‘Project Runway’ Recap: You Gotta Have Heart

This week’s challenge, Heidi told the designers they would be meeting a very inspirational group of women. When we see Tim, he introduces Lisa, a woman from the Campbell’s Soup Company. The designers are to design an outfit using cans! Inspiring!


Whhhat? Okay. That’s not true. This challenge, the designers must make a gala, mostly red, dress in one day, for the American Heart Association Red Dress Awards. What I didn’t like was that the Campbell’s brand logo was strongly suggested in the design of the dress. Sorry Project Runway, but when did the models become billboards?


The designer picked with the winning garment will get to go to the award show and have their dress sold on Bluefly in limited production to benefit heart disease. The inspiring women are real women who live with some sort of heart problem every day. Each designer is paired with a woman. One woman’s heart can stop when she is dehydrated, or tired. Another, very young woman, has a pacemaker. Jay’s model makes him cry because she died for two minutes. Anthony is crying with his model, not only for the model's story but his mother recently survived heart surgery.


Now the designers’ troubles. Biggest problem Seth, Janeane, Jesse, Mila, and Aaron have are the size of their models. Janeane is wondering how to make a dress for a woman not 34-25-34. Seth and Aaron are commenting on the large challenge they're facing. Jesse tells Tim during advice hour his model has a “real full figure” and Mila tells Tim her model is a “tough fit.” Jesus is happy his model is “tiny.” Jesus, you’re no better than them.


Tim tells the designers he is really happy to have “real women.” Listen up designers! Real women come in all shapes and sizes. Get use to it or go home!


Tim visits. Amy is going to expose her model’s scar as a badge of courage. Maya wants to do a purse with the Campbell’s logo and Tim thinks Jesse has nothing without the jacket he is designing. Seth is doing a Grecian gown but Tim is not “advancing applause.” It is not Seth’s normal style. Seth, not being true to himself or too afraid to do something different, starts over with two hours left. Emilio has the best comment of the show. He called Mila’s red dress with two white stars “a cheap flag at a Thanksgiving Day parade.”


On the runway, we have judges Heidi, Nina, Michael and Georgiana Chaplan, co-founder of the Marchesa design line.

The top three are Maya, Mila, and Amy. Maya’s red dress has a nice draping that bunches up on the size. A half heart in gold starts at the top and meets on the side. Georgiana finds it flattering. Michael is surprised and really thinks Maya did a great job. The judges find this dress interesting and it is enough to pass Maya on to the next challenge.

Mila’s red dress is fitting. It has a small white star on the hip, a large white star on the side of the leg and the Campbell’s logo around the neckline as trim. G says the dress makes her smile. It is fun and classic. Nina loves the way the branding is used and thinks the stars are brilliant. Heidi is in love with the neckline. Mila doesn’t win two in a row but she is in.

Amy pulls away as the winner. Her red dress had a great flow to it. It was strapless and had a nice ruffle on the top. It was an empire waist with the Campbell’s branding ruffled in at the seam. Nina thought the dress was beautiful and loved the movement. Michael thinks Amy has taste. The dress was elegant and modern. G saw the confidence in the model.

The bottom three is Jesus, Jesse, and Anna. Jesus’s red dress has diamond beads as the straps. It is a mini dress with the Campbell’s logo as racing stripes down the sides. Jesus should have known it was bad when Michael started his judging with, “Where do I start?” Michael then followed that statement up with, “Everything that looks tacky is on this dress.” Heidi even says she is “not sure about your taste.” Ouch!

Jesse’s red dress is a pleated dress first covered by a white jacket. When the jacket is off, the off-the-shoulders straps do nothing but make the model look bigger. There is a white ribbon on the waist. Heidi thinks the look is sweet but doesn’t stand out. She likes that the boobs look good. G thinks the white on the waist is a problem. Michael thinks there should be less shine and the shoulder on the jacket was done poorly.

When Anna’s model started at the back of the runway, you could see there was something wrong. The neck was plunging in beige. It looked like a figure skating top. The back was a racer back and the bottom of the dress was layers of sheer fabric. The back looks like a little too much was cut off. We almost had another Ping. Nina liked the bottom (probably distracted by the top) but not the racer back. Michael says it makes the model look broad. G doesn’t consider it a gown.


It comes down to Anna and Jesus. Anna made some misjudgments and her dress was unflattering, but Jesus was trying to be too many things at once. This was Jesus’s third and last time at the bottom. Jesus is voted out. And he was shocked.