TFS: T Lo Interviews Andrew

First of all, we went to your site yesterday and we saw the “Almost Naked Bikini” line and that is hot as hell, my friend.
[Laughs] It was based off of my “Almost Naked Underwear” line which is all made out of bamboo fiber, extremely comfortable, soft, and has that “hang free” design.

You’re obviously a very successful underwear designer. Why the show? Why participate in a fashion competition?
Unlike the other designers, I didn’t need to be on the show, I wanted to do it. I just wanted to change people’s perception about me and show that I can do much more than just men’s underwear. What better way to do it than on the show and on the realm of women’s wear.

Do you think the other designers underestimated you solely on the fact that you’re an underwear designer?
I think the other designers definitely did underestimate me being an underwear designer, they thought all I could do is this just one little thing. My design background is in fashion. I started out my company as a sportswear company, which was successful, then moved into swimwear and finally underwear; what really put me on the map and took off.

We were just about to say that. Your line isn’t just about underwear.
It’s definitely a complete lifestyle line of clothing for every aspect of your life. It’s moving even more so in that direction come fall. I’m launching my Black Line, which is all the stuff that I wore on The Fashion Show. It’s a little dressier than my normal sportswear line that I do, but it still has a funky little edge to it.

When did you start designing?
I started designing when I was in high school, when I was a teenager when I was sort of in the underground club scene. I started out making outfits for myself and friends of mine, and finally, one of the store buyers from one of the boutiques actually was at the club and liked my shirt. I mentioned that I had made it and he told me that I should sell them at his store. That’s how I started out, selling things when I was a teenager.

And now you’re one of the most successful underwear designers in the country.
My underwear company is definitely very established. I’m sold on every continent, except for Antarctica, but I’m coming out with a polar fleece collection for that.

Let’s move on to last night’s episode. Do you still stand by your design? Are you still proud of it?
I’m definitely proud of my design and I stand by it. I was glad that George [Malkemus] stuck to his guns and stuck by my design as well.

Do you think you played it too safe?
As George said, he has clients that would wear this type of dress.

How did it feel to go from best design to the chopping block in one week?
It was a huge change going from that. The show is a lot of ups and downs. In the first week, I was on the losing team, and in the second week I was on the winning team.

But people could attribute your previous success to that; the fact that you were on a winning team, and when you were on your own, you couldn’t produce the same results.
You know, I don’t really know why the judges made the decision they made. I thought that there were other dresses that were worse than mine, not that I think that mine is bad. I think that Lidia definitely should’ve been there in the bottom.

You said your design was better than Lidia’s. How so?
I don’t know anybody who would wear that dress. It was like Nightmare Before Christmas. And then, Merlin’s design was another costume, it was an exact interpretation of the shoe, just blown up.

Several designers accused you of copying them. What do you have to say about that?
I just think it’s childish and there’s no merit to it. How can I copy something if you’re the team leader? It’s impossible to copy a design if you’re a team leader. It just seems to me that she [Daniella] was just a poor sport because her design didn’t make it into the top two.

Did you enjoy the experience being part of the show?
Yeah, I definitely enjoyed the experience. I got to meet people that I might not have gotten to meet, like Tinsley Mortimer and Norma Kamali, she’s a fashion icon.

She was awesome. So far, our favorite judge.
I loved her. She’s amazing.

Now that you’re no longer in the competition, are you rooting for anyone? Who do you think should win?
There are designers there that I like their design aesthetic and hopefully they will go far in the competition. Angel is one of them. James-Paul is another.

What do you like about their designs?
Angel is highly inventive and creative. The dress she did last night from the two shirts was great and she just used plain white fabric and made it look great. I like James-Paul’s whole aesthetic, which is an aesthetic unto its own, it even carries over to his personal attire as well.

How did you feel about the judges, about their critiques?
Obviously I didn’t like what they had to say last night, but it’s their show and their decision. If you look on the Bravo website, the rest of America agrees with me. There’s a place to vote whether or not I should’ve been eliminated and everybody is sympathizing with me, that I should not have been eliminated.

Back to your line. Are you expanding your Andrew Christian line?
I’m expanding my “Almost Naked Line” of bamboo wear into sportswear, so I’m doing bamboo-fiber shirts, which are so comfortable. I can’t think of anything else that I would want to have against my skin, the bamboo fiber. The greatest selling point is that it’s eco-friendly, but for me the greatest selling point is that it’s soft. There's the Black Line, and I’m working on a small women’s collection for Spring 2010.

Do you already know what you’re going to design?
It’s going to be all sportswear, similar stuff to what I did on the show, similar aesthetics, well, similar but different.

Thank you so much, Andrew, for your time.
Thank you.



Some of Andrew Christian's designs:

[Photos: BravoTV.com/AndrewChristian.com]


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TFS: Congrats and Bye-bye

Hit it!

Finally, bitches! A worthy challenge! And unsurprisingly, the results were better than anything seen on the show yet.

Although that had as much to do with the abolishing of teams as it did with the challenge itself. Looking at the results last night, which, as we said, were the best yet, it felt like all of these poor designers finally got to sink their teeth into a burger after a month of salads.



So, Congrats to Reco!

This dress is threatening our marriage. No, seriously. One of us just said to the other "Will you PLEASE get the HELL out of my office?!"

Fashion. It's not for pussies, ladies.

Why is it threatening our marriage? We'll get to that. Anyway, what a great choice of footwear by Reco. Remember them? Aren't you glad you attended classes at T Lo University?

