Jennifer is eliminated on Project Runway
When I saw the commercial for this week’s episode of Project Runway I was thrilled. I love Apolo Anton Ohno and I couldn’t wait to find out what the designers would be making for him. Would it be a new speedskating outfit, or perhaps a warm up suit for him as he prepares for the 2010 Olympic games?
I was wrong. What the challenge was for the designers this week was to create the look of the women of the US Olympic Team for this summer’s opening ceremonies as you would like to see it. As Tim Gunn said it was a design that would be “how you would present the image of the United States to the rest of the world.” Now I think this would truly have been interesting if the designs would be utilized in the actual opening ceremonies (Ralph Lauren has designed them for this Olympics). No, instead I think it was NBC Universal trying to cross promote the 2008 Olympic games on any and all channels they own. The designers had ½ hour to browse through the museum at the Armory Track and Field Club to take a look at previous outfits worn and to sketch their designs.
Some of the designers really got into this challenge and embraced it. These were the ones that perhaps were athletic as children or watched the Olympics or just were able to understand what would be the ideal outfit and create it for this challenge. Others were just almost, for lack of a better phrase, passive aggressive. Sort of like saying to themselves “I know this challenge is about sportswear and athletics but that’s not what I do as a designer so I’ll make whatever the heck I want” and that’s how they approached it.
The judges (and me as well) liked the outfits created by Terri, Joe and Korto. Terri created this outfit that was composed of many pieces – slacks, blazer, vest and top – and the judges loved the versatility. They said it had a Lauren Hutton vibe and overall it was simple and stylish. Joe had this very athletic skort and top with “USA” on the skort. Nina Garcia said she liked it because he was the only one to do something literal. Apolo Ohno (also the guest judge) said that it would show off the athletic physiques of the female athletes. Korto created this very cool outfit with wide legged trousers and a sleeveless top. The judges thought she nailed it, that it was sophisticated but athletic and that the American women wearing it would be very proud of what they had on. Korto was named the winner of the challenge.
The bottom three in this challenge were Jerell, Jennifer and Daniel. Michael Kors said it was like they heard the challenge in another language. The judges thought that Jennifer’s outfit was not modern, that it was bland yet prim. They thought she had a hard time separating her personal taste as a designer from what would work best in the challenge. Jerell’s outfit was unique but had no athletic vibe. The judges thought it was more like a costume or something you would see on a movie set. Daniel’s outfit (according to Kors) was made for an athlete “from the republic of cocktail land)” and that “if her sport is drinking than this is a good dress.” He created a cocktail dress that had no relevance to the challenge.
In the end the judges sent home Jennifer. They thought her outfit was stuck in the past. How Daniel could have survived with his cocktail dress is beyond me. At least Jennifer’s outfit was kind of sportswear like but Daniel’s…….maybe the judges thought old, prim and proper was a worse sin than having no relevance to the challenge.
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