project-runway-blog
The Project Runway Blog
Congratulations to the "Project Runway" Scholarship Winners
Lifetime is proud to announce the Grand Prize winner of the inaugural "Project Runway" Fashion Scholarship contest.
Eduardo Calvo from Savannah College of Art and Design is this season's winner of a $10,000 scholarship for his work, described as "an urban-bohemian style of casual ease."
First place winners, each receiving $5,000, include Mary Danielle Beasley of International Academy of Design & Technology, Maria Canada of Rhode Island School of Design, Ahmad Murtaza of Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Gabriele Skucas of the Fashion Institute of Technology and Helen Ton of Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising.
Congrats to all!
Meet Your Favorite "Project Runway All Stars" Designer!
We know you already have January 5 at 9/8c penciled into your little black book for the premiere of "Project Runway All Stars"? (see you there!) — now save the date for a meet-and-greet with the designers! "PRAS" favorites from Mondo to Mila will be greeting fans at select Neiman Marcus stores across the country Thursday, December 8 and Saturday, December 10.
Neiman Marcus Atlanta with Anthony Williams (S7)
Thursday, December 8
7:00 - 8:00pm ET
3393 Peachtree Road NE
Atlanta, GA 30326
Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills with Michael Costello (S8), Gordana Gehlhausen (S6), Mila Hermanovski (S7), Rami Kashou (S4), Jerell Scott (S5) and Sweet P (S4)
Thursday, December 8
7:00 - 8:00pm PT
9700 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Neiman Marcus Denver with Mondo Guerra (S8)
Thursday, December 8
3:00 - 4:00pm MT
3030 East 1st Avenue
Denver, CO 80206
Neiman Marcus Paramus with Austin Scarlett (S1) and Elisa Jimenez (S4)
Saturday, December 10
12:00 - 1:00pm ET
503 Garden State Plaza
Paramus, NJ 07652
Neiman Marcus Westchester with Austin Scarlett (S1) and Elisa Jimenez (S4)
Saturday, December 10
3:00 - 4:00pm ET
2 E. Maple Ave
White Plains, NY 10601
Austin Scarlett Sounds Off on Fine Art
Austin Scarlett, "Project Runway" alumnus and "Project Runway All Stars" designer will be a featured VIP panelist at "The Fusion of Fine Art and Fashion" in New York, Wednesday, November 16. The event is open to the public.
As a part of this discussion, Scarlett will speak about Fine Art and its influence on him as a designer, as well as give a brief talk on fashion history and the long tradition of Artists collaborating with Designers. Get more information here: http://artfashion.eventbrite.com
Fan Favorite Anya Reveals Her Plans for Her Prize — Sharing With Anthony Ryan
Daniel Vosovic, Mychael Knight, Christian Siriano. Anya Ayoung-Chee is the latest in a line of standout "Project Runway" contestants who have taken home the title of Fan Favorite designer. This year, Lifetime reinstated the voting process with Twitter, and in the process, reinvigorated a tiny Caribbean country's national pride. Anya reveals her surprising plans for her $10,000 prize — sharing it with a fellow designer.
Caitlin: It was a close race for Season 9 Fan Favorite up until the very end between you and Anthony Ryan. You received an overwhelming amount of hometown love.
Anya: It was literally people who had never been on Twitter before were signing up to support me. They were running it on the news. It was such an incredible, incredible experience. I heard that 11,000 people were voting nonstop. It was insane. It's easier to understand when you know what it's like to come from a small place. It meant the absolute world to them ... And it wasn't just Trinidad and Tobago, it was pretty much across the Caribbean. Crazy amounts of loyalty.
C: There were many tweets in support of you that said, "This isn't just Anya winning Fan Favorite, this unified a country."
A: I'm so glad people were able to witness that. I have to be honest, I got a little not sure how to handle things towards the end, because Anthony Ryan and I are very good friends. I stayed out of it until the very end until I realized that it was bigger than me. Trinidad is currently in a state of emergency because crime has escalated, which means there's a curfew every night. It's been like this for months now. This whole thing, Fan Favorite, became about Trinidadians feeling proud. It lifted people's spirits. I can't downplay how much of an impact this has had. Because we are currently in a bad state and people are quite upset about it, voting for me as Fan Favorite became a shining light amidst of all of the depression.
C: What will you do with the $10,000 Fan Favorite prize?
A: I decided to use the money to set up a microfinance loan program for young creatives in Trinidad and Tobago. I'd like the fund to grow to be across the Caribbean. I grew up in a way that really didn't encourage creative careers as a viable way of making a living. I grew up thinking I should become a doctor, or something more "conventional." I'm very lucky to have parents who supported my real desire to become a designer, but a lot of young people grow up thinking that they can't do a creative job for a "real" living. So I want to bridge the gap between the people who want to do something in a creative field and provide a way for people to make a viable career. I didn't really win this. Trinidad and Tobago did, and the money should go back to them.
