Project Runway Season 9 Episode 6: The Art of the Matter

Painting by Sasha of the Harlem School of the Arts

Subtitled: Bert Rehabilitates his image (but not his success rate).

A couple of preliminaries: Maybe I need to get some q-tips and swab out my ears, or maybe the sound equipment was full of dust, but an awful lot seemed muffled to me. I haven’t had any trouble understanding Olivier’s Asian-English accent so far, but tonight he was unintelligible a good deal of the time. And Bert, he’s taken his mumbling to new heights. And I’m really tired of the ombre commercial. The first time, it was interesting. The second and third time, ok, maybe someone was getting a drink. And that was last week. This week, I think it was shown twice each commercial break. Knock it off, already.

And hello, Blogging Project Runway, where I just joined in on the Recapalooza.

We start with Anthony Ryan announcing he and Bert have called a truce and are going to start over. Bert assures us he’s going to try not to be an asshole today, so he doesn’t have to make amends when he wakes up (aha, he did do time with Friends of Bill). He and Anthony Ryan are sitting around the apartment and he agrees to put the nails away. Ok, I’m reasonably impressed. It’s not a complete allocution, but it’s good enough. And Laura admits she wasn’t exactly nice to Becky, who is now moving in with her. Not-Mormon Josh doesn’t speak to the subject (though he does later). I guess he figures for now his apology from last week covered it.

Heidi meets them on the runway. Viktor and Not-Mormon Josh both have immunity. The designers will be going back to school for some further education at the Harlem School of the Arts. Tim tells them they’ll collaborate with their assigned student to create a painting that will serve as an inspiration for their avant garde runway look. Anya is thrilled, but then again, Anya is thrilled about everything, it’s that pageant mentality. She’s particularly excited because her parents run a foundation that uses arts for transformation, and it’s a cause that’s close to her heart. Anya maybe comes from more of an upper-class background than Laura. She’s certainly learned more about politics in everyday life.

I think it’s kind of a convoluted challenge – why not just have the kids present a painting they worked on for more than a short time, a favorite piece of theirs instead of the whole “designers paint with kids” thing, they could still talk about it extensively and explain what they did and why. But what do I know, I guess it’s considered good tv. They have two days. The kids will paint with the designers, then meet them in the runway for Tim’s Day Two Walkthrough and they’ll attend the runway show as well (but not the grilling; they don’t want to expose young minds to that, unless they’re serving as models and can hear “that outfit looks butt ugly” directed straight at them).

Painting with the Kids:

