CONCRETE RUNWAY

PROJECT RUNWAY SEASON 11 FINALE

When I first discovered this season was completely about working in a team, I let out an audible groan. I hate when they do team challenges and I personally hate working on a team so I knew I was not going to be a fan of the schtick for this season. And after watching it I realized something….I was right. I hate the team idea and I hope they never do it again. I get that you have to learn to work in a team and all that but up until the top 5, I didn’t really know much about any of the designers point of views because they were always in a team. 

Early on, my favorites were Patricia, Daniel, and Samantha. Just a sidenote, Layana was a complete bitch and definitely very whiny, Michelle hated everyone and constantly declared she was the best (but I wasn’t convinced), everything Stanley did was basic and boring, and Amanda was on the show a lot longer than she should have been. In the end, the final 3 were Michelle, Patricia, and Stanley. I wasn’t a fan of anything Michelle did up until the last couple of episodes and I didn’t think Daniel should have went home. I agree he needed to edit a lot and change some things but I saw more potential in his work than Stanley’s.

MICHELLE- I was pleasantly surprised when I saw her collection. Up until now I wasn’t dying for her or her attitude but the episode when they all went to Europe and she staying in NY, I started looking at her differently and was glad she carried on the chestplate/quilting theme into her final collection. I would wear almost every piece she showed and I love the inspiration behind it. I got a Givenchy meets Sarah Burton’s Alexander McQueen from her collection.

PATRICIA- I’ve always liked Patricia but I have to admit, sometimes her avant garde textiles turned kitschy craft art project and I was happy that didn’t happen in her final collection BUT some of the pieces did feel dated and tie dye basic. And her son (I think that’s who he was ) was kind of cute!

STANLEY- I was not expecting much from him and I knew the instant he was in the final 3, I was going to be bored….and I was. I get that he wanted to basic, chic, glamorous clothes but there’s a way to do it but still be innovative but nothing he showed was really innovative. It was all dated and I’ve seen it before.

I knew after Stanley showed that he had knocked himself out of the running and it was between Patricia and Michelle and even the judges agreed because after the critiqued him, they had basically talked about the winner and no one brought up Stanley’s collection. I wanted Patricia to win because no one has won that has her very unique way of designing and artistry but I wanted Michelle to win because her clothes were very chic and modern. In the end, the winner was……..

SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Michelle! Congrats girl! I still think you are a majorly arrogant bitch but you deserve it after seeing the shows. AND Lisa Jackson from America’s Next Top Model (who has been her model all season) also won!

And Michael Kors, it was good to see you, we missed you!

PROJECT RUNWAY ALL-STARS SEASON 2 FINALE

Overall, I was very disappointed with what the final 3 (Anthony Ryan, Uli, and Emilio) presented on the finale episode. Firstly, I like the final 3 (with the exception of Emilio who I wished was Josh instead). Secondly, they were set up this season as they were told they had to make their collections in like 5 days. They had help for some of the days (which led to Josh rejecting Anthony’s request for help which was heartbreaking) and then they built up to the show and it all fell so flat. This finale could have been so great if they had gave them more time. Anthony and Uli have been prepped all season to take this finale and what they put on the runway was a mishmash of every dress they’ve made all season into collections that, at this point, were very boring and expected. Because I had no clue who Emilio was as a designer he had the biggest chance of impressing me but ended up leaving me disappointed. By the end, I really didn’t care who won because it was all a mess. They finally got around to announcing the winner and (no surprise) it was…… (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!) the judges favorite Anthony Ryan.

Anthony Ryan: The most fashion forward of the 3, Ryan sent down super graphic, bold dresses. The dresses themselves looked great and I liked his color and fabric choice but after a while, the parade of dresses (not a pair of pants in sight) looked like the same dress in different colors. And some of the pieces looked ill-fitting. Then came his finale dress and it was a big flop of disappointment. I’m glad he won cuz I’ve always liked him but the competition was not very stiff this time around.

Emilio: Like I said, he was the one I knew the least about (didn’t see his season) and throughout this season, he never impressed me but I have to say, I liked his finale collection. The most commercial of the 3, Emilio grabbed my attention with his choice of inspiration and I was on board and then came the show and he gave me nice clothes that he styled nicely. The problem? For as nice as the clothes were, they were BORING! There was not one surprise element, not one piece that I was dying over. And although I liked the pieces he made it out of, what the hell was up with that ugly weird graffiti print? Made no sense with his inspo!

Uli: I saw Uli’s original season and I was not impressed. Week after week she showed the same dress in a different loud, flowy print so when she walked into this competition, I checked the fuck out! But then at the first episodes runway she shocked the hell out of me and sent down a superchic, stunning dress with not a print or color in sight. And I began to really like her. She does amazing things with trim. But then I wondered if she relied too much on trims. And her finale collection proved she does. The most dramatic of the 3, her collection was a beautiful yet terrifyingly fragile winter wonderland. But after I dissected many of the pieces and took away the trims, the clothes themselves were nothing special.

So overall, if they do another All-Star Season (which I felt that they shouldn’t have done a season 2 in the first place because I define “all star” as the best of the best not the best of right now) they need to do so much better. And do something about those judges! I love Georgina (and her endless parade of self plugging by wearing over the top Marchesa dresses to work). I like Isaac but I prefer Michael and I do not like Caroline (I think that’s her name) because she’s boring and I don’t think she’s all that pretty. I might have to do what I did a couple of years ago and take a break from watching this show as it’s going to pot.

So let’s take a minute to talk Project Runway Season 10….I think. So my top 3 are:

1. Melissa

2. Elena

3. Dmitry

Sanjia is working her way up in my good graces. I don’t know what Fabio, Gunnar, and Christopher’s aesthetic is, I find Ven to be an arrogant one trick pony, Elena….ENOUGH WITH THE SHOULDERS, and Dmitry keeps giving us nothing but dresses….BOMB dresses but nothing else. 

Even though I haven’t liked a lot of his work and I still don’t “get” his runway looks, Fabio has the best personal style I’ve seen in a while. I find his Rick Owens-Helmut Lang- Haider Ackermann-Ann Demeulemeester-Hipster- Vegan- Jesus thing very inspiring and I’ve found myself emulating his style this fall. A lot of drapery mixed with structured blazers, fun head pieces, amazing accessories, and neutral color palette. My take on it is a little edgier with more hardware, spikes, studs, in a color palette of all black which leaves me looking like the gothic messiah and I enjoy it!

PROJECT RUNWAY ALL-STARS FINALE: MICHAEL

I wasn’t crazy about Michael’s collection. It’s not that it was a bad collection by any means but it was a little too commercial and too already done. He didn’t give us anything new. Yes, his pieces were pretty but I felt like I’d seen them on a DVF or Michael Kors runway already and I was really rooting for him. I did love the vests he put on the models and the safari theme. I also loved the different animal prints he used.

PROJECT RUNWAY ALL-STARS FINALE: AUSTIN

My other favorite collection. I liked Austin’s showmanship and detail but, compared to Mondo’s collection, his was completely unsellable. The detail and work that went into is collection in such a short amount of time is amazing. I don’t get why he did the wedding dress in the end because it didn’t seem like his story had anything to do with a wedding. I agree he had too many ideas in one collection but there were alot of pieces I really liked. He seemed really bitter that he lost on the After The Runway, almost as if he didn’t want to be there. Poor Austin.