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Project Runway All Stars, Episode 12 Runway Review – The Finale

Posted in FASHION, PROJECT RUNWAY, PROJECT RUNWAY ALL STARS on March 23, 2012 by stylebymeli

The moment we had all been patiently waiting for aired on Thursday when we were presented with the final three designers’ runway collections showcased at Fashion Week.  This was the first season in Project Runway history that I was incredibly proud of the final three designers remaining.  I said from day 1 that the final 3 would be male designers (not due to gender, just based on the fact that the males that were chosen for PRAStars were much stronger than the females chosen for the show). 

The Challenge:  Design a runway collection in 4 days

Guest Judges:  Tommy Hilfiger  (fashion designer), Ken Downing (SVP of Neiman Marcus)

My Runway Review:  

1-  Austin – “Austin Scarlett” :  Very cohesive, great color story, so unique, the white gown was beautiful, very avante garde, I got chills at the end

[This collection was very strong and there were clear fashion statements made in all his designs.  I like that he's creative and always true to his design aesthetic.  He's not afraid to be Austin Scarlett which is why the title of his collection suits it so well].

2-  Mondo – “Therapy” :  Very dramatic, love the graphic designs, very cohesive, so artistic, the Rorschach inspired dress (seen below) is SO HOT

[Although his collection wasn't my favorite, I valued its fresh creativity and the innovation put into his work.  I liked the central theme of "Therapy" and how it correlated so well with his designs]. 

3-  Michael – “Serengeti” :  Comfortable, feminine chic, great silhouettes, great prints, sophisticated sex appeal, balanced

[Overall, somewhat disappointed with his collection.  Yes, the clothing were beautiful and completely "divine" as Georgina stated, but the extra wow factor that is usually present in his work seemed to be lacking.  I wish he was more true to himself and stepped up his creativity to a much higher capacity which I know he is capable of.  My biggest issue with his collection was that there was nothing memorable.  Nothing stood out in my opinion].

My Final Thoughts:

Congrats to Mondo for winning Project Runway All Stars! This was my favorite design from his collection. The model looks like she is wearing a piece artwork down the runway. The design is executed and styled perfectly!

-  All the designers presented amazing collections and to think that they created an entire collection within four days is just mind-blowing.  If I had to choose only one favorite, I would actually have to go with Austin Scarlett (although I’ve always favored Michael and Mondo’s work more consistently).  I was very attracted to all the drama in Austin’s designs.

Although I’m a huge Michael Costello fan, I’m very happy with the outcome of the show and see Mondo declared the winner because I felt he truly should have won Season 8 of Project Runway.  

[Your thoughts on this week's episode?] 

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Project Runway All Stars, Episode 10 Runway Review – The Nanette Lepore Challenge

Posted in FASHION, PROJECT RUNWAY, PROJECT RUNWAY ALL STARS with tags , , , , on March 9, 2012 by stylebymeli

This is the final week of challenges to determine the top three designers competing in fashion week (needless to say the pressure is on)!  Although this final challenge was excellent, I felt that the designers did not truly present their best work.  There were critiques on every single design and room for major improvement.  

The Challenge:  Design a ready-to-wear look with a Nanette Lepore budget

Guest Judge:  Nanette Lepore  (fashion designer)

My Runway Review:  (My brief notes taken while watching each designer’s look come down the runway in the order they walked in)

1-  Austin:  I question the shape a little bit, too safe, but overall passable design.  [He explained later that his coat could be worn in three different ways which I found to be very interesting].

2-  Michael:  Too much print, he should have found a way to incorporate a solid into the design, not the best I’ve seen by him, this is something only wearable on vacation

3-  Mondo:  LOVE the blend of colors and prints, very eye catching, great styling details, very spring, shape is boxy but I’m okay with it for this design (I’d just add a belt to cinch the waist)

4-  Kenley:  Cool print, but nothing about the dress itself is exciting, too simple, not enough styling details, awful fit on the model, way too loose

Mondo wins this week's challenge with this design which will be sold at Nanette Lepore. I love how fresh and vibrant this dress is. It's visually captivating and effortless chic.

My Final Thoughts:

-  Besides my predictions being right from week-to-weak, I knew Kenley was going to be sent home not only for her weak design but for her negative attitude in the workroom.  She always has problems with taking negative critique and instead of using it as a way to enhance her final piece, she usually chooses to ignore it and do her thing.  As a designer/artist, you cannot let your ego get in the way!  This essentially led to her demise.

-  Mondo was definitely the most deserving of winning this week’s challenge as the other designers definitely fell short.  His design fulfilled the needs of the challenge and suited Nanette Lepore’s styling aesthetic best.