Viktor worries about working with children. That’s kind of cute; I can sympathize, I’m not great with kids, either. He works with Skyy and finds her to be “very vocal.” That means she talks. She wants to paint a bustier, but she isn’t sure what a bustier looks like. She asks Viktor “What’s your favorite activity?” and I think we all hold our breath to see what he says, but we don’t hear that. “What was art like for you as a kid?” These are pretty good getting-to-know-you questions, the kids have probably been asked these things a thousand times, it just sounds funny when they turn the tables and ask adults. Viktor thinks it’d be better if he had a cocktail. Wouldn’t everything.
Bert works with Antonio, who he describes as a very quiet young man; producers knew what they were doing there. Bert asks him if he’s ever been to the Guggenheim. That’s kind of cool, actually, to treat kids as regular people, and Antonio has been to the Guggenheim, which of course he would have been seeing as he’s in a school for the arts. It’s all part of Bert: The Rehabilitation of his Image, of course. Bert talks about his garment being cubist and with a totally different silhouette.
Mormon Josh and Sasha (who says she’ll cry if anyone says anything negative about his work; bring lots of tissues, Sasha) paint some kind of dark furry animal. It’s quite a painting, looks like a wounded lion held up in the air by two hands, but turns out it’s a wolf with his ribs exposed and his heart beating underneath. That’s certainly interesting. I think I’d need a drink if I was working with a kid who painted that. Poor Mormon Josh can’t even have a cup of coffee. He’s having a great time, I’ve got to hand it to him, he takes partly dissected wolf paintings in stride. (I have to admit it’s kind of a cool painting). Mormon Josh wants to take the emotion from the work, not literally make a wolf with its ribs and heart exposed. Sounds like a plan to me; those wolf hearts all over the runway get messy after a while.
Becky works with Maris, but they don’t get much camera time. I don’t know what they paint, but how could it possibly compare to a wolf with exposed ribs and heart?
Olivier is teamed up with Tonylee; who asks Olivier what kind of music he likes to listen to, and Olivier mumbles something that sounds like “reedclassic”. I’ll find it eventually somewhere on the internet, someone had to have heard it correctly, or at least had close-captioning on [thanks to Max the Girl and Just a Biddy, I have discovered he said, “I like really depressing music.” Me, too! Mahler, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen; Don McLean’s Vincent; pretty much any miserere; bring it on! Olivier, you know this isn’t good, right?].
Not-Mormon Josh works with Patrice on dead flaming trees with living green roots below the soil. Not-Mormon Josh is having a trouble with all the natural elements, the trees and the roots: “I’m not organic, I like things that are fake.” Know thyself, bro.
Anya is paired with AJ, Bryce with Audrey, but apparently they don’t do anything that’s “good TV.”
Laura and Kai work together, and Laura starts telling Kai all her troubles with the last challenge. Kai says, “Failure is opportunity.” Laura calls Kai “a little dalai lama.” Guess who came out looking like the adult on that one.
Anthony Ryan and Wu Qing work on side-by-side self portraits. Anthony Ryan loves that the skin fades into the portrait like the clothes are transparent, and he feels empowered, so they put crowns on them. I don’t quite follow that logic, but he’s having a great time. He’s thinking in terms of a nude dress and adding colors that look like brush strokes.
Kimberly and Claudette work together. They don’t get much camera time either. They paint a bird with wings spread. If they’d shown the ribs and heart, maybe they’d have gotten more camera time.

The designers go to Mood, and Tim chases Swatch again. I don’t know how he does such undignified, clumsy things in a way that seems completely dignified. Like saying “wee wee pads.” Or “woolly balls.” I love Tim Gunn. But why is he always chasing Swatch? Is he trying to pet him? Or get him out of the way? Swatch, it’s ok, you couldn’t be in better hands. I’d trust my firstborn to Tim Gunn. If I had one.

The workroom:

Mormon Josh is working from his flayed-wolf painting. He has a conversation with Tim in Mood about fur; Tim tells him PR is now “Fur Free” so he has to use faux fur (maybe there were complaints when Christopher used fur last season). Does he know how to work with fur? Christopher had a hard time with it, and Christopher was quite experienced and capable. In any event, he brings faux fur back to the workroom, and Anthony Ryan utters words to live by: “You have to be the right person to use faux fur.” Mormon Josh is talking about slits and long and short skirts but I don’t follow it. Tim’s worried it’s too literal, a wolf costume. Mormon Josh realizes he’s right. So he looks at it as an opportunity to step back and go again. Anya interviews he’s got the chance to prove himself, but she doesn’t see him doing that. Wow, they finally got Anya to say something negative about another designer on camera. Josh puts a fur mohawk on his head, and takes all the faux fur off his outfit. He’s been given a second chance and doesn’t want to blow it again. Oops, too late. Viktor thinks it’s Carmen Miranda in a vampire suit. Laura gives him some constructive criticism, then worries that she’s scared him, but he doesn’t have time to make drastic changes. Which is why Tim is the mentor and Laura is just a kind of bitchy know-it-all.

