'Project Runway' premiere recap: Scary dress sends Jerry home

Tag : produce jeans

Theyre back! Thats right, the fabulous and fierce foursome  TimGunn, fashion guru; Nina Garcia, Elle magazine Editor-At-Large;Michael Kors, fashion designer for the stars; and Heidi Klum,supermodel icon  are back bring fear and happiness in to 16 newdesigners lives.
In case youre new to "Project Runway," which would be shockingsince I think everyone watches it, here is how it works:
Each week the competing designers will have a new design challenge.The designers will have their chosen models walk the Project Runwayrunway, showcasing their creations.
Then the designers will be grilled about their choices, good andbad, until one of them is told Youre out. That person must leavethe show immediately, never to be heard from again. OK, that isntentirely true, but it always seems that way.
The final three designers will showcase an entire line at New YorkFashion Week and one of them will be chosen as the winner.
The winner will receive a $100,000 to start their own line, theopportunity to sell their items on Blufly.com, a spread in Ellemagazine with their model and a 2009 Saturn Vue Hybrid.
Meet the Designers
Project Runways previous seasons have been filled with fashiondivas and infamous attitudes. This years cast is definitely nodifferent; in fact, they may be the biggest divas with the mostoutrageous attitudes yet!
Blayne  28  Washington  Once names Seattles Most Stylish Male With that hair he should be on Shear Genius
Daniel  25  Great Barrington, Mass (Woohoo!)  Calls himself anadventurous designer  I hope he designs better than he dresses,referring to his Bio photo on www.bravotv.com
Emily  27  Sacramento  Created the LA brand, Smoke and Mirrors She does not look like someone I want to mess with
Jennifer  27- New York  Worked in Italy at top European designhouse Blumarine  I fear for you Jennifer. You just look too sweetto be in this cut-throat competition
Jerell  28  Houston  A former model who says he is eclectic andbold  Good looks wont win you this competition Jerell, so I hopeyour designs can work the runway as well as you can
Jerry  32  Montana  Created his own label, FORM, three years ago-
Joe  41  Michigan  Favors designing sportswear
Keith  26  Salt Lake City  Lives and designs by her personalmantra, Get noticed or go home
Kelli  27  Ohio  Attended the Fashion Institute of Design andMerchandise in LA with a full scholarship from Bob Mackie  I cantell I already love her, and I havent even seen her designs yet
Kenley  25  Florida  Right out of college, she was promoted to adesign position after only one week in a sales job  If she designsas well as she dresses (referring to her Bio photo), she is goingto go far
Korto  33  Liberia  Uses her African roots as inspiration  Icant wait to see what this woman puts together
Leanne  27  California  Started her design career at twelvedesigning ballet costumes  Is it mean to already say someone lookslike a b*tch?
Stella  42  Queens  A former punk-rock makeup artist, she nowdesigns leather and denim for Rock n Roll royalty  Im sorryStella, but you are just too old to be wearing that outfit!(referring to her Bio photo)
Suede  37  Ohio  Designs sportswear, but has a passion foreveningwear and couture  With that name he must have been born tobe a designer, right?
Terri  39  Chicago  While attending Columbia College she began afashion organization  Another one that Im already loving! Youjust have to check out the pants she is wearing in her Bio photo; Iwant them!
Wesley  23  Blackstone, Massachusetts (Woohoo!)  Has interned atMarc by Marc Jacobs, Marc Jacobs and Levi Group Inc.  He lookslike a law student, but hey, law students can design clothes too,cant they?
I want to be the first to say that you may be the most diversegroup of designers weve ever had on Project Runway, Tim Gunn saysupon meeting the sixteen competitors. That sounds like a great showto me!
Creativity Starts Early
The designers take their first night to get to know one another andlet Gunn and Klum know who they are and what theyre about, but Ihope they had a good night of sleep because it isnt long beforementor, and apparent wicked early bird, Tim Gunn is knocking attheir door. At 4 a.m. he comes to tell them he wants them to meethim downstairs to learn about their first challenge.
When the get downstairs Gunn walks them to the destination of theirfirst challenge, a grocery store. Now I know what youre saying. Aconvenience store for a fashion design challenge  seriously? Butone of the things that makes Project Runway worth watching is thewide variety of challenges the writers come up with.
So yes, just like in season one, this seasons competitors willalso have to design and make an outfit from items they find at apharmacy, like a Rite-Aid. To help them out, the designers arejoined by season one winner, Austin Scarlett. Innovation was thekey to my success, he tells them. The designers are given $75dollars, one half hour and a deadline of midnight that night.
Produce or Plastic Cups?
Jerry picks up a shower curtain to make a rain coat. Terri refusesto use live produce, whereas Korto is all about produce, hopingthat kale will be her shining star. Stella plans to use garbagebags to create a pair of jeans and a vest, and Kelli refuses to useanything that looks like fabric. That would be too easy, shesays.
Designers Arent Always Creative
When the thirty minutes runs out, Gunn takes the sixteen designers,for the first time, to their workstations at the famed Parsons TheNew School for Design. They also learn about their model at thistime and that the winner of this challenge can not be eliminatedthis week.
Joe is making a pasta and oven mitt dress; very interesting. Danielis using plastic cups to make a sweetheart cocktail dress. Wow,that is seriously creative and it is looking fantastic. I also likewhere Kelli is going. She calls it a gardening dress.