I am also giving half to Anthony Ryan's Rock One campaign fund. We were so close the whole time; if it wasn't because Fan Favorite became such a national and regional effort, Anthony was winning. His cause is equally important.
C: It's admirable that you both had plans to do something charitable with the money. No one else stood a chance once you two took the lead.
A Young men with cancer doesn't receive the attention in the media it deserves, and I really admire him. He's amazing. He was there for me at important times throughout the competition, and I love him as a person. Beyond all that, testicular cancer was pushed into the limelight when he discussed it on the show. I'm happy to share it with him.
C: Fan Favorite really broke down the "fourth wall" between the designers and their fans this season — in particular because it was done via Twitter and you and Anthony Ryan were so active in promoting it.
A: It's true. People really develop relationships with us. We're in people's homes once a week, and this is a big part of the whole experience. I'm glad Lifetime brought Fan Favorite back!
Tropical Beverages, a Vacation and THAT Collection ASAP, Please
1. I can’t believe “Project Runway’s” ninth season went by so quickly, so it seams. (Last chance for a sewing pun!)
2. I can’t believe next year will be Season 10! (Ten!)
3. I can’t believe how lucky these final four were to get a big, fat redo from Tim Gunn.
Never in “Project Runway’s” history have the designers been able to so directly act upon the feedback they’ve received by the judges in a way that played to their advantage. Not only did they get to take the judges' temperature of their finale work, they were given the ability to act upon it.
Throughout this competition one thing has been clear: Anya is a great listener and her inner fashion MacGyver comes out at the eleventh hour to create something great. Sure, it may not be that pretty up close — her specialty was never being a technician — but she is extremely good at bringing out a clutch move when it counts the most. And how much more could it count than this very moment?
Getting straight to the collections, here were some of my favorite pieces from all four designers:
The looks featuring Viktor's fabulous patterns appealed to me the most in his collection. His see-through moments kind of turned me off, mostly because I can’t see myself wearing them. Only women starring in George Michael music videos circa 1990 can pull off that look. Blazer with the mirrored top and the purple pants? Out of control, home run amazing for all three pieces.
Kimberly surprised me with the cream top and pants combo because it felt like the Brooklyn urban girl she was designing for pulled a Clark Kent and took off to the 52nd floor of her high rise office building to have her three executive assistants interoffice a memo to all employees reading: "THIS LOOK IS EVERYTHING." It was just not the same girl. Fabulous, but not the same. She brought it back to keeping it real with the pink dress with the silver jacket, which, after seeing the crits by the judges, I wish she asked the model to remove at the end of the runway to reveal the rest, which was spectacular ... and needed by your truly in several colors ASAP.
Joshua impressed me with his more mature moments — the neoprene and plastic pieces — and I was less responsive to the newer additions to his collection, namely those green biker shorts. If a 6’12” amazon model can’t pull them off, there’s no hope for us 5’4” sisters. Just saying.
I vividly recall watching Anya’s collection come down the runway (in person, no less), and just desperately wanting to be that girl. Disclaimer: I am the palest girl on the planet who cannot even so much think of a tropical location without erupting into prickly heat, but all I wanted to do was go on vacation, sip a tropical beverage and wear those clothes while doing it. Her clothes took me to another place for a moment. Some of my fellow bloggers (namely Nick Verreos and Laura Bennett) think that the collection was too reminiscent of Uli Hertzner's from Season 3, but it never really crossed my mind until after I read the comparison.
Yes, Uli was all about the beachy vibe too, but their respective choices in fabrics and execution is stark in comparison. Uli was, and is, a technician. You could probably conduct a class on how perfectly her work was constructed. Anya’s not at that level yet, but if this is what that woman can pull off with little training, imagine the possibilities of what she can do as she grows as a designer.
Don't Miss the Season 9 Finale, Thursday at 9/8c, Plus Much More!
There's a whole lot of "Runway" coming your way, folks! Here's a quick schedule for you to keep track of everything coming at you at a glance:
WEDNESDAY AT MIDNIGHT PT
Voting for Season 9 Fan Favorite designer ends Wednesday at midnight pt, so get those last supporting tweets in. The winner will be announced during Thursday's finale at 9/8c. The winner receives bragging rights, plus a $10,000 prize.
THURSDAY AT 9/8C
The moment you've all been waiting for: Fashion Week! The final four present their New York Fashion Week collections at Lincoln Center and designer L'Wren Scott helps Michael, Nina and Heidi crown a new winner.
