Project Runway Finale - The Clothes - SPOILERS

Thursday night was the finale of Project Runway, Season 16. Brandon, Ayana, Kentaro and Margarita showed their clothes in New York Fashion Week, then gathered back at the Project Runway studio for the final decision of the judged. Who won? Take a look at the clothing pictured below, four photos for each of the designers, and see what you think of each collection. I'll tell you who won, and in what order the designers were told to "leave the Runway" at the bottom. Don't want to know or see until you've caught up on older episodes? I'm warning you now. SPOILER ALERT!!!! 

Ayana named her collection "Evolution", an exploration of her own personal journey. The judges were all very complimentary about her goal of modest clothing for women. They also applauded that she designed for a group of women (specifically Muslim women) who have been underrepresented in design in the past. Ayana's final gown was a total show stopper, and I loved the variety of ways that she designed her headwear to have different profiles from model to model. 

Margarita's collection was called "Fish Out of Water". She used bright colors and patterns, with a playful sense of design, accented with sparkles of beads. She provided a "Runway Moment" when she instructed Jazzmine to pull off her skirt at the turnaround moment, revealing the fitted swimsuit below for the walk-away. The audience burst into applause at a plus-sized model allowed to celebrate her body shape and being unafraid to "strut her stuff" on the Runway. It was a total win for the designer, the models and the audience. 

Kentaro said that his collection wasn't about winning, it was about showing something beautiful to the judges and the audience. Instead of a canned music track, he had composed and played his own music for the background - quiet and rather mesmerizing in its tones. The audience fell absolutely silent, almost reverent in their attention to the total picture that Kentaro was painting for them through clothing and sound. It was a unique collection and certainly the most editorial of the group. My friend Chickie said she loved the fact that Kentaro's collection didn't emphasize or minimize the plus sized models, rather it celebrated them as normal women who could wear something wonderful and look beautiful. I fell in love with his final dress; it made me think of Japanese spirit figures - fox women and goddesses who roam the countryside clothed in wisps of smoke. 

Brandon titled his collection "Layers of Love". His ombre flamingo prints and multi-height hemlines along with the strapping that has been his signature style were stylish and fun, but I felt that his color spectrum didn't have enough variability to make the collection interesting and show the styles to their best advantage. The silhouettes presented on the Runway were unique and interesting, but by the time I had seen all ten pieces walk the Runway, I had very few individual pieces that I could remember clearly. They had all merged together in my mind because they were so similar in color and style. 

So, who won? The first person sent home was Margarita, whose parents had finally managed to actually arrive, despite having to fly through Hurricane Maria to get to New York. Seeing her family brought Margarita to tears, she had been very worried about their safety during the hurricane. 

The second designer sent back to the green room was Brandon. He was totally shocked at losing the competition, and was in tears as he hugged his girlfriend and family. He said he was sure that he had it in the bag. If he did, that bag sprang a leak. He's an excellent designer, but his final collection was a snooze-fest. 

The final person sent to the green room was Ayana, leaving Kentaro as the winner of Season 16. This was a tightly-fought competition - both designers created strong collections with distinct viewpoints. Either of them could easily have won and I would have been happy. My thoughts on why Kentaro over Ayana? I think Kentaro's collection was more editorial - a bit more cutting edge, and clothing that really made me think, not just look and appreciate. I agree with the judges on this one - Kentaro's collection was unique, different, balanced and beautiful. 

There really were no losers in the final four. I think it was the strongest final four Runway show in the program's history and I'm quite sure that each of the designers will have job offers and will do very well in their design future. 

Next week is the "flatter and fight" episode - all of the contestants of Season 16 gathering together to bond, sling dirt, and accuse. I'm quite sure there will be some hard questions for those Terrible Twins and that idiotic measuring tape and cheating scandal. I can hardly wait - LOL. 

I know it's been a very long and picture intensive post today. If you've made it this far, thanks for reading and looking, have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday. On Sunday I'm on my way to see "Thor: Ragnarok" with DH, after a relaxing breakfast out. I can hardly wait - it's my last Sunday off until Christmas and I'm going to enjoy it.