TFS: T Lo Interviews Markus

You mentioned in your exit video that you didn’t deserve to be eliminated. Why do you think so?

I just feel that my design wasn’t the worst as far as creativity or execution. It was just that unfortunately, I was on the losing team, and I will take responsibility, it was definitely my fault, but I think there were maybe other designs that were not so special.

Like who?
[Laughs] I just thought some fabric choices and some of the surprise elements, actually. The whole challenge was to have this kind of outerwear that does something interesting. To become longer or shorter was not that interesting to me and didn’t have that surprise design element to it, which I thought was a big part of the challenge, like my jewelry roll. I just wish I had executed it much better.

Speaking of execution, you said that your strong point is being a creative designer but that you lack in the sewing aspect. When you signed up for the show, didn’t you think that sewing was going to be a big part of it?
It’s not that I can’t sew. I was definitely prepared to sew with twenty cameras on top of me, but I guess what I was surprised about was being thrown into teams so quickly where you have that added pressure, especially with someone like Reco, who finishes his sewing in four hours and he’s kind of on top of you and so disappointed that you’re not done. So that was what really, I feel, didn’t work for me. Yes, I can sew and I can construct garments, but not in that kind of environment and maybe that was my fault for not realizing that it was going to be so intense.

We’ll be honest with you, Markus. We find it a little hard to understand that, with all the fashion shows out there, you wouldn’t know that you’d have to create, construct and sew a garment in that kind of pressure and time constraint and we keep hearing it from several of the designers on the show.
I definitely knew that. I knew it was going to be intense, that I’m going to work fast, that I’m not going to be able to make two samples, but when you actually get into that environment…to be quite honest, I didn’t think I was going to be thrown into a team setting right away. I thought I was going to be able to whip something out on my own. For me, I even felt like I was letting my team down, which caused a lot of pressure on top of the time constraint, lack of sleep, twenty cameras on top of your head. I was a little naïve about it.

We’re sure it’s a lot different when you’re actually there.
Yeah, you have this…oh, it’s going to be great, I can live up to the challenge, but it is definitely…I can’t really explain it, but it’s extremely intense, and I’m not making excuses for myself because there are definitely some designers who are still there, they can live up to the challenge, they can do it.

You weren’t really happy with Isaac’s comment calling you more of a dreamer than a designer.
You know, I think it was the heat of the moment. I am a dreamer and I’m proud to be a dreamer. I know my strengths and I know my weaknesses. I dream about clothes, I dream about designing gorgeous clothes for beautiful women and I will continue to do that and I will execute them beautifully. I think I was being a little sensitive in that moment.

You have a lot of experience in several segments of the design industry.
Yes, I actually started as a commercial interior designer. I did a lot of large-scale shopping malls, spas, restaurants, things like that.

You studied fashion in London. What was it like to be an American studying fashion in Europe?
I was so proud to be at Central Saint Martins where people I admire like McQueen and Galliano studied. I felt so honored to just be there, to have the experience of living in London and being in Europe for six years is something that I will never forget. It will always be with me, it will always show in my work. I definitely have an American sensibility; even in Saint Martins, at the end of the day, I wanted to dress women who are strong and beautiful and sexy. I want to make clothes that they can wear. At Saint Martins, it’s much more conceptual. A lot of the American schools spend much more time on the technical aspect. We had very little sewing at Saint Martins. I probably should have taken more classes, but they were more about building your voice and your creativity. We also had technical people at the university who would help us sew.

You interned at the Giles Deacon Studio. That’s a great opportunity.
Yes, I love Giles, he’s amazing. It was a wonderful experience. I love the way he works, because it’s such a poetic process, how he designs, and that taught me a lot; to let it come naturally, to really have your vision, your seal of approval.

You work for a magazine called Nolcha.
Yes, I’m the Fashion Director, and I love having that creative freedom where I can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or I can work with a team to bring my vision to life.

