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PROJECT RUNWAY: When Nature Calls

Last week, we said bye to the lovable, Suede. He was such a great sport! We will miss ya, person who talks in third person! He totally rocked the punk outfit Korto (last week’s winner) designed for the musical challenge. But this week was a whole new challenge full of drama and tears! Let’s take a look at what happened…

Heidi gathered the four remaining (and super nervous) designers, Jerell, Leanne, Korto and Kenley, and told them they’d be taking a “field trip” with Tim. The contestants had no idea where they were off to and were totally in for a beautiful surprise! (By the way, Heidi looked totally hot in her leopard print dress! I wants!)

Tim and the designers arrived at the New York Botanical Garden, where they were met by familiar face Collier Strong, consulting make up artist for L’Oreal Paris. As the designers look around, they saw beautiful colors, flowers and also smelled the oncoming challenge to determine the three who would make it to Fashion Week! AAHHH!

This week’s challenge was to design an evening gown, using nature as inspiration. The contestants had an hour to explore the garden and take photos. Everyone was super excited and pumped for this challenge, already thinking up designs and themes as they snapped shots…and ran away from bees! Haha, I love Leanne!

Back at Parson’s they had 30 minutes to choose one inspirational photograph and with a $250 budget, scrambled to grab their necessities at MOOD. Jerell chose a deep purple rose-type flower, Korto went with a bright orange and yellow flamenco, Leanne worked with a lavender blue flower while Kenley chose a fuschia-colored set of scaly leaves.

With two days for the challenge, the designers went straight to work. Midway, Kenley realized she had left her tulle at MOOD. I thought it was kinda mean for Korto and Jerell not to offer their tulle to her, but with an attitude like Kenley’s who’d wanna anyways? Tim let her go back to the store to pick it up and also let the team know that he was really proud of them. I teared up!

So this week was really crucial because only three out of four of the designers would be chosen to display their work at Fashion Week New York. Everyone was totally stressed and emotional (as was I. Hehe. Can you tell I’m really into it?). Leanne, Jerell and Korto all broke down in front of the camera as they talked about how much they have wanted to achieve this dream. Oh man, I almost shed a few tears myself! I could tell these designers have worked really hard and long to make it this far!

As for Kenley…wow! This girl really needs a reality check, SOON! She pretty much badmouthed the other three designers and their work. I mean, come on, it’s one thing to be rude to everyone, including the judges (who decide the winners, BTW!) but to put down the designers’ hard work is waaay low.

The Judging: Georgina Chapman, cofounder and designer for Marchesa, joined the usual set of judges last night. They were not very impressed with the outcomes of the designs and neither was I! They felt the tension and stress from everyone and tried to put that into consideration while judging.
Jerell surprisingly won the challenge with his dress that was personally nothing I would ever wear, unless I wanted my boobs to pop out! But I guess the judges dug the uniqueness of the design.

My fave, as always, was Leanne’s! I totally agree with the judges when they said that she designs clothes that scream her name! Love it.

Korto’s design was way too pageant-like, but I def loved the color!
Kenley’s dress was super questionable and the judges were totally in awe of how tasteless her dress was. But of course, no judging moves on without a rude retort from Kenley. Her dress was definitely not all that and like Nina said, “ It looks like a reptile…it looks creepy!” Kenley def got a public and totally embarrassing mini lesson from the judges. I mean, the judges are the reason she made it this far anyway, right?!
Heidi asked each contestant why they thought they should move forward in the show and this is when the tears and emotions came full force! They were also asked to choose two designers they would want to go to Fashion Week with. As expected, everyone chose each other minus Kenley. Yes, poor Kenley. But who would want to work with someone who has no respect for anybody but herself? Not to mention that her past few designs weren’t that hot either…

When the moment came to decide their fate, Heidi surprised us by choosing ALL FOUR. COME ON, HEIDI! I was totally on the edge of my seat, heart thumping and all, waiting to see Kenley go! Oops, did I just say that…

Anyways, in the end, Heidi allowed all four designers to prepare their collections, but explained that only three would be selected to compete.

After apologizing to the judges and designers through tears for her bad attitude, Kenley once again proved herself to be nothing but conniving! Tim and the designers had a group hug backstage while Kenley refused to take part. Seriously, come on, girl.

What do you guys think of Kenley’s attitude? Will it help her to win this competition or bring her down? More importantly, what three designers do you want to see compete at Fashion Week? We want to know! Post your answers and see what others have to say!

<3, Sharon 
10/2/2008 5:40:00 PM
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