Tweet along with @projectrunway and @ninagarcia, beginning at 9 et/8c, and use #projectrunway in your tweets to follow the conversation!
THURSDAY AT 10:30/9:30C
The devil is in the details! The series premiere of "Project Accessory," hosted by Molly Sims, premieres Thursday at 10:30/9:30c, immediately after the "Runway" finale. See 12 fashion accessory designers create jewelry, handbags, hats and even cobble some shoes for an impressive panel of judges, including Kenneth Cole, Ariel Foxman and mentor Eva Lorenzotti. Episode 1's guest judge, Debra Messing, is just one of many you won't want to miss.
Tweet along with @projectrunway @lifetimetv and @kennethcole, beginning at 10:30 et/9:30c, and use #projectaccessory in your tweets to follow the conversation!
THURSDAY AT 11:30/10:30C
"After the Runway," hosted by Marie Claire's Zanna Roberts Rassi, is back one last time to discuss the results of the season finale, and much more. Plus, you never know who may swing on by!
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 AT 9/8C
Tim Gunn hosts the aptly named "Tim Gunn: Behind the Seams of Season 9" where he will reveal some of the show's biggest secrets and give viewers his unedited thoughts. What's not to love?
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 AT 10/9C
Catch the second challenge of "Project Accessory" at its regular time, 10/9c.
I Actually Agree With Joshua This Time
Home visits. The time when Tim Gunn can play detective and do some spying on our behalf to see how the finalists are doing with their collections. Gone are the days when Season 1 winner Jay McCarroll had a leisurely four months to stroll around his native Pennsylvania and ponder the meaning of life before starting his collection. This crew has a matter of weeks to figure out sketches, fabrics, styling, hair, makeup … well, you get it.
First up, Brooklyn … er, Maryland! (Or maybe she meant Brookland?) Kimberly is hard at work on some looks that I'm not completely sold on, but you can see she knows exactly who her girl is (as usual) and where she's going directionally. I'm distracted by the minty beverages her family is sharing with Tim at the dinner table, but glad to see she seems confident and hungry for Fashion Week.
Tim goes on his first international home visit to Anya's hometown via boat, yet lets me down by not wearing mandals with his suit like he did in Season 6 out in L.A. Speaking of being let down, Anya has either completely dropped the ball or really loves to procrastinate when she shows Tim a whole lot of nothing. No sketches, no garments. Just a bunch of fabric bolts and some muslin. Basically, she showed him Island Mood.
If you've ever seen Tim Gunn concerned or worried, which happens often on "Runway," I don't think we've ever seen him this concerned. At least in a scenario like Seth Aaron in Season 7, Tim was worried by 30-something garments that existed. Tim is worried by figments and hopes and dreams of what will walk down a runway in New York's Lincoln Center. This is DEFCON 1-level "This concerns me" territory.
Back on the mainland, Tim swings by Viktor's workspace to see quite the opposite: a lot of progress. Not only does Viktor have his most of his collection completed, he created his own fabrics from photographs he took with a deeply personal story behind them. And we see the beginnings of what looks like an amazing white leather jacket. (And we know how I feel about Viktor jackets!)
Final stop, is Joshua's home base in Queens. We learn that Josh was not kidding about his track star past in the New Balance challenge when we are blessed by several slow-motion stills of a longer-haired version of himself leaping in the air with wild abandon. Tim is back to his worrying ways when he looks as though he wants to light one of Joshua's fabric choices aflame to protect the masses. As more and more garments in the collection start failing the litmus test, Joshua realizes that he has some big changes to make in a hurry and needs to play to his strengths. Oh, and edit!
As the designers finally arrive to a swank penthouse as they settle in for Fashion Week, Tim announces that the designers must narrow down their collections to three looks that will convince the judges to send three (yes, three) designers through. (We knew there must have been a catch somewhere!)
Viktor, Anya, Joshua and Kimberly are eyeing each other's pieces around the room and one thing is clear: Anya is in trouble. Whatever "trouble" is expressed as a number, times 68, times infinity, TROUBLE. Her details are unfinished and the garments look as though they were a Summer Reading assignment done at 1:30am the night before the first day of school. Meanwhile, Viktor is playfully stroking the luxe pearls sewn onto his this-looks-like-you-need-a-black-AMEX-card-for-that leather jacket. The man is on his game, and on it big time.
Kimberly is trying to sort out which looks she should showcase for her mini-collection for the judges, and Joshua is smartly deciding to hold back his neon moments for a later time. Here goes nothing!
