TFS: Team Daniella

Let's wrap this shit up in a nice big bow that converts into something else for no good reason!

Keith:





So many questions about this puzzling article of clothing, ladies. So many questions! Like, okay, it's a coat, right? That you can convert into a sunbathing mat? Who wears a coat to go sunbathing? And what is that piece hanging off the back of it? It's the top of the coat, right? Who wants to wear a metallic tube top with an extraneous hood hanging down the back of it? While sunbathing?

Clearly, this is a coat for crazy people who go out on a rainy day, hopeful that the sun will unexpectedly come out and give them a chance to catch some quick rays on the sidewalk before they catch their bus.

Daniella:



What an amazing concept! It's a coat! Except it also has these little compartments where you can store things! Like an ipod! Daniella should immediately run out and get a patent on this revolutionary design. We suggest she call them "pockets." We predict they're going to be all the rage among the kids.

It is kind of a cool design, though. And clearly, the bitch can sew. Sure it looks like a "Chinese roof," but she said that as if it was a bad thing. Not crazy about the collar or the fabric choice. Looks a little "vinyl tablecloth" from here.

Anna:




It's a gorgeous coat and it's perfectly executed. Heather bitched that having built-in gloves and a scarf wasn't revolutionary, but it's a hell of a lot more useful than a coat/towel or coat/shoe rack. We'll take "seen it before" over "clothes that make no damn sense" any day of the week.

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


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TFS: Team Lidia

We've got some catching up to do, poodles!

But first...

Ahem. They may have decided at the end of the show to refer to it as "outerwear," but they rather clearly announced the challenge as one involving a coat, specifically.

But enough about how we're right all the time. Onward!

Team Tiny was distressingly drama-free and competent this week. Who needs that?


El Pollo Loco:



Color us unimpressed. The "element of surprise" is that you can unzip the hood and put it in a plastic bag that you have to carry around. Uh...okay? It's not as bad as the shoe coat concept or even the jewelry coat, but still...it's kind of uninspired. Aside from that, it's beautifully executed (the lining looks especially nice) but it's not such a hot design. It's just kind of okay.

We're worried about our little chicken. Is he fading away that quickly? Step it up, Merlin. We need drama and fabulosity, stat!

Angel:


It's an almost-but-not-quite. Her little surprise was that you could alter the length, sort of like Andrew's winning design. Whatever. We do like the basic design and the fabric choice, even if it looks incredibly sloppy on the runway.

Lidia:



We LOVED this coat. The style, the fabric, the color -- lovelovelove. The little scalloped seashell hoodie thing? Not so much. How is that different from just making a hood? Aside from the fact that you don't have to use your hands to wear a one, that is. If she'd made that hood more dramatic and umbrella-like (and if you didn't need your hands for it), it could have been a contender for the win.

James-Paul:



Okay, yes. From the back, she looks like a beetle and when she unzips it and lays down, it does look like a cat bed, but come on, that's a pretty fabulous coat. It's a fantastic silhouette and it's amazingly well-executed. James-Paul needs to lay off the black, though. Let's see some color, Rubik.

Y'know, we have to say that this was the strongest collection except for one thing: they didn't even attempt to make it look like a collection. Each individual piece is strong but none of them look like they came from the same place.

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


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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: Team Reco

Team Reco, bitches!

But first, a word about the mini-challenge.

Unlike many of you, we don't particularly mind the idea of a mini-challenge. We support, in theory, any attempt to differentiate the show from Project Runway.

The problem is, except for the first one with the black t-shirts, none of the mini-challenges have been particularly worthy. This one was no exception. Watching people frantically fix hems and sew buttons doesn't exactly make for scintillating television.

And besides, this is a design competition, not America's Best Seamstress.

If this was Project Runway, we'd probably designate Reco as the villain of the piece, but in this situation, he's not only right to be annoyed at all these people who can't even make a pattern, let alone sew, he's also one of the few entertaining personalities on the show. Let him throw as much shade as he wants. He's got the talent to back it up and he livens up a relatively boring show.

"Can you explain your design to me?"

For all our bitching about Heather, this was actually a valid question and exactly the kind of thing an instructor would ask in a design school setting.

And if you can't answer that question, you need to examine why that is. Haven just got defensive about it when she should have devoted some thought to it. She might have been able to rethink her design if she had.

Runway time!

Johnny:
It's not a bad design, from the front.

Although the bottom half was way too puffy.


But come the fuck on. What kind of crack-smoking idea was this? What woman feels the need to carry around a half dozen pairs of shoes on her back? Besides the homeless?

Haven:
Y'know, now that we've had a chance to think about it, we don't really hate this design all that much. It's not as if that pannier silhouette is unheard of. In fact, it's showing up on runways quite a bit lately.

And a garment designed for carrying around makeup and beauty supplies is a lot more realistic than one designed for carrying around jewelry or shoes.

The real problem here is that it looked cheap.

She made a bad choice of materials and the execution was not there, but design-wise, it's not as bad as we originally thought.

Reco:
This was a really great design, we have to admit. It was striking, and stylish and fun. You know what it was not?

A coat. That was the design challenge, after all; design a coat.

We find it really puzzling that in all the praising from the judges, not one of them managed to point this out.

Very cleverly done, but NOT A COAT.

We really try to avoid making too many comparisons to PR, but we can't help thinking that Nina would have had his head for that. Instead of praising him, she would have put him in the bottom 3 just for failing to carry out the demands of the challenge.

Again, we like it; but it's not a coat.


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


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