Bert defines avant garde as not costumey, just forward thinking. So he makes a Tweedledee costume. Or maybe it’s Tweedledum. He’s creating a silhouette with pants ballooning out over the hips. How many times has someone tried this? Jay. Malvin and his chicken thighs. No one ever gets away with it. Someone – Laura? – asks him if he’s married, he says he’s widowed, and re-tells the story: partner died of AIDS and he went into a downward spiral. He talks to his family via video chat. He’s nice to his kid partner, and he talks nicely about him to Tim. Boy, they really want to rehab Bert’s image. What, are they going to cut him just before the finale like they did Michael Costello? That’s what this is beginning to smell like, except with Bert, we actually saw the nasty. Tim thinks his design is upbeat and has young colors, and it’s unexpected, which is a good thing. Tim’s reaching here, looking for the positive aspects. Kimberly thinks it ‘s a literal translation of the painting, and it looks kids craft-y. Bert says he hasn’t made a pair of pants in twenty-five years. Good move, to start with clown pants, that’ll get you right back into things, Bert. Laura calls his pants jodhpurs, he calls them fat pants. Because fat pants always wow the judges. Viktor interviews he secretly likes Bert’s outfit, it’s fun to look at. It is fun to look at; if it was a costume for a Howdy Doody type show, it’d be great.

Laura defines avant garde as something that can’t be worn in real life, like Lady Gaga (who I guess exists in an unreal dimension as I always suspected). Her art was flowers, so she’s taking organza and cutting it into ruffles, then burning the edges to keep it from fraying and to turn the edges brown like wilted petals. She says it smells like when she used to burn her Barbie dolls. Ok, Laura used to burn her Barbie dolls, that’s certainly good to know. She admits she feels some anxiety sharing a table with Mormon Josh and his wolf vision. I don’t know, I think it’s a tossup: wolf, or burned Barbies. Mormon Josh tells her he’s an Eagle Scout so he’ll put out the fire. “You’re a needle scout?” she asks, innocently, like when she asked Olivier if he was talking foreign. She thinks Mormon Josh is doing a literal costume with a Dracula vibe he’s calling dark energy, so she doesn’t care if he’s a needle scout or an Eagle Scout. She’s also a little worried about Olivier; he’s a phenomenal designer, but has trouble with time management, and he’s a minimalist who isn’t going minimalist, which he could’ve done in a shocking avant garde way. Becky isn’t that crazy about Laura’s dress: it’s a fluffy peach prom dress, or a Barbie doll dress. I think there’s way to much Barbie going on here already.

Viktor say avant garde is edgy. He has chiffon. Well, that’s certainly edgy. It makes him want to do a musical. In the dictionary under “edgy” it says, “See Musicals.” I’m not sure that’s the kind of avant garde they’re looking for. When Tim does his walkthrough with the kids there, his artist Skyy says it’s all about swirls and she talks about movement and water. Viktor gives her credit for selling it. He’s feeling a little better about kids. He learned to like Skyy, she’s funny.

Olivier gets worried seeing all the fur and feather and bright colors in the workroom; his look is a lot more quiet. Like Amish skirts. Viktor says Olivier is a turtle; he takes a long time to do anything. And he’s a worrier. Not a warrior: a worrier. Neither of those are good qualities for PR contestants. Tim is happy to see a painting with colors, but questions if his garment is really avant garde. Olivier mumbles something. Tim says it’s great that he’s gone somewhere he hasn’t gone before, but that doesn’t mean he’s gone avant garde. Olivier stares. Olivier’s in big trouble here. Anya interviews it’s ready-to-wear, and she’ll be very sorry if he has to go. Wow, twice in one episode they caught her criticizing someone’s design, someone earned his paycheck this week. At final model fittings, Olivier glues one side of the bodice to his model’s boob (she ok’s with it though I don’t think she thought she had a choice; I’ll have to watch that piece again, everyone was mumbling). And then, before the glue even dries, Tim walks in, and queries Olivier about the glue. Gluing clothes to skin is against the rules. Maybe the producers cued him in, since it turned out to be an issue last season; maybe Viktor complained (he interviews that he considers it cheating); whatever, it didn’t take long. Olivier doesn’t understand, but Tim explains if the dress isn’t constructed well enough to stay on, “it can’t be mitigated by gluing it on.” Oh, Tim, I get all misty-eyed when you talk like that. It’s unglued, and all is well. It doesn’t fall off, so it wasn’t really necessary. And I have a feeling it’s not going to be the deciding factor.

