Katherine Gerdes

Season 4: Episode 8 “En Garde!”

20 January, 16:23 - thus far 5 insightful comments have been made

I loved this challenge and definitely think it was the best of the season so far (conceptually and the designs). I’m really excited that the producers created a challenge that specifically asked for something avant-garde and “high fashion.” It’s pretty easy (in Project Runway and real life) for a designer to stick with nice, wearable garments since that’s what usually sells and it’s much easier to complete a simpler garment in the PR time constraints, so it’s not as much a risk to finish.

My main complaint with this challenge… I think it was totally unfair to the models to be selected on their hairstyles. I like the concept of being inspired by a hairstyle, but let’s be honest, most of those styles were awesome, but a few of them looked like the models woke up late and did it themselves. As some of my hairstylist friends said, “It looks like it was 10 minutes to show time and they realized they still had 3 girls to finish…” Knowing how they film the episodes, I think this is probably what happened (they film the model selection part immediately after the last designer has been “auf’d.” So in this case, I’m guessing Kevin was still in his exit interview while they were filming this segment.).

Pretty pictures compiled by the pretty people at BPR!

Rami & Sweet P: Other than the pants under the dress, I really liked Rami & Sweet P’s “collection.” Sweet P’s ready-to-wear (RTW) dress was SO cute and worked perfectly to bring their avant-garde dress down to a wearable level. I also love that Sweet P choose new colors that complimented the avant-garde dress without matching it exactly. Last week I thought her prom dress was the best thing she’s done so far, but now I’m going with this as her best work. Hopefully she’ll just keep getting better and better from now on! Even though I really liked the avant-garde dress for this group, I do agree that it was in the bottom 2 out of the 4 collections. With that said, I really don’t get the judges criticism of Rami being a “one-note.” I understand that he’s done a lot of draping, but that’s obviously his specialty and he’s really good at it, so why shouldn’t he do a lot? This dress showed more skills than just draping (the corset looks well made) and in real life, many designers are known for the 1 style they show (Calvin Klein is very simple/modern, Betsy Johnson is usually a bit whimsical/baby doll, etc.). I feel like if Rami showed up next week with something very fitted and tailored, the judges might pick on it for not being “his” style. Have I ever mentioned that I’m tired and over M.Kors and Nina Garcia as the judges? I loved last season when Vera Wang sat in for M.Kors!

Victorya & Jillian: V&J’s jacket was AMAZING! I didn’t get the concept when they showed parts of it during the episode, but I loved everything about it as it came down the runway, including the outfit underneath (I had no idea where they were going with those jodhpurs, but they worked!). The whole look had this great modernized, futuristic punk feeling to it, but it actually looked somewhat wearable! I loved the use of plaid inside and as the trim; it looked fantastic peeking out of the full skirt. Overall this look was very inspiring and probably one of my favorite designs (along with Christian and Chris’s dress) in all 4 seasons of PR. Unfortunately… I don’t have much to say about their RTW garment. I like the concept of making the designers translate their avant-garde garment to something wearable, but it’s hard to get good quality when it twist gets thrown into the challenge so late and I’m guessing that’s what went wrong for this team (they are both so talented, I’m sure with another day it would be awesome!). I don’t hate their 2nd dress, but I definitely don’t like it, it just doesn’t seem well thought out and doesn’t have the feeling of their jacket.

Christian & Chris: I feel like I should just repeat what I said for Victorya & Jillian’s collection… I LOVED C&C’s avant-garde dress and wish I could see more garments like this on future episodes/seasons of PR. It’s definitely out there and over-the-top, but imagine if they took of the shoulder thing… it would be a gorgeous dress for some red-carpet event! I like the direction they were heading for their RTW, but again, I think it was rushed and doesn’t seem as well made as I would expect from this team. Also, if Rami is getting criticized for always draping stuff, why isn’t Christian running into the same problem with always designing ruffled/pleated front shirts (or jackets)? Personally, I don’t have a problem with either, but I’m just curious why the judges don’t notice?

Kit (OUT) & Ricky: Okay, so I agree that this was the bottom team (and by a lot), but I really really can’t get behind giving Kit the boot over Ricky. I know she was the team leader and they always take the blame, but I actually like the concept behind Kit’s design and even though I don’t like the final outcome, I think it’s MUCH more interesting and inspiring than Ricky’s RTW dress. Other than using the same fabrics, I don’t see how Ricky’s dress is inspired by the team’s original concept at all? Like I said, I liked the concept of the avant-garde dress, but just wasn’t happy with the finished product. I think anything with a large hoop skirt is going to border on “costume-y” and wish they had gone more abstract with the dress. I keep imaging a large asymmetrical skirt that looks like they layered dozens of “vintage” aprons all over each other… anyways, I was mad that Kevin was out and now I’m even more upset that Kit is out! I think both of them had/have much more potential than Ricky (terribly sorry if that sounds mean).