Leanne worries that she wont be able to stand out because she,like many others, is using a table cloth. Stella is also panicking.Her trash bags arent what she thought theyd be, and she worriesthe end product will be nothing like she imagined.
Gunn Checkup
Mid-design, Gunn shows up for his usual checkup. The first hespeaks with is Blayne who calls his outfit Girlicious. Apparentlyhe wants to create the word of the season, but adding licious tothe end of everything is not going to do that. Gunn doesnt seemtoo impressed.
Next he goes to Daniel and tells him that he has a lot of work todo. He seems semi-impressed though. When he gets to Kelli we getour first fabulous. Woohoo Kelli. Im glad I already said I lovedyour stuff.
Stella is going to be a handful, I can already tell. She explainsto Gunn her situation and basically acts like shes given up. Makeit work, he tells her. Get over it is what I wouldve told her.
Suede, Jerry, Keith and Korto are all having the same problem  toomuch tablecloths. This causes an outburst from Gunn. I just thinkthe judges are gonna say, You guys are a bunch of slackers, hesays. This challenge was about thinking outside the box, likeScarlett did the first season with his corn husk dress. I guess thefirst challenge does say a lot about who has what it takes.
A Tablecloth Just Wont Do
After Gunn leaves, the designers buckle down to turn thesetablecloths in to couture. Leanne has a great idea of addingmarshmallows and meringues to her dress. I want to make it looklike its all made out of candy, she says.
Blayne is the first to finish, but to be honest, his dress lookshideous! I dont understand what it is, and although Im not afashion guru or a supermodel, I think it looks like a big mess.
Its the end of the night, and as if things werent tense enough,the rest of the designers have to listen to Stella say over andover again, Im gonna get sent home. I know Im going home. Imgonna get sent home. Shut up! Seriously, if this is your attitudeyou deserve to go home! Talent or no talent, not everyone canhandle Project Runway, and that is fine, but you can not botherother people with your wining.
The next morning the designers go back to Parsons to finish uptheir garments. Stella seems to have relaxed a little bit, but sheis still complaining, just to herself thankfully.
Final Touchups
Soon after the designers arrive, their models arrive. Kenley makesa comment that Jerrys outfit looks like it was designed for an axmurder. Shes right. Its very scary!
I also notice there is some complaining about the models being toocurvy for the outfits. Woohoo! That to mean is a sign of thefuture. I think it is impressive that not all of the models arestick thin this year. Great job Project Runway!
The Runway Show
Every week the designers will be judged by Michael Kors and NinaGarcia, along with a guest judge. This week it was season onewinner, Austin Scarlett. Here is what I thought of the designersoutfits.
Emily  The dress was OK, but the neck thing was hideous!
Jerell  Too many different colors.
Leanne  It was like a big bubble gum mess.
Korto  Again, the dress was OK, but the neck thing was just toomuch. I dont know, maybe thats what makes it couture.
Jennifer  Really cute and something I would definitely wear,although it was a bit 80s prom
Daniel  OK I guess, but the creativity is impressive
Terri  Really fun and impressive, actually kind of sexy
Suede  Too much going on at once
Stella  Very interesting. I dont really know what to say, but Idont love it
Joe  It was so fun and so Italian, thanks to the pasta and ovenmitts. I really loved it
Kenley  Im not sure the two colors match, and unfortunately hermodel didnt fit in it
Jerry  Awful! And very scary
Wayne  Nothing special, but well done
Blayne  Wow! Crazy, wild, very him, but at the same time way outthere, and I dont really know if the judges will respond well
Kelli  I didnt like it as much as I thought I would, probablybecause of the coffee filter bra
Keith  A great dress, but it still looks like a tablecloth
My choice for in is probably either Terri or Kellie. My choice forout is Stella.
Here is what the judges had to say.
Daniel, Jerry, Korto, Stella, Kellie and Blayne were called tostay. Four will be safe, one will be the winner and one will beout.
Daniel  Stood out because it was unique, creative and he took achance
Jerry  The visual of it is freaky, and the dress underneath islike a handy wipe gone wrong, Kors said. No shape, no creativity,no innovation
Korto  Chic, great job using the fresh produce, impeccably done,Garcia said
Stella  Not enough done to it, not interesting, not impressive
Kellie  Shows she is resourceful, pushed the envelope, somethinggirls would want to wear
Blayne  Playboy bunny gone grunge, Klum said, provocative, notpretty
The Elimination
The judges then sent the designers away so that they coulddeliberate in private. When they invited them back in they had theresults ready.
Korto  In
Winner  Kelli
She really did have a great design, and she definitely deserved towin. I hope that her designs continue to amaze and impress us.
Daniel  In
Blayne  In
I really think he wouldve been out had Stella not messed up sobadly.
The final two are Jerry and Stella. Klum tells the two that Jerrysdress is un-wearable and that the judges were unsure of who Stellais as a designer.
Jerry  OUT
Final Thoughts
Im really surprised that Jerry got cut over Stella. AlthoughJerrys outfit was scary, I really thought Stellas was justboring, uncreative and hideous.
On a positive note, Im really pulling for Kelli. Im impressedwith the way she dresses and her designs. I want to be pulling forour Massachusetts boys, but they need to step it up in order forthat to happen!
This season looks like it is going to be one hell of a ride.Stress, breakdowns and blunders will all be there and thesedesigners will be pushing the limits. I cant wait to see what theycreate!