The Rundown
Fashion Orbit took a little nap and missed recapping a couple of episodes, but Markus and Laura were booted, and Kristin had a weird meltdown and left of her own accord. Johnny unwisely got super bitchy on Isaac and Daniella told on Andrew for essentially letting her design for him and then winning. Isaac did not care and more or less said, welcome to fashion. On a tangential note, I will miss Laura’s Gozar the Gozerian look.
This week it’s all about shoes, and after a team mini-challenge the designers are finally broken up to be judged individually for the main challenge. Isaac brings them to Bergdorf’s to select couture shoes which will inspire their runway outfits.
After last week’s flap, the other designers (particularly Anna and Daniella) give Andrew the stink eye in the workroom. Meanwhile, Reco indiscriminately lays the passive-aggressive insults on anyone who will listen, guaranteeing that he will be a source of bitchy delight in future episodes.
George Malkemus, the president of Manolo Blahnik, is there on paper to guest judge, but in reality to give useless but well-intended advice and annoy the hell out of Isaac. On to the runway!
The Runway
Keith created a one-shouldered dress with a full petal skirt for his Valentino heels. I thought the shape was lovely but it still underwhelmed, and the color palette was a bit off. Naturally each designer’s selection of footwear informed their final product in a number of ways, and I wasn’t particularly bowled over by Keith’s shoe choice to begin with. In any case, his look was safe enough to move him to the next round.
Andrew’s Manolo Blahnik-inspired dress got him eliminated. Awkward! George liked it “as a salesman,” which sent Isaac into a very particular lather about how this isn’t “The Salesman Show,” which…okay. I understand that you don’t want a garment to be valued predominantly by its commercial appeal, but at the same time, this show is geared very specifically towards buyers, so the creations presumably have some sort of mass appeal. The funny thing is that Andrew’s dress wasn’t all that terrible - I am a big fan of the ecru/grey color combination and the shape was rather lovely. However, there was something about it that didn’t quite reveal a designer personality (possibly because of his alleged propensity to “borrow” from the other designers), and ultimately, it was that undefinable blah-ness that got Andrew booted.
Haven broke out of her funk with this adorable little Christian Louboutin-inspired ensemble. The splash of matching color at the ruffle detail managed to refer back to the heels without being overly literal. If she can break out of her construction phobia it will be really interesting to see what our little 80s inspired Southern belle can come up with.
Speaking of literal: oh, Merlin, Merlin, Merlin. The magician chose to create this futuristic Little Home on the Prairie dress for his Giuseppe Zanotti wedges. I think the sheer elaborate bizarreness of it all kept him off the chopping block.
Anna’s outfit for her Martin Margiela shoes was unobtrusive bordering on not good. Safe for now, though.
James-Paul’s dress for his Jimmy Choo sandals was graceful and appropriate. It didn’t deserve to win the challenge, but it certainly showed his consistency as a designer.
Lidia’s Yves Saint Laurent-inspired dress landed her in the bottom two. Anna pointed out the bridesmaid-like aspect of the dress, which pretty much summed it up in a nutshell: kind of pretty, kind of frumpy, and offensively inoffensive. In the end she beat out Andrew because the judges thought that her glorious fail was a lot better than a mediocre result. I agree with the idea in theory, although I would sooner don Andrew’s frock.
Reco won the challenge with this bubble dress for his Yves Saint Laurent cage shoes. We were already a fan of these particular heels, and his sweet and nicely crafted minidress was well-paired with the edgier footwear. Daniella or Angel were equally suitable for the win, but hey, sometimes there’s nothing more appealing than a well done strapless bubble dress.
For whatever reason Angel was unable to decide on a pair of shoes, so a pair of colorful Stella McCartney heeled sandals were chosen for her. Angel was less than thrilled with the selection, but maybe she should have, you know, picked her own pair. Regardless, her two-shirts make a shirtdress design was innovative and completely wearable. I still think she’s one of the top contenders.
As the judges noted, Daniella’s creation to match her Alexander McQueen shoes was not really an obvious pairing - and yet, it was a flawless one. Her dress fit her model beautifully, and subtle details, like matching seaming, tied her piece in to her footwear. Let’s hope her “breakdown” that occurs in the upcoming episode is just editing magic.
Johnny’s Jean Paul Gaultier-inspired (or as Bravo likes to say, John Paul Gaultier) dress was another far too literal piece. The silhouette wasn’t terrible, but the brown/black/purple color palette was pretty awful. So far his purpose seems to be to serve as a curiosity - I’m not sure if anything he has created thus far has really created any impression of designing genius.
Next episode! The designers apparently piss and moan about having models with “real” figures, and I say, welcome to mass production, jerks! Oh, and maybe if you have some semblance of talent you could work something that is flattering on a variety of figures? But I’ll save my ire for later.
All photos: BravoTV.com