Is it different working for a fashion magazine as opposed to being a designer?
To be quite honest, no. Everything I do in my life is design and I think it’s parallel to fashion. Whether it’s looking at graphics or artwork, it all sort of relates back to fashion to me.

How would describe your style, your vision?
My style is definitely classic yet modern. I’m all about fabric selection, the cut and always keeping the woman in mind.

Who’s your ideal client?
I don’t think my designs will be for some little party girl. I like strong women who have something to say, who’s sure of herself, confident; she can be a mother, she can have a career, as long as she has a voice.

You’re working on your own collection, right?
Yes, I plan to show during Fashion Week in New York. My debut collection is going to be sexy, modern, strong, and a mix of hard and soft.

Did you enjoy your experience on the show?
I did. I’m proud of what I accomplished, I feel that a little bit of my voice was heard, I wish more

of it was heard, but I have no regrets, I have great respect for all the people that I met.

Thank you and good luck to you, Markus.

Thank YOU.

Markus sent us pictures of his degree collection from Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design 2006:

[Photos: Courtesy of Markus Ketty/BravoTV.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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TFS: Team Haven

It's safety pin time!

But before we get to that, we may as well spare a couple of words regarding the mini-challenge.

And we really mean "a couple words." It just wasn't interesting enough to devote an entire post to it. Bitchy face here didn't even give us anything to complain about.

They've done challenges like this on Top Chef and Top Design and for the most part, they worked in those settings.

The problem with doing it on a show like this is that it really has nothing to do with being a designer. This is a task and a challenge for a stylist. As a challenge, it told us nothing about the people involved.

And that concludes our thoughts on the mini-challenge. Seriously, we've got nothing. Let's rip dresses!

We have no idea how or why Haven got chosen as the team leader but we bet that's the last time that's gonna happen.

Because all she managed to do was bring unnecessary bitchiness to the table without actually doing anything to lead her team. Looking over the collection, there was absolutely no cohesiveness to it. Plus, as we said before, she should have never allowed Laura to buy or use that red tulle.

Feh. It's a little too precious and little too poorly executed.

Although the model had a great walk.

The top of that bust is all kinds of bad and is that a side zipper or just a really bad seam?

Seriously, who the hell saw ANY of these details on the TV screen? Apparently, some of the designers decided to make Angela Keslar's patented fleurchons something of a theme although we don't recall hearing any such discussion.

It's better than most of the entries on this team. Scratch that - it's better than ALL of them, but that doesn't mean it was a great dress.

It's that slash of white that really grates. It looks like it should say MISS UTAH or something.

Too many elements for one dress.

The judging on this show isn't great, but they did manage to effectively rip the hell out of this one. We've got nothing to say that wasn't already said.

Shapeless, colorless, boring. And why was Markus going on about her supposed great walk? She stomped down that runway like she was putting out a fire.

Kelly nailed it when she said it looked like diapers. That's exactly what we were thinking.

As bad as this was, we thought the judges were right not to put it at the absolute bottom of the pile. There was enough of an idea there to keep him in even if it was executed very poorly.

Tacky, tacky, tacky.

When Isaac comes in and asks you if that top is going to stay up, that's code for "that top is too small." Learn to speak "judge," Johnny.

The skirt wasn't too bad. The fabric's decent and there was an idea there, even if it didn't come out as well as it should have.

She's keeping that thing up on pure muscle control and a prayer. And lots and lots of titty tape.

This was unforgivable. One thing we've noticed about the show so far: almost NONE of these designers seemed to be able to budget their time well. On shows like this there's always a learning curve for these sorts of things, but we can't ever recall a cast where the majority of them can't seem to figure out the time restraints. It's making for an awful lot of bad dresses.

And yes, he was a petulant little brat about the whole thing. We'll give him credit for having the sense to apologize for it afterwards (could you imagine Santino doing that?). You might think that such a little temper tantrum should have resulted in an automatic auf "Bye-bye," but Laura's dress was so much worse than his that we can't fault the judges for their decision.


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


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