Bryce doesn’t usually go bright orange red, and the color combo is throwing him for a loop. He has a scary painting too, a head with huge eyeballs. What kind of art school is this? (again, it’s actually pretty cool – you want to see what kind of weird art I like, take a look at this). He wants to take a creepy dark factor from the painting and make a straight jacket look. Honey, they call them camisoles these days (don’t ask how I know that). Not-Mormon Josh thinks it’s time for Bryce to go, he’s just designing to keep in the safe zone. Sure kicked your ass last time though, didn’t he, NMJ?

Not-Mormon Josh is painting fabric to make it look like wood. He’s making a fire travelling across the forest, hearts carved into trees like initials. He lost his mother to ovarian cancer two years ago and she is his inspiration, he gets all teary (honey, you still told Becky her work was dowdy and she should cut and sew and not try to think too much, you’re not getting off any easier than Bert with the redemption arc), and Anthony Ryan and his uniball get a little teary too. He explains to Tim about the horizon line, there’s life in the roots though the tree is dead on the surface. Tim reminds him the look “has to stand on its own independent of the narrative” (seriously, I love Tim). In the end, he paints JM heart KC on the skirt (tree trunk) which is his and his mom’s initials. I get it, I do; the motivation is very sweet; but it’s still a little creepy. There’s a connotation to carving your initials into a tree, one you don’t want to have with your mom.

Anthony Ryan is working off the double portraits that fade into the canvas so he wants to make a nude princess cut dress with brushstrokes on it. It has to fit perfectly, it will have no give. When his artist partner comes to visit, the kid points out the orange is discordant; Anthony Ryan, being both kinds of color blind, didn’t notice, and wisely defers and removes the orange.

Kimberly is working with a painting of a bird, and is using pleather and feathers. Tim warns her to avoid giving Michael Kors the opportunity to say anything about a Hiawatha moment, or Geronimo. Aha, Tim’s heard MK rehearsing his snark, I see. Kimberly is pretty much ignored this episode. Maybe if she’d made Geronimo or Hiawatha, she wouldn’t have been. But when you’re competing with clown pants and a tree, you’ve got to give it all you’ve got.

Becky has a painting of geometric shapes. I don’t quite get it, some people get flayed wolves and forest fires and others get triangles and circles. Maybe some of the kids are in remedial art? Or they’re sculptors, not painters? Her dress is more or less a standard gown with stuffed blocks on the shoulder. Not-Mormon Josh is eager to see what Becky is doing; he’d like to think his direction in the team challenge forced her to focus her energies and think out side the box. Um… I suspect she may not see it in precisely those terms, somehow. Not-Mormon Josh gets the prize for the stupidest remark of the episode, probably of the season. “Now I’ll bet she’s glad I beat her down last week because she’ll straighten up and fly right, tough love, that’s what it is.” Tim tells her to keep it sophisticated and sharp, make sure it doesn’t look like a craft project. He’s worried it isn’t avant garde enough; Becky gets worried: “If we don’t wow Tim, we’re not going to wow the judges.” No, probably not. She says she’s still in the middle of the competition, she hasn’t been in the bottom or the top, really. I’m not so sure about that. Her stilts jacket was in the top, wasn’t it? And her sneaker outfit would’ve been in the bottom, I think, but they didn’t really have a bottom. It was definitely not liked. But she tells herself this, puts a blue streak in her hair, and orange eyebrows on her model and she’s good to go. Viktor isn’t impressed: who does a gown out of demin (hey, Seth Aaron and Emilio won with a denim gown a few seasons ago, and Jeffrey won for his cotton gown) and all these boxes, like Fedex just left them there. No, that was last week, on the counter.

