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| Brandon and his model in the workshop. His canvas and sherling coat was super kewl and would have fit into Aspen or Park City beautifully. Apparently he lived in Utah for many years. I guess I forgot that fact about him. |
This week's challenge is to create a "High Fashion Winter Look" with a high $400 budget and a 2-day time span. The sketching venue for this challenge is the "Minus 5 Ice Bar" in downtown Manhattan. The bar is completely formed from ice, similar to the ice hotels and restaurants from the Scandinavian countries. Although everyone is wrapped in the complimentary faux furs provided by the management, it's VERY cold and everyone is happy to leave when their design time has ended. I imagine the bar gets a lot of curious clientele, but can't imagine wanting to spend an entire evening there, let alone work there night after night. Ooof! Too cold for me!
Everyone seems to be concentrating on designing outer wear, either coats or jackets. Although they are also designing dresses, skirts or pants for under the coats, it seems that those are getting the short end of the designs from almost all of the designers.
Al Moon, Margarita fell in love with rabbit skins not realizing PR was a fur-friendly show. (Of course, at $45/pelt for black rabbit, they wouldn't have gotten any money from me - real or faux fur. That's more than I charge for much larger furs - yes, my store is NOT a faux fur hideout, we carry the real thing.) The entire group agreed to give Margarita five minutes to exchange her black bunnies for something else that fit the parameters of the show. DH interrupted me with BS at that time, so I'm not sure exactly what she decided on, but I do know she was very disappointed having to choose something else.
In the workshop, Kentaro worked up a wonderful wrap-around jacket in a neutral taupe with an affixed scarf. Although he purchased some yellow fabric for the garment beneath, but he passed on using it, thinking the finished design would look like an egg white with a yolk. He was probably right about that, but why don't these designers ever think about accent fabric along seam lines? If he had wanted the yellow, he could have worked it as an accent. Still, what I'm seeing of his design is really, really nice!
Margarita's dress was boring and she was easily talked out of using it by Tim Gunn in his critique. The new faux fur yardage she chose now became the foundation for her new, revised look. I have a feeling this will be a big win or one of the worst looks to walk the Runway in years. Over the backed faux fur she's designing a wrap-around neutral colored coat. Her model is Liris, so she'll work it and it will show well, but I'm saying "Meh" at this point.
Kenya is trying to use a tri-color houndstooth weave featuring bold, dramatic squares of autumn colors for her coat. It's actually looking really nice, although I'm not so sure about the blouse and pants she is making for underneath it.
Brandon, of course, is the Golden Boy who can do no wrong. His boxy look pairing a layered waxed fabric with shearling coat fastened by togggle-style decorative latch fastenings looks great. His wnter white undergarment featuring a low hanging muff for the hands is typical Brandon style. I adore the coat. No question he'll be chosen for Fashion Week - no question about that at all.
Ayana has a fitted two-toned jacket pieced on the diagonal, pink on top and black beneath. Tim Gunn recommended more embellishment to pull the look from the 1960's to be current, so she spatter-painted black on top of the pink in a Jackson Pollock look. I like the look, but it's a bit dated. If she makes her model look retro when she walks with the coat, it has the potential to be a top look. With the wrong styling, it will be a disaster. I haven't seen the undergarment, but the coat is strong and she's been a power over the last few weeks of challenges.
As I'm looking at the final outfits as they are leaving the workroom, heading for the Runway, I'm thinking it will be Brandon and Kentaro on the top with the other three fighting it out for the bottom two openings. I could be seriously wrong, but Kentaro was designing for his favorite model, Misha, and returned to a more Japanese look with the folds, wraps and ties he does so well, and Brandon's look is top to bottom excellent.
Each designer was asked why they deserved to be in Fashion Week and which other two designers they would bring along with them. Unusual unanimity coursed through the answers, with each designer naming Brandon as one of their two choices. Everyone else got at least one nod from the others except Margarita. Kenya was so choked up it was hard for her to speak, Margarita brought a few tears at the end of her turn, but where I felt Kenya's came from the heart, I almost felt that Margarita's tears were staged.
My final choices: Brandon, Ayana, Kentaro and Kenya. My choice to win the season - going out on a limb here and looking ahead two weeks - is Brandon. His use of meticulous layering, interesting fabric combinations, and a desire to express his personal style with street-wise design decisions make his, a strong fashion voice. Brandon's fashion is exceptional and I not only want to see his Fashion Week show, I want to see his fashions available for sale at a price I can afford (which means it has to be Target-affordable - something that probably won't be happening, but a girl can dream).
Now, am I right about the judges' choices? I'll go through the designs in more detail in Saturday's post and reveal the final decision then. In the meantime - have a wonderful Friday.
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