wanted.
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| Michael designed for Halona - a young lady who has Native American roots. He wanted to use Halona's heritage in the print as well as the design. |
Halona and Michael missed the mark with this outfit. The shirt was actually quite nice, although the split sleeve on the upper arm was a bit much. I liked the print itself. It integrated bold colors against a white background in strips of geometric motifs. Michael also wanted to do a blanket-style design for the pants, folding the top over into a wide banding. This really didn't flatter his client or work well in the total design.
We do have a winner ...
The winner is ... Claire! Yes, Claire, who started out by "borrowing" Margarita's design. She changed her design after Tim's critique, and her slashed and ruched black top was scrumptious. Of all the designs on the Runway, Claire's actually is the only one I would buy, but I would prefer it had long sleeves without the split fabric.
The loser is ... to be determined! The episode ended by Michael walking off the Runway and talking with the producer and then with Tim Gunn. The rumors I've been hearing are not just that Claire had started out by doing a close copy of Margarita's design from the previous week, but that she had also pulled designs from clothing that she already owned, including pants that she had in her closet at the hotel. Did she break the rules? Was she truly making a "new" design from clothing that had already been mass marketed? She did something similar in the Models challenge o Episode 6, so maybe it's now catching up to her?
Whatever the reason and whoever truly ends up with the win and the loss, the DRAMAH will be resolved next week. Season 16 is turning into a season with lots of twists and turns and I'm absolutely loving it. Will the winner remain the winner? Who will lose and be sent home? Could the winner become the loser and go from the heights to the depths of the deepest ocean of despair? Stay tuned next week to find out - same Bat time, same Bat channel.
On that note, I'm off to the pool. Have a great weekend and be safe. I'll be back Monday morning.
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