-  I completely agree with Mondo when he mentioned that Kenley doesn’t take the time to match up the prints in her designs and it looks sloppy at the end.  I don’t understand why she would fail to do that.  That is incredibly visually distracting.  If you cannot figure out a way to match them up, don’t work with prints!

-  I think it’s ridiculous that Kenley picked on Mondo for not being able to sketch.  As an artist, I actually don’t have a problem with this because I think artists naturally and independently have their own way of doing things and it’s not always conventional.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  Everyone’s creative process varies so who is to say that you have to have amazing sketches in order to design? 

It’s kind of like when people ask me very technical questions on makeup application, I cannot always provide a straight answer because I just do what comes natural to me which may not always be the “right” way.  That’s why I’m gravitated towards art, there’s no right way of doing it, you just go with it!  I’m just fully guided by my creative instincts.

[The best part about it was that after all this criticism on how Mondo cannot sketch, he ended up winning this challenge (while she got sent home) which goes to show that although he cannot sketch well, he is fully capable of creating fabulous designs.  Go Mondo!]

[Your thoughts on this week's episode?] 

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Project Runway All Stars, Episode 9 Runway Review – The My Dress in Lights Challenge

Posted in FASHION, PROJECT RUNWAY, PROJECT RUNWAY ALL STARS with tags , on March 4, 2012 by stylebymeli

For this week’s challenge, the designers were asked to create an avant garde look using materials from a light store.  This was definitely not one of my favorite challenges being that the fashion created was not very practical but from a creative standpoint, I appreciate the strengths of the challenge presented to the designers.  

The Challenge:  Create an avant garde look using light technology on a $400 budget ($300 at light store, $100 at Mood)

Guest Judge:  Pharrell Williams  (Grammy winner and fashion designer)

My Runway Review:  (My brief notes taken while watching each designer’s look come down the runway in the order they walked in)

1-  Mondo:  Interesting looking, I don’t love it or hate it, very safe and futuristic

2-  Jerell:  Not a fan, it’s not fashionable and not the least bit attractive

3-  Kenley:  She really created an amazing look!  All the pieces are well constructed and interesting, cohesive, really hip , very creative, she nailed it this week

4-  Austin:  Whimsical, interesting, looks like a fairy, visually intriguing, not in love with it but value its creativity in design

5-  Michael:  A little TOO avant garde and over the top for my taste, this was one of my least favorite looks, creative but not a fan of the futuristic samurai theme, did not like the head piece whatsoever!

Austin is declared the winner for this week's challenge with this design.

My Final Thoughts:

-  It was clear that the top two designers this week were Austin and Kenley.  I was really expecting Kenley to win and thought her design was a little stronger.  I think what gave Austin the upper hand was that his design had a magical quality to it which made it more favorable to the judges.

-  This was the first challenge all season that I was truly disappointed with Michael’s design!  Thankfully it was good enough to keep him in the competition.

-  I knew Jerell was not going to make it this week because out of the designers remaining, he’s just not the strongest and very inconsistent in terms of his work.  I would expect Kenley to go home next because she is also inconsistent and her designs seem to lack creativity (it’s just too repetitive and predictable).  I guess at this point in the competition, it’s all going to be a matter of what the upcoming challenge is!  If it’s a retro inspired polka dot challenge, then I’m sure we’ll be seeing Kenley moving ahead (LOL).

[Your thoughts on this week's episode?] 

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Project Runway All Stars, Episode 8 Runway Review – The Raise the Flags Challenge

Posted in FASHION, PROJECT RUNWAY, PROJECT RUNWAY ALL STARS with tags , , , on February 24, 2012 by stylebymeli

For this week’s challenge, the designers were asked to meet at the United Nations to choose a flag (they were limited to the six choices provided to them) and use it as the inspiration behind their next design.  I thought this was a creative challenge and was very happy with the overall outcome.  The designers definitely stepped it up this week!

The Challenge:  Design for a dress inspired by the colors and cultures of a flag on a $200 budget

Guest Judge:  Catherine Malandrino  (French fashion designer)

I absolutely adore Catherine Malandrino. She is one of my favorite fashion designers.

My Runway Review:  (My brief notes taken while watching each designer’s look come down the runway in the order they walked in)

1-  Jerell (India):  Definitely unique, culturally festive, and Indian inspired but I question its taste level

2-  Kenley (Chile):  Stunning, gorgeous, looks great on the model!  (Does this correlate with Chile?)