On the one hand, we're happy to have Reco because his over-the-top personality is helping to make a boring show watchable. On the other hand, he's ridiculously obnoxious and we're waiting for someone to go after him with a pair of scissors. But whatever. Let's talk dress.

It's a perfectly fine dress and it's well-executed with a lot of detail that unfortunately doesn't show up in the candle-lit Bravo studio. We're both in full agreement that another look should have won, but we part ways (loudly) on whether or not this was a suitable second choice.

What sticks in Lorenzo's craw is the revelation that apparently 90% of the audience called this look "fashion forward." That's a bit ridiculous. You could have seen this exact silhouette on the runways several seasons ago - Balenciaga, most notably.

The argument between us boils down to this:

Lorenzo: This is a fucking JOKE! There is NOTHING revolutionary about this design!!!

Tom: So what? It's a cute dress and you can see that he did a lot of work. I don't recall ever hearing anything in the challenge brief about the design needing to be revolutionary.

Lorenzo: !!

Tom: !!!!

Lorenzo: !!!!!!!!!

And so on.

What probably sent him over the top toward the win was this little cherry on the sundae. It was a brilliant little touch that perfectly tied the look into the shoes.

They're underpants, Andrew. No need to ponder them.

When it came down to the bottom two, we really hoped the judges would make the right decision and for once, they did. This was dull, dull, dull.

And it was kind of appalling how he matched the dress perfectly to the shoes, color-wise. Come on, Andrew. Matchy-match is a no-no. Then again, he wasn't the only designer who made that mistake.

And Anna? Check yourself, girl.

You did not invent horizontal pleating.

...
...
...

See? We can't even form words! So dull is this dress that we are overcome with ennui.

Yes, the judges definitely made the right choice. This just looked like a basic department store dress. We realize that salability is a factor in the decisions of the judges but this looks less like a dress that women want to buy and more like a dress some women might haul to the dressing room to try on because it's on sale and she has a bag or a pair of shoes at home that might go with it.

There's one other bit of judging we take issue with and this time it was (surprisingly) Fern who said it:

"There's got be something, some color. We're in a season of color."

YOU JUST PICKED AN ALL-BLACK DRESS AS THE SUPPOSEDLY "FASHION FORWARD" WINNER, JUDGES!

Oh, and there was also one OTHER bit of drama with the judging...

But we'll get to that little snitfest in another post, bitches. Trust.

[Photos: BravoTV.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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TFS: Congrats and Bye-bye

Well, that was a slightly better episode, yes, kittens?

Either they drugged him, directed him, or edited him, but we got a much more toned down Heather last night.

Norma Kamali was a fantastic judge. She gave incisive, and more importantly, useful criticism and she seemed genuinely concerned for the designers.

And if you'd like to learn more about her famous sleeping bag coat, you can click here.

"After splitting with her husband, Mohammed (Eddie) Kamali, in the mid-1970s, she took to camping in the woods with a boyfriend. “It was cold,” she recalled, “and I was always getting up at night to go to the bathroom.” On one particularly nippy night, she threw on her sleeping bag and sprinted for the bush. “As I was running,” she said, “I was thinking, ‘I need to put sleeves in this thing.'"

Moving on...

"It's an interesting challenge, but have you ever genuinely asked someone who appreciates fashion, 'have you ever wanted your coat to do something besides what it does?' I don't want my coat to be a refrigerator."

Nailed it! This was a stupid challenge.

"These people, they're delusional. 'I'm a designer, I'm a designer,' but you can't perform simple little tasks."

Nailed it!

We're sure the producers thought it provided some juicy drama, but having the team leaders do everything from constructing the garments of their competition ...

...to out and out designing them, doesn't so much provide drama as it points out how badly cast this show is.

As far as we can tell from the editing, Daniella came up with the two biggest ideas on Andrew's garment, both the sleeve/shawl thingie and the suggestion to convert it to a "dramatic" length.

So, Congrats Andrew, we guess.



We like the addition of the belt in the manufactured version.





It really was a dramatic and interesting conversion. Without those elements, it's a very basic coat.

Should Andrew have said something? Sure. We're going to refrain from suggesting he was being devious, though. The creative process is kind of a fluid thing and quite often a creator can't remember the evolution of the design and who came up with what suggestions. Sure, we have video to prove what went on, but when he was standing in front of the judges, all he had was his own faulty memory.

We felt a little bad for Daniella. She definitely should have kept her mouth shut but we can understand why she wanted to speak up. Kamali sure read her beads.


Bye-bye, Markus.

We'll keep saying it until the last one is gone, but why on earth would anyone try out for this show and not practice their sewing skills ahead of time?

There was a hint of an interesting design in there, but the end product was such a mess it's hard to tell.




We thought the collar wrap was interesting, but we have no idea why a woman would want to go around with all her jewelry wrapped up in her coat. Is it for jewelry emergencies?

We don't mind it so much because that was what the challenge called for but we were a little taken aback when Mizrahi praised the idea. Still, it was a much better design than Haven's. No one asked us, but we think she should have been the one sent home.

It was those damn sleeves that really did him in. Manage your time and practice your sewing, bitches.

Was it really hot in the studio or does he cry steam? The whole time they were talking to him we were like "Clean your glasses! Can you even see the people criticizing you?"

[Photos: BravoTV.com/NormaKamaliCollection.com - Screencaps: Projectrungay.blogspot.com]


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