Anya gets very little screen time this episode as well. On walkthrough, Tim assures her he thinks it’s impossible for her to do something that isn’t tasteful. I don’t know about that: she’s got feathers and some kind of Cinderella ball gown skirt.

We get a close look in the workroom at some pink pumps studded around the back with something like metal pushpins. They look really dangerous. Seems to me if your heels get anywhere near each other, the studs would catch and you’d tippy-tumble down. I can’t find the shoes on the Piperlime webite. Or by googling Kenneth Cole. Maybe somebody made them. I did find a pair by Sam Edelman (if I’ve got that right) that’s close, though. These shoes mesmerize me. They cost more than $300. I want to know who wears them. And how. And why. These shoes, someone wearing these shoes, someone wondering about someone wearing these shoes, are going to show up in one of my stories some day.

The Runway:

Some Marie Claire chick fills in for MIA Nina; Kenneth Cole is guest judge.

Kimberly sends out a black leather and feather thing, a short skirt with an asymmetrical hem to a long side, mostly black leather, with red feathers to go with the painting of a bird. She wanted it to be strong like an eagle. It’s not bad. For all the drama, it doesn’t interest me much. And it’s a very literal interpretation of her painting – why isn’t anyone complaining about her?

Becky had geometric shapes, and her dress is a green gown with an asymmetrical skirt going from short to very long with a lighter lining, and a cluster of stuffed cubes running up the shoulder. There’s an interesting use of diagonals. The long part of the skirt just kinda hangs there. She wishes she had more volume on the bottom; I agree. She was on to something but didn’t quite get there. Low-middle, I’d say.

Olivier sends out a white flowy half-trench-coat-ish thing with a blue maillot underneath and, I don’t really know, lots of fabric floating around. He’s worried he could have done better. It’s the sort of thing they might love or they might hate. Me, I think it’s one of those things that looks stupid. But that doesn’t mean Heidi or MK won’t love it. The unglued boob is not an issue at all. It’s so far down the list of issues, I didn’t even remember it until I went back and read it in my notes.

Not-Mormon Josh has a pom-pom-covered red-orange top and a long brown tree-trunk skirt to go with the painting of the tree with life below ground and death above. To me, it looks like a flip version of Fanelle’s look from the pet challenge, the one they hated. I didn’t think it was that bad, and this I don’t hate either. I see the burning tree, the smoke rising. I’d guess high middle.

Bert sends out grey overalls suffering from a massive case of static cling – damn, a clutch from Piperlime is stuck right to her breast. And a bunch of fabric scraps, too. There’s a horn sprouting from her shoulder. Oh, wait, no, those are design elements? It isn’t overalls, it’s pants, really really voluminous pants. I can’t even see the top for all the stuff stuck to it, including some tulle. The model looks very unhappy; it’s the nightmare outfit that makes her look like she’s been eating pancakes and ice cream with every meal for six months. I don’t care if they love it and declare Bert the winner, it’s really horrible. Gay Farmer Bob in a funhouse mirror.

Viktor ends up with a lacy white and Skyy-blue floaty thing with one sleeve that looks just like his motorcycle jacket except it’s in white and blue chiffon instead of black leather. Hey, if it worked once… There’s lace. There’s floaty stuff. I’m thinking Middle. It’s kind of similar to Olivier’s look except softer.

Laura made a yellow gown with those fluttery petals like Leanne liked to do, or like the sleeves on the Water dress Maya made before she quit. It doesn’t look that avant garde to me, it looks like a fancy gown she didn’t bother to line so the boning shows through. That got Kayne in big trouble several seasons ago. She says it’s a dusted fairy, which amuses me. High middle, I think. Hey, come on, at least it’s pretty.