3-  Austin (Seychelles):  Too flowy, not exciting or youthful, bad choice of colors, odd color combo, strange design

4-  Mondo (Jamaica):  My first notes: “OMG SO COOL”  (lol), this girl looks so intriguing and sharp even though mainly all black, love this design, so artistic, connects with the flag, fits amazing, impeccable execution and styling, cool headpiece

5-  Mila (Papa New Guinea):  Best design I’ve ever seen by her although it’s still not the best out there, love the shoes that were styled with design, looks good on model

6-  Michael (Greece):  Execution could have been improved, pretty but design was just a little too literal (with Greek theme), too much volume, I like the blue accent

Mondo is the winner of this week's challenge

My Final Thoughts:

-  Mondo was definitely the clear winner for this week’s challenge, although I have to say that Kenley’s design was also very memorable.  My only concern with Kenley is that she is too predictable with her designs.  It’s great to have a strong sense of you who are as a designer and capture your true design aesthetic (she’s obsessed with polka dots), but after awhile it gets old and it’s just not intriguing enough to capture my interest.

-  It’s about time that Mila finally got eliminated from this competition.  I have been saying this for weeks.  I feel most of the designers also felt her work was distasteful.

-  I also didn’t value that Mila kept emphasizing that she doesn’t understand why the designers help each other out when they are all competing against each other.  This is a horrible mentality to have.  Yes, this is a competition, but at the end of the day, I feel that you should still give your honest opinions to one another and try to help each other if able to.  Goes to show, karma always catches up with you and it finally did when Mila got sent home this week!

[Your thoughts on this week's episode?] 

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Project Runway All Stars, Episode 7 Runway Review – The Broadway Challenge

Posted in FASHION, PROJECT RUNWAY, PROJECT RUNWAY ALL STARS on February 16, 2012 by stylebymeli

This week’s challenge was pretty exciting, as the remaining designers were asked to design a look for a character of the broadway show, Godspell.

Specifically, the character is a rich woman that flaunts her wealth (but actually steals money from everyone, which is how she becomes rich).  The designers are asked to design for this character and the look has to be rich-looking, dramatic, humorous, and over-the-top.  The designers are also asked to create separates for this challenge.

The Challenge:  Design for a character in Godspell on a $200 budget

Guest Judge:  Sutton Foster (Award-winning broadway star)

My Runway Review:  (My brief notes taken while watching each designer’s look come down the runway in the order they walked in)

1-  Michael:  Impeccable styling, love the headpiece, makeup, and earrings, great color selection, flashy and magical, beautiful and rich looking [PS - This was my favorite look]!

2-  Kenley:  Execution was not top notch, not sure about the mix of prints, not tasteful, needs to be styled down, interesting styling elements but too much going on so the eyes do not know where to look!

3-  Austin:  The leggings killed the look for me but otherwise looks rich and decadent, interesting looking and flashy, but needs a little editing, loved his styling choices with accessories and hair/makeup

4-  Jerrell:  This is awful, looking at it makes me cringe!  The hair is ridiculous, looks very old (not modern or rich), the skirt is ill-fitting and makes the model look big, this is a complete disaster

5-  Kara:  Lacks styling direction, not a strong look, the bow cheapens the look, I like the fit and pop of red but something is missing or not quite right

6-  Mondo:  Way too much going on visually, does not look rich, looks like bohemian rags, not classy looking

7-  Mila:  Loved the white fur contrasted with a bright color, but the look is kind of all over the place and is not well put together, needs a ton of work…send it back!  (LOL)

My Final Thoughts:

-  [Please note, I have been to a handful of broadway shows in my lifetime, but I definitely don't follow it, so critiquing these designs are hard as I can only judge it based on aesthetics, not if it truly fulfills the needs of the challenge].

-  Although Mondo was announced as this week’s challenge winner and I love his design aesthetic and creativity, this week, his design was one of my least favorites.  I really don’t like to admit that but I’m just being completely honest and I’m not asking for people to agree with me.  It just didn’t do it for me, although I’m happy to see him win otherwise!

-  It’s clear that Kara and Mila are weak links in this competition and I’ve already known this from Day 1.  I don’t want to take away from the fact that they are designers and talented in their own ways (obviously they wouldn’t be on the show otherwise), but I just don’t think their skill level and creativity is up to par compared to some of the other All Stars that are in this competition.

-  I don’t know how Jerrell’s design was the “safe” one out of the entire group.  I thought there were much stronger designs over his.

-  I completely agree with Joanna Coles in the workroom when she told Kara she is not an All Star.  She expressed that Kara wasn’t ambitious enough as a designer and really needed to take her level of creativity to greater heights but unfortunately, as I said, she just doesn’t have what it takes.

[Your thoughts on this week's episode?] 

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