'Project Runway' recap: Starving Artist

This week’s challenge was yet another team challenge. Let the groans begin.

Heidi Klum struts down the runway in a fabulous shimmer dress (I definitely watch Project Runway just to see what Heidi wears) and announces to the designers that for this challenge, they need excellent negotiating skills. Naturally all the designers claim to be good at bargaining, but the streets of New York will determine who has the most tenacity.

Back in the workroom, the designers greet Tim who is surrounded by arts and crafts (I literally cannot contain my excitement). He informs the designers that they will receive no money for fabric. Instead, they must make T-shirts out of the supplies and sell them on the streets of New York in order to raise money. Furthermore, the designers will split into teams of three. A scowl immediately forms on Elena’s face that doesn’t disappear until the end of the episode.

Like the Sorting Hat in Harry Potter , the button bag seems to have some magical power – except this bag’s power is to recognize enemies and force them to work together on the same team.

Sonjia is placed on a team with Chris and Gunnar. Gunnar’s eyes begin to roll, while Chris can’t even look at Gunnar. Alicia finds herself in the middle of the battle of Eastern Europe. Dimitry bemoans working with Elena, “What did I do in a past life to deserve this?” Chris cleverly names them, “Boris and and Natasha” from Rocky & Bullwinkle. Meanwhile, the last team is made up of challenge winners: Melissa, Ven, and Fabio.

Because these are the final nine designers on Project Runway, I expect the designers to create edgy shirts regardless of the supplies they are given. Instead, most of them look kitschy and cheap. Elena’s team begins sloppily spray painting the T-shirts. The atrocities wreaked upon the shirts are only exacerbated when Dimitry attempts to bedazzle them with a rhinestone fleur-di-lis.

On the streets, the designers are surprisingly successful (but when I think about it, if I were confronted with a shirt made by a designer on Project Runway, I would buy it simply in the hopes of owning something made by a potential winning designer). Melissa’s team returned with a whopping $800.48. Elena’s team came back with $500, while Sonjia’s team made a modest $684.

Back in the workroom, Tim finally reveals the challenge. Working in teams of three, each team must create two cohesive looks for fall. At Mood, Chris’s teams struggles with fabric choice. With 15 minutes left, they have no fabric cut so Gunnar scrambles to buy zippers and thread. Ven’s team confused me. Because they had the most money, I expected luxurious fabrics in rich, deep colors for fall. Instead, they chose white, some sort of pastel purple more suited for Easter, and a sad looking mole hair fabric. I am skeptical that they can make it work. The designers and Tim wave goodbye to Swatch, Mood’s faithful Boston terrier, and set off for Parson’s.

The bickering between Elena and Dimitry begins the instant they arrive back in the workroom. They want their aesthetic to be clean and modern, which I think that Dimitry achieves with an sleek black dress. But Elena is up in arms about the exposed darts. Alicia, unfortunately, just goes unnoticed for most of the challenge, despite her assertions that she needs to “make something dope.”

Ven creates yet another layered constructed skirt, which worries the other designers. He scraps the first skirt and halfheartedly creates a bland A-line skirt that looks more appropriate for a librarian in the 40s. Fabio begins a mole hair jacket, which Elena (as the expert in coat tailoring) critiques for not being structured enough. The only promising piece is Melissa’s white leather jacket, which manages to look sweet and edgy at the same time.

I am most excited about Chris, Sonjia, and Gunnar. They are the only ones who seemed to have embraced the spirit of fall in their collection. Sonjia begins working on a hunter green jacket that initially looks somewhat Robin Hood-esque, but she ultimately nails it. Gunnar’s dresses are impeccable. I’m dying over the dress under Chris’s camel colored jacket. Gunnar seamlessly molded jersey and leather together in such a flattering silhouette that I would be surprised if he didn’t win this week.

This week’s guest judge is fashion designer Anna Sui. Sonjia, Chris, and Gunnar are named this week’s winning team. The fact that they worked so well together is definitely reflected in their clothes. Heidi says that Sonjia’s jacket is her favorite piece and uses the word “exquisite.”

The squabbling begins as soon as Heidi addresses Dimitry, Elena, and Alicia. Elena remarks how “unfair” it was of Dimitry to have an entire model to himself, while she and Alicia split their work on the other model. If Elena is such a good tailor, Michael reasons, then it shouldn’t have mattered how the work was divided. Elena complains that Dimitry always makes a dress, but Michael reminds her that she always creates an oversized coat. Alicia, who has gone basically unnoticed, created an ill-fitting top and pants which just end up looking sad. Michael says he’s falling asleep just looking at her look.

The judges are less harsh on the remaining team, but I think that their two looks were the most disastrous. The judges didn’t even critique Ven for his unfortunate skirt, but rather they focused their attention on Fabio’s awkwardly tailored coat and the pastel tops that were too sheer and looked cheap. Melissa’s white leather jacket is the only piece that the judges like.

Sonjia ends up winning this week with her green jacket. Unfortunately, there is no immunity from this point on in the competition.

Alicia is the Auf’d designer this week. Although she feels like she has “more to give,” we won’t be seeing any more of it on Project Runway.