Anya is trying to put on a brave face as her fellow designers are clearly showing her up in the execution department as the clothes come down the runway. Heidi has been pulled into the tractor beam of Viktor's white leather jacket and may have to hope that he really does accept the the titanium black AMEX in her wallet because she doesn't want to give it back. Nina, however, remains laser-focused and questions the leather ode-to-zippers hula skirt on his other model. Michael is once again giving Viktor a hard time for his accessory choices (a pair of sunglasses? Really, MK?), but it's clear that Viktor is going through to the finale.
Joshua has smartly shown his more subdued moments from his collection and demonstrated that he has an eye for tailoring that he wasn't credited for enough during the challenges and is also put through.
Kimberly's big-butt bubble skirt and styling choices has put her into the danger zone, but it's clear that Anya's lack of sewing skills is screaming so loudly next to her, our final three are apparent. Or are they?
Surprise! All four go through!
Yes, yes. I know.
And for once, I actually agree with something Joshua said.
Comments
When "Good" Is Enough
I’m the type of person who rises to the occasion when the finish line is in sight: finish strong or go home. With Fashion Week one challenge (and three looks) away, the designers FINALLY have the payoff for little sleep, close quarters and crazy challenges on the horizon, so why do I feel like everyone phoned this challenge in with just good work and not great work?
Anya, Laura Kathleen, Kimberly, Joshua and Viktor create three looks inspired by Governors Island, varying from sculpture to architecture, with the help of some blasts from the past: auf’d designers.
Becky would be my choice, based on her sewing skills alone, no matter how well I worked with someone in the gigbillionty team challenges of the past. The key to this challenge, and really the door to Fashion Week, was finding the best sewer/seamstress/patternmaker to help execute three cohesive looks to show the judges “I belong here.”
Kimberly’s three looks had something going for them in a big way: They were her point of view. You know a Kimberly look when you see it, and that has never been a question this whole season. She knows herself and she knows the woman she’s dressing. Whether or not that woman would be wearing all three of these looks, I don’t know, but it was enough to get her through. I was surprised she struggled so much with the jacket, considering she chose Becky to assist her.
Anya’s sculpture-inspired looks actually looked better on TV than in photo form. Being able to see them in motion on a body was the most appealing thing about them. They’re not flashy clothing; they’re thinking clothing. A smart woman who wants to look effortless, yet put some serious thought into her wardrobe, wears those clothes. As Michael mentioned, it’s good to see her varying from her vacation/resortwear and into another direction by this point. However, the velvet ropes to Fashion Week were lifted here in part thanks to Bert’s construction skills. He mitigated the snafus that plagued her in the previous challenge by helping her execute the looks she was envisioning. And, truly, their aesthetics are not dissimilar. They both love clean, simple silhouettes that have a big impact. But, Anya can out-style him any day, which is why she is as strong a competitor as she is.
Viktor made three totally fine looks, and as the judges mentioned, they would be on every shopper’s receipt if sold to the masses. But was this the “wow” moment we all know he’s capable of? No. He has proven to be so consistent this season and obviously knows his way around a sewing machine. We were missing the magic from the recipe, and that’s what he’s so good at. I hope to see that come back in his final collection — and some of those leather jackets and tailored moments he’s known for ... if only for my own selfish, closet-filling reasons.
Joshua’s white cocktail dress was the only look I appreciated from his mini-collection. And, really, when the finish line is that close, why send a look you’re admittedly not happy with down the runway? That “Peggy Sue Got Married” baton twirling dress had no business walking down the runway with the white cocktail stunner. Those two ladies would never sit at the same lunch table. His third look was way too Statue of Liberty for me, and the fabric choice was all wrong. But Joshua will ultimately get through because the man knows how to put on a show.
Laura Kathleen’s three looks had the opposite effect of Anya’s for me — they looked better in photos. Maybe I was sucked in by all of the mesmerizing circles, but it certainly made a loud statement. I think if she had more time to play out how she would create these pieces, we’d have a different final four.
Piperlime Goes Behind the Scenes for Episode 12
Did you love Episode 12? Piperlime has behind-the-scenes exclusive video with the designers who made it through to Fashion Week. Check it out here: http://www.piperlimeblog.com
Enter the Rule the Runway Sweepstakes
Check out the finalists from our On the Runway Sketching Challenge that were chosen by "Project Runway" past designer Mondo Guerra, and vote on your favorite to win cool tech prizes from HP and Intel! Don't forget to read Mondo's reviews of each design for an extra sweepstakes entry. Enter now!
!["How I Met Your Mother"](http://mylt.ltcdn.com/d6/sites/mylifetime.com/files/images/imagecache/carousel_159x119/2011/01/12/HIMYM-159x119.jpg ""How I Met Your Mother"")
