Under The Gunn Ep 1: The First Cut Is The Deepest

Okay, in the interests of honesty, I wasn’t sure how much I’d like this show going in; I mean, basically, I watched it for Tim because I just adore Tim Gunn. However, I thought it would be PR Lite and so I was worried, and, to be fair, I’m still a little worried. But, I heard Tim on Jon Stewart’s show describing how this all came about and it went a little something like this:

After the last season of Project runway, Lifetime was readying another season, but Heidi told them she had other commitments and couldn’t do it. Well, Lifetime was ready to go all PR Klum-less on our asses until Tim Gun told them that he and Heidi pinky swore that if one of them couldn’t do the show, neither of them would do the show. So, Lifetime was faced with no PR or a Klum-less, Gunn-less PR and so they chose to go Under The Gunn.

Here’s the premise: There are 15 designtestants at the start. In the first two weeks they will design a look and have a runway show, during which the Mentors — PR alums Mondo, Anya and Nick — will decide who they want on their team; whom they want to mentor. And if more than one mentor picks a designer then the designtestant gets to choose their mentor. It’s like The Voice, without the turning chairs, the singing, and Christina's wigs.

Last night, saw the first eight designtestants go up, and next week the remaining seven will show. If a designtestant isn’t picked — and only twelve will be picked — they’re out, so by Ep 3, we’ll have three teams of four, though they will not be designing as teams. Got it? Yeah, it’s PR Lite with Mentors but we’ll see….. The challenge this week is to take a Mood bag, with six different fabrics, and create a look that represents yourself as a designer, and to do it in six hours so let’s rip ….

MICHELLE

Anya likes her during the Mentor visit because she thinks Michelle will make it work. I wonder about Anya because Michelle has really done nothing; in fact, at the model fitting all she has is a sleeve. It’s a look, yes, but is it going to get you a Mentor?

Cutest moment? Michelle in hair and makeup, describing in great detail how she wants the hair to look, until the makeup guy says, ‘Okay, I love you, but we’re Benefit makeup.’

WHAT SHE SAID I feel like I put myself out there and my look really represent me

WHAT I SAID It’s like an 80s version of space travel attire. Beam me up.

WHAT THEY SAID

Mondo thinks he should be her mentor because they seem to share the same working style and ethic. She has a conviction and technical ability but still shows a willingness to grow as a designer.

Anya also picked Michelle because she thinks she can pull more out of her as a mentor.

Nick also chose Michelle and says he should be her mentor because he was a teacher.

WHAT HAPPENED

Michelle went Mondo because she wants someone different.

SHAN

I dubbed him the Forest Whitaker of the group because that’s who he looks like to me. He came late to the design world, and is self-taught, and is very very fast. Plus, he liked to mix fabrics, which is a good sign that he won’t be a ‘one-trick monkey.’

He shows the Mentors a Plaid Bomber jacket with polka-dot sleeves—lines in plaid—and they all swoon; I didn’t get that, but Mondo loves the mix of fabrics, and Nick decides he likes Shan now, too. Shan, however, wants to be chosen by Mondo or Anya. After the jacket is done, he makes a sleek black cocktail dress to be worn underneath, and he finishes that in about a minute.

WHAT HE SAID I busted out a bomber jacket and a form-fitting cocktail dress in six hours!

WHAT I SAID I like the jacket and I like the dress, but I don’t like them together. The jacket seems childlike and the dress very adult.

WHAT THEY SAID

Anya picked Shan because he has mad skills, tenacity and is fast.

Nick also chose Shan because he’s self-taught and Shan could learn from Nick … who was a teacher. Nick also loves the jacket, he wants the jacket.

Mondo is unimpressed and hated that Shan added shoulder pads to the jacket and so he passes.

WHAT HAPPENED

Shan choose Anya.

BLAKE

He’s quite fond of himself, more so than I. He hated all the fabrics, save the basic black, because they’re cheap, or flannel, or plaid and he doesn’t do ‘lumberjack.” I instantly began hoping there would be a Paul Bunyan Challenge.

He tells the Mentors that the other fabrics look cheap and Nick informs him that there are ways to use them that don’t look cheap. Blake tunes him out and goes for a basic black cocktail dress. Anya says he has no imagination, that he’s too nervous and too safe.

WHAT HE SAID I feel great about my design. I know that it’s a strong contender, but I still have that little voice … in my head that says You should have used a second fabric.

WHAT I SAID I like the back detail, but it just seems kinda safe to me

WHAT THEY SAID

Nick picks Blake because Blake reminds Nick of himself, and because he loved the halter strap on Blake’s look.

Mondo wants Nick because he says Nick is a dreamer like himself.

Any doesn’t think he owned his look—it was elegant and expensive looking but safe—but thinks she can push Blake … into traffic?

WHAT HAPPENED

Nick picked Anya.

CAMILLA

She said no to the horseprint denim and headed straight for the black and the gold lamé. And when the Mentors visit, Mondo reminds her that she needs a Wow because there are three other black-and-gold numbers in the room; Camilla basically says, ‘So.’ I liked that. But Anya worried that Camilla, with her shredding technique, mind be a one-note.

WHAT SHE SAID I really think she looks really good. It’s edgy but at the same time classical.

WHAT I SAID It’s cool, but it does look like all the things in her portfolio.

WHAT THEY SAID

Mondo — though he hated the length, but loved her POV — picks Camilla because she’s thoughtful and he likes her spirit.