Bryce sends out an orange strait jacket. The model poses with her arms twisted just in case you aren’t sure what it is. It’s very, very weird. But you know what? I like the top, very much, actually. It’s got wildly extended sleeves. I’m not crazy bout the color, but the style is kind of neat, and it is an avant garde challenge. What’s bad is the skirt, it just blooms out, it looks like a denim ruffle skirt I used to have. There may be a pony under that skirt. If the skirt was either straight or a different kind of puffy shape I’d probably like it a lot, and that’s pretty strange since it’s a really odd outfit.

Mormon Josh started with a flayed wolf painting and ended up with a dominatrix. It’s a high-waisted black leather skirt and shrug-halter thing over a white blouse. He considers it avant garde because it’s beyond his everyday design. Sorry, didn’t work for Olivier, isn’t going to work for you. Should’ve gone for the fur.

Anthony Ryan sends out a blotchy sheer white gown with all these brush strokes sewn (sewn? glued?) on the top. It’s a little like the birdseed dress in that 1) it’s a simple fabric dress with stuff stuck to it, and 2) it’s graduated to have a lot of pieces at the collar and then fans out and lightens up. It’s ok. I’m not crazy about it (it looks a little sloppy, like there’s some technique he isn’t using), but it’ll do. After all, I haven’t been crazy about anything so far. Not all season. Well, the matador pants. But that was a specific kind of crazy about, and Julie’s long gone.

Anya made her African Cinderella dress with feather-embellished plunging V-neck and back, and a poufy skirt grading from short to long with a split in front. It’s very dramatic. She says it’s not particularly avant garde. It’s nice, though. I like the print she uses. The feathers are a little strange, but it’s supposed to be avant garde.

Kimberly Viktor, Becky, Bryce, and Anya are safe.
That leaves The Joshes, Bert, Laura, Anthony Ryan, and Olivier. I don’t really like any of the looks. I don’t understand Olivier and Bert’s looks at all, but that doesn’t mean they’re in the bottom; I didn’t understand Jeffrey’s yellow plaid Statue of Liberty dress either (thought it’s grown on me over the years). Guess: both Joshes and Bert are in the bottom. Fact is, I didn’t really like much of anything. All season, I haven’t seen anything that’s been amazing. By this time last season, Mondo, Andy, and Valerie were sending out great looks regularly, and most of the others had sent something pretty good down the runway. Is this the post-Gretchen PR? No one with a real style plus technical ability to pull it off quickly, a la Andy or Mondo (or Seth Aaron, Emilio, Christian, Jillian, Rami, Jay, Kara Saun, Chris March, etc etc), wants to bother, because look what will happen to them? So we’re swamped with failure-of-the-imagination-Gretchens and deluded souls who think technical skill is for wimps?

I think Kenneth Cole, guest judge, has a little conversation with Heidi and MK at this point.

KC: “Hey, wait, didn’t you tell me these were actual designers, not students or YouTube auditions?”
Heidi: “They are real fashion designers, Bert used to work for Bill Blass back in the 80s.”
KC: “That’s a joke, right? Some of them look like they’re fourteen years old!”
Heidi: “The fourteen-year-olds are the artists who painted the inspirations, they didn’t design the clothes.”
KC: “Really?” Looks at his notes again. “Really?” Sighs. “How much am I getting paid for this?”
Heidi: “Do you know how many people watch Project Runway?”
KC: “People watched the Casey Anthony trial, too, but I wasn’t about to advertise on it.”
MK: “Don’t worry, Ken, have a hit off this, you’ll feel a lot better, we always do…”

The Lineup: Where they knock ’em down one by one.

Not-Mormon Josh: Heidi likes it. She loves the painted fabric, which he tells her is neoprene. AHA! Heidi loves neoprene, it must be a German thing. No, wait, it’s Nina who loves neoprene, and Nina isn’t here this week. Kenneth Cole likes the natural draping of the skirt and the strong contrast between top and bottom. MK loves the texture on the skirt, and the flames on top; all you’d have to do is put her hair in a pony tail and clean up her makeup and it’s wearable. Sure, if you want to wear a neoprene skirt. If you want to smell like a neoprene skirt. Fallene must be throwing things at her TV.

