Project Runway After Party, Season 4

Episode 11: The Art of Fashion

Hello, dear Reader. I'm back. Sorry for not doing a recap of the last episode. I was out of town and was too caught up in Pinkberry that I got back to where I was staying just in time to know that Ricky got The Auf. Boo hoo. Not.

So we're down to five designers. Behold, dear Reader, the designers who will be showing their collections at Bryant Park, two of which are, of course, the traditional Project Runway decoys:



This week's challenge, to find inspiration in timeless works of art was, as one designer put it, "a designer's dream." It's art creating art. Does that make it ... meta? Postmodern? Hmmm ...

Anyway, in the spirit of Bravo's final twist (more on that later), I'm not going to go into the play-by-play for this episode; I've found it a bit tedious, and many recappers do a much better job of it than I do. Instead, let's go right into a discussion of the final runway pieces, shall we?

Behold, the winner of this week's challenge: Christian and his androgeny-inspired look from a Spanish painting blew my mind. See for yourself:



Say what you will about Christian, but even with all of his snark, all of this bitchiness, and all of his swagger, he puts his braggadocio money where his mouth is and consistently offers up a strong point of view week after week. I will admit, I was getting tired of his vertically ruffled, skinny-arm jackets, but he managed to tweak it just enough for this final challenge. He created a piece of art, of theater and, most importantly, of fashion. His fearlessness earned him the win, and he rightly deserved it.

The other fan favorite, Rami --- a beautiful male specimen indeed --- has become a bit of a one note, I'm afraid. His dresses, while gorgeous in all of their resplendent red-carpet-Grecian-goddess drapery, in the end were more uninspiring than anything else. And for this final challenge, one would think that he'd want to bring forth onto the runway something a little more memorable. But, like Michael Kors said, he played it a little too safe. While yes, it's true that the designers found out about this challenge in a room filled with Hellenistic sculpture, I don't think Rami should have taken it as as a mandate to create the same garment he's been making the entire season.

I don't really have much to say about Chris and Jillian's garments. Chris', while beautiful in and of itself, was too similar to the couture challenge. And I really didn't see why the judges (including Guest Judge Roberto Cavalli) found Jillian's jacket to be stunning. I hated it.

Sweet P (along with Christian) became my favorite because of her sweet demeanor (hence the moniker, I assume) and her ability to come through with a great garment each week. It was sad to see her get The Auf this week, but I understand why; her garment failed to make the connection between the peacock painting and her vision. I would have at least liked to have seen the same purple, green and gold colors in the garment (without looking like some Mardi Gras costume from hell) instead of that garish red and that ugly print. They had two days for this challenge; she should have done something much more ... peacock feathery. Like something along the lines of a peacock bata de cola or something. Anything but ... this:



Back to Rami and Chris. Both designers' designs were redundant, yet beautiful for what they were. So the good folks at Project Runway decide to up the drama ante and make Rami and Chris compete for the third coveted spot at Bryant Park. Both will come up with a collection and show the Project Runway judges three of their strongest looks. The winner of that mini-challenge will show their entire collection, along with Christian and Jillian at Bryant Park.

This little dramatic twist would have been more interesting, except for the fact that we all know that all five designers (Jillian, Christian, Chris, Rami, and Sweet P) show at Bryant Park anyway.

You gotta love the Internets.

My call for Project Runway Season 4 winner? Christian Siriano. Rami doesn't need the win. He already has his own business and has dressed the Jessica Albas of the world. Of course, I would have loved it if Sweet P won the entire competition because she really needs the money and because she's kind of an underdog. But looking at her entire collection juxtaposed against the other designers, she's just in a different league.

Next week: The reunion show!