Anya doesn’t think they would work well together — or play well together — and she passes.

Nick wants her because her look is elegant punk.

WHAT HAPPENED

Camilla picks Mondo.

BRADY

First thought, dark hair, dark eyes. Just my type—insert picture of Carlos here. And I liked that he was open to all the fabrics given; in fact, he chose the horseprint, and the black and the denim and the polka dots.

The Mentors like what he’s doing, and like his style; he calls his girl a ‘tomboy in bitch heels’ and he wants Mondo and Mondo wants him. For designer and mentor, people, get your minds out of the gutter. I give him props for, at the last minute, branding his t-shirt with a BL logo; that was a smart move.

WHAT HE SAID My look … is exactly how I wanted it to look. The clothes look great. She looks hip and fun

WHAT I SAID I like the mix of fabrics and the logo. It’s cool and edgy, but is it fashion?

WHAT THEY SAID

Anya picks Brady because she likes his style.

Nick says he loved the styling—even though he wasn’t fond of the design—and he wants Brady.

Mondo—after saying all episode that he wanted Brady—passes.

WHAT HAPPENED

Brady picks Anya.

OSCAR

The gloves. The clingy shirt. The beefcake. He’s like a really sexy Casanova. I giggled when he declared the task to be “Run with scissor into the fabric.”

He tells the Mentors that his girl is fashion forward, chic, and elegant and glamorous. Nick thinks she’s Glam Cha Cha, and Mondo thinks the look needs a surprise. And so he makes a pair of gloves and the kind of gold lamé hat you’d see on a monkey who collects change while dancing a jig on a street corner.

WHAT HE SAID She looks fabulous, amazing I so happy with my look. I was afraid it was too theatrical.

WHAT I SAID It looks like a leftover costume from the airplane scene in MGM’s 30s musical Flying Down to Rio …. On Air Chimichanga.

WHAT THEY SAID

Nick calls it a shocker, but says he wants Oscar on his team because he’s a wild card, though his vision needs refinement.

Mondo thought Oscar was too safe — too safe? — and he passes.

Anya, who thought the look was over-styled, meaning gloves, hat, peplum, bowtie, black and gold … ack ... also passes.

WHAT HAPPENED

Oscar goes with Nick by default.

NATALIA

She went to Parson’s so she knows Tim; so that means …? And, as she waits on the lawn to hear the first challenge, she decides she wants Nick as a mentor. First things first, girl.

In the workroom, she instantly tosses out the prints because she doesn’t do prints. Uh oh. Amirite? And when the mentors come by she is flustered and sketchy and chattering like a fool, and really has nothing to show or say. This doesn’t like good. 

Nick thinks she needs a chill pill, and needs to remember the dress, while short, should be sexy not slutty — we don’t wanna see the fine china, eh, Peach? Natalia even asks the model for her opinion on the dress; she is the Hot Mess of the UTG because then she rethinks her look again and begins braiding the fabric, using a technique she’s never done on a dress before. I smell a catwalk-tastrophe.

WHAT SHE SAID All I can think is Please pull that dress down. I think I have the worst look on the runway.

WHAT I SAID All I can think is I concur with Natalia: it is the worst look.

WHAT THEY SAID

Mondo didn’t think they would be a good fit and so he passed … until Natalia had a crying jag on the runway and then Mondo caved and asked her to join his team.

Anya thought nothing worked about the look and she passes.

Nick sounds like he’s going to pass until Mondo picks Natalia, and then he says he wants her too.

WHAT HAPPENED

Natalia cries and begs and pleads and begs and cries and pleads and falls to her knees and … picks Nick because he’s a teacher.

MELISSA

She wants anyone to be her mentor. She wants dots; head-to-toe polka dots. A simple mini-skirt and a crop top ‘T’. Has she ever seen any of the TV design shows? Telling a mentor or judge you’re doing a ‘basic’ crop top is the equivalent of saying ‘Send me home now.’

WHAT SHE SAID I feel like my look represents me as a designer. Her hair and makeup are perfect. She looks fantastic.

WHAT I SAID It’s dotty and boring and I think Sears already sells it.

WHAT THEY SAID

Mondo just says No.

Anya thought it a cute look, but not groundbreaking, with no risk, and she passes.

Nick says the two of them would not be a good fit.

WHAT HAPPENED

With no one choosing her, Melissa is out.

MY TAKE

It was kind of messy, with a lot going on — Gunn and Mentors and challenges and runways and pleading — but I think once it settles down it could be good. I loves me some Mondo, and I likes me some Anya, but I kinda wish Nick would learn to use the edit button when he speaks. Not to edit what he says, but to edit the fact that he talks a lot.

Sam is adorable, but we’ll have to wait until next week to see if that adorability continues. But, and this is a rather large but, he doesn’t really want to be picked by Mondo because during Mondo’s season, Sam was, gulp, Team Gretchen. Sam? You just lost a bunch of Adorable Points™.

Isabelle is all wacky hats and accents; that could get old, but, again, we’ll see next week if she even makes it on the show.

Rey reminds me of a bald, Latino Ralph Fiennes, and since I have a thing for Latinos and Ralph Fiennes and some bald men are so hot, I’m going to go shallow here. But he needs to lose the shorts; not go short-less, mind you, but pick something else to wear.

Brady runs like he’s wearing stilettos, which would be fine if he was wearing stilettos.

Oscar with the fan. What is it with Latino male designers and their need for fans? Do they think they’re that hot?

What did YOU think?