Katherine Gerdes

Episode 4: Reap What You Sew

6 August, 17:23 - thus far 14 insightful comments have been made

Ahh…another team challenge! Kinda glad I missed it (no…not really). The challenge was to design a 3-piece outfit for Macy’s brand I.N.C.

As for a lot of speculation about whether or not there should be team challenges, this is my thought on that… To be able to be judged as “America’s next top designer” you need to be judged not only on your design skill and construction skills, but also for how you work with others and treat coworkers or employees. I don’t know of any professional design jobs where as a designer you are the only person who has input on the final product. For example; in order for something to reach the racks at Target, that design has to go through and be okayed by some 50+ people. Not only does the design team have to give it the go, but also so do the merchants (and there’s A LOT of them), the VP’s, the technical team, sourcing, etc… the list can go on and on. If you don’t have the personality and skills to be able to work with everyone and convince them that this should be in the store, then it’s going nowhere (and this could all be for a tee shirt color!).

That said, on the other hand I understand that Project Runway is a competition and it’s hard to eliminate just one person from a team challenge. So far I think the judging has been leaning towards eliminating the team leaders, which usually makes sense. Personally, I think the judges should be able to watch a bit of the team interaction during the challenge in order to make a good choice on whom in the group should go home.

Angela (WINNER), Michael & Laura: I have to give credit to Angela for lots of reasons this challenge, not only did she win, but I believe she did so by picking the best teammates by far! It was very smart of her to pick both Michael and Laura since it was proven in episode 2 that they work really well together. They also both have fantastic eyes for design and they’re sewing is impeccable. I didn’t really understand Angela’s original sketch and I’m guessing the final product might have been vastly different if she hadn’t picked her teammates or if it was an individual challenge. Now this doesn’t mean I’m taking away credit from her for her win. In fact I think this goes to show what a great team leader she was. She could have easily stuck to her original design, but instead, she chose to listen and work with her teammates ideas, which ended up producing a fantastic outfit and the win.

Bonnie (OUT), Uli & Bradley: Aww…I was sad to see Bonnie go, but the outfit was pretty bad. Her sketch was SO cute, young and hip; I wonder how the translation turned out so wrong on the runway? Maybe Bonnie, Uli and Bradley played a big ol’ game of telephone with the design and that’s what went wrong? I did like the color combo though… I think it was just a matter of the wrong fabric. Maybe some pattern or texture in there and it wouldn’t have been so blah. And to disagree with “Nee-Nah,” I actually liked the idea of the cowl/turtle neck. If you live up here in Minne-SNOW-tah, then you get to appreciate well-designed clothes that can keep you warm! The problem with the shirt was that the rest of it was so dowdy. Maybe the collar would have worked had it been a slimmer cut and not a tunic? Who knows…

Oh yeah, and did I forget to mention how much I love Bradley? I don’t know how well he’ll do in the competition, but he is so f’in cute to watch and I love his sense of humor. I was glad we were next to each other in the workroom.

Keith (KICKED OFF), Alison & Jeffery: What I’m sure you all want to know is my opinion on the “Keith” thing… remember that I am under strict contract… bottom line is he cheated. That’s my opinion. He got what he deserved and whether or not you think he was a good designer, no one should feel bad or pity him. It was VERY clear to us what we could and couldn’t bring and pattern/fashion books were some of the no’s. We actually weren’t allowed to have any books (they took a logic puzzle book away from me…yes, I know I’m a nerd)! Plus the fact that he left for a while…those are all no-no’s in the contract and he should have been kicked off. I was very impressed with Bravo that they handled the situation so well and showed what happens if you think you are above everyone else.

On to the outfit… I really liked the outfit that Alison and Jeffery put together. I think the only reason it didn’t win was because it was probably TOO fashion forward for Macys. I tend to not like skinny pants, but those were pretty hot and fit perfectly. Too do that without a draft to start from and not much time to fit them is very impressive! I also liked the double-layered tank. I thought it was a cool idea to be able to convert it to a dress. Not very wearable for the everyday person, but pretty cool for high fashion!

Robert, Kayne & Vincent: Robert’s design was actually my least favorite in this episode. I didn’t get how the jacket went with the rest of the outfit at all and I didn’t understand the rest of the outfit on it’s own in the first place! The skirt seemed very basic (other than the scandalous slit in the back!) and the top with the faux collar was…uh… basically a dressy “two-fer.” I don’t get it. Then they had the sporty parka, which wasn’t a bad design or construction, but it doesn’t make sense with the rest. Oh well… I’m glad Robert is still in. He’s funny. I can’t wait for him and Kayne to have a comedy hour show together (Hear that guys? It was my idea first! I’ll produce it…).