Mormon Josh: MK calls it a Victorian cocktail waitress in Las Vegas. It’s not fashion. Not-Nina says it’s trashy. Heidi calls it the “I want to be a hooker for Halloween” look. Mormon Josh disagrees, for all the good it’ll do him. Kenneth Cole doesn’t like the proportions and thinks it dominatrix; the elements aren’t bad but it doesn’t come together. In The Judges’ Little Chat, MK says it was a missed opportunity, considering the drama of the picture.

Bert: He talks about working with the geometric shapes and colors. Not-Nina says the art and the fashion are not in harmony, and it isn’t a garment anyone would want to wear. Bert says he’s trying to bump it up, make things less simple, in accordance with the criticism he’s been getting. MK says something can be oddly beautiful and make you think, but this isn’t even that, ti’s not modern; it just looks like she has a swollen body shape. Heidi likes that it’s literal, it’s not sad or drab, it’s cuckoo but has a pov. Kenneth Cole says it’s too outside the box, and the forms are just stuck to it; he doesn’t get it. Chat comments: It’s something a Teletubby would wear to a party. MK tells Heidi she’s been craving a stiff jumpsuit to make her ass look that long, and like she’s waiting for baby number five. Kenneth Cole says it’s like when parents attach mittens to kids’ clothes. They even complain about the belt and matching shoes, all she needed was a purse. Did anyone else notice the belt and shoes? Wow. I don’t think they liked it.

Laura: the dress is based on Kai’s comment about thorns making roses original. Not-Nina didn’t see the art at first in the dress, but now she does, the hard of the boning and the soft. Hey, no fair, the dress is supposed to stand on its own without the narrative. They all like this hard of the corset boning and the soft of the fabric. Now Kayne is throwing things at his TV.

Olivier: he mumbles something about dreams and lines going across. Heidi doesn’t like it; the colors are sad, the painting is vibrant. Not-Nina says the top is well-constructed but the bottom is cheap fabric, he should’ve used the blue chiffon in the skirt to make it more ethereal. Kenneth Cole says it’s got too many details. MK says the bodice is spectacularly well made but the rest looks like Mood exploded on her; Olivier shouldn’t be afraid to be powerful, push it. In the Judges’ Little Chat, MK declares it Valium Fashion.

Anthony Ryan: Heidi loves it. She loves that he’s color blind and still handled colors (he doesn’t mention his artist partner helped by editing out the orange). It’s sexy, modern, simple but powerful. MK appreciates the painting, likes the dimensions of color, and accepts the undone hem as going with the garment. Kenneth Cole struggles with the execution; it feels homemade as if the pieces were applied unfinished, and thinks a layer is missing on the bottom, but he likes it a lot. Not-Nina thought it was ticker tape then realised, oh, brush strokes. She likes the opaque colors with chiffon.

Final Judgment:

Anthony Ryan wins – now that’s redemption. He runs back to the room and tells them he’s not a bridesmaid any more, he’s an official bride, a winner. I wonder how much the judges wanting to justify their decision last week played into it.

It comes down to Mormon Josh, who was not avant garde at all, and Olivier the Valium Fashion Designer.
Mormon Josh is out. Yes, again.

But who knows, maybe somebody will quit next week and they’ll bring him back again. But at least for a while, there will only be one Josh and that means less typing for me.

Tim tells him he’s experienced twice what most PR designers only get to experience once. And he’s very pleased that “I am who I am” because “It gets easier.” Now wait a minute, isn’t that the pitch line for the anti-gay-bullying campaign? No, that’s “It Gets Better.” World of difference.

Next week: ANOTHER team challenge? Because last week just wasn’t enough?