PR 16 Ep 12: Cat-walking In A Winter Wonderland

As we begin the episode we are once again reminded, by Kenya, that Kenya has not yet had a win and so this is her night. It’s clearly become a mantra, but will it work.

The designtestants meet Tim and Heidi on the SnowWay, where Heidi reveals that this week, the challenge to determine who goes to New York Fashion Week, will be one cold affair. The designtestants will have two days and four hundred dollars to create a high-fashion winter look. And to get into the Mood—well, not that Mood, yet—Tim tells them he’s taking them someplace cold ... Kenya thinks Iceland, which may be a clue as to why she hasn’t won a challenge yet ... and off they go to Minus5 Ice Bar. They slip into [faux?] furs and gloves and hats and then sit in ice chairs and sketch; poor Puerto Rican Margarita laments the fact that cold, to her, is 80 degrees.

Then it’s off to Mood and down to business so let’s rip ...

MARGARITA

At Mood, Margarita wants to go full-on fur, but most are out of her price range until she stumbles into the Bugs Bunny Section and finds some wascally wabbit pelts to buy; she’s happy, until ... as her skins are being rung up, Tim tells her the PR is a cruelty-free show—the exception being Nina’s critiques, clearly ... I kill me ... Nina’s critiques—and that she can’t use fur. Huh; uh, Tim? Shouldn’t that have been a stipulation from the jump, especially since we’re doing “winter” wear?

And Tim, because he’s Tim Gunn, feels bad for Margarita and asks the others if they’re okay with her getting an extra five minutes to replace her fur, and since this final group is Nicely Nice, they agree and so Margarita ditches the rabbit for some Yeti-looking bathmat kinda thing.

In the workroom, she’s still flummoxed by FurGate and when Tim sees her design, a lime green dress with fur sleeves—and I instantly think hair forearms—he worries it’s nothing; he then suggests that maybe, since her coat is such a classic look, she give a Wow moment by creating a fur dress ... and Margarita starts over as I let that idea sink in ....

She.Will.Put.Fierce.Liris.In.A.Fur.Dress. And she’ll line it in fuchsia ... oh dear.

WHAT SHE SAID

Liris looks so elegant ... she rocked it.

WHAT I SAID

I was right ... Yeti bathmat, or something from Betty Rubble’s season on Project Runway. But Liris did rock that coat!

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Heidi is wondering about the red bits on the back of the dress ... that fuchsia lining ... and then says an all fur dress could have been wrong but she loves it; and she loves the coat.

Guest judge, actress and Tom Cruise survivor, Katie Holmes loved the way the fur framed Liris’ face, but thought the back of the dress was unfinished, and like a first draft; like Heidi, though, she loved the coat.

Zac Posen called the jacket a classic but worried that a fur dress wasn’t for everyone and said he still didn’t get Margarita’s POV.

Nina Garcia agreed that the coat was timeless and chic, and she loved the surprise of the fur dress and said this look made her think of Margarita in a new light.

KENTARO

I like Kentaro, though I think he’s being influenced in his designs by Brandon, but he also seems to get in his own way and tries to design what the judges want, and not give them his POV. At Minus5 he shivers and quivers and decides to create a Winter New York City Safari look and I have no idea how all of that will work, especially when he heads to the Pale Fabrics Department at Mood.

But he creates an origami coat, that he calls whipped cream—as he says, “Oh, I have good taste.”—in a pale cream fabric. When Tim comes by, Kentaro is debating between an egg yolk yellow turtleneck that will peek through the collar, or a pale lavender turtleneck. Tim thinks e should go with the neutral palette, a monotone look because it will look rich and elegant.

Kentaro, who usually hears Tim and does his own thing, agrees ... this time.

WHAT HE SAID

It looks really, really good ... so organic.

WHAT I SAID

I love the coat, but the backwards mullet shorts—long in front and short in the back—are throwing me.

 WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina Garcia calls it modern and sculptural; she loved the simplicity of the color and especially loved the back of the coat.

Heidi called it “heaven from head to toe” and loved the fabric, the color and ... the shorts.

Zac Posen called it the chicest snow-woman ever and loved the minimalistic couture, sophisticated but youthful qualities of the look.

Katie Holmes thought each piece was special and said they could be used separately to create a rope ladder in case a woman and her daughter ever wanted to escape from her cult member husband. Well, maybe that part was cut from the final broadcast.

KENYA

Again, Kenya gets trapped thinking only about getting to The Tents; how will she get there; what model will get her there; what fabrics scream tent? Clearly a brown tweed-esque herringbone textile is the answer for her idea of an elaborate coat over pants and a boldly printed top. That print scared me because it looked cheap motel sofa to me and not at all rich and luxurious, but ...

She did work out an elaborate coat, but then opted for a black-and-white polka dot top, and some cool pleated trousers. As Tim sees all her ideas and choices and options, he cautions her not to overthink the ideas and give the judges something that will “take the prize.”

And she’s come full circle and thinking only about The Tents.

WHAT SHE SAID

I’m feeling accomplished.

WHAT I SAID

I just can’t see that fabric as high-fashion—though the design is cool—and the outfit underneath seems to be too different.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Zac likes the textile of the coat and says it has “attitude”—though he also says it wasn’t quite high fashion. He loved the tailoring, hated the styling, but said the blouse to the tweed to the pants didn’t all work together.

Heidi agreed, saying they were all nice separates but didn’t work as a whole. She also didn’t care for the high-waisted pants that gave the model a small torso, though Zac said the high-waist gave the model legs for days.

Katie Holmes loved the coat and the pleating to the pants.

Nina agreed about the whole look working as one; she called the coat “very downtown” and the pants and blouse more “uptown”.

BRANDON

Brandon grew up in Park City, Utah—that picture of him as a young cutie was everything—and so he knows from cold. He’ll take his POV and make a waxed denim—almost a canvas material—coat, over his urban street style in all white; and he’ll line the coat with a faux lambskin.

Tim, who worried that Brandon might not push himself, sees the coat and says he didn’t need to worry; Brandon was going next level.

That’s all; Brandon gets an idea, and then executes it. There’s not a lot of second guessing and starting over for him, which is a good thing.

WHAT HE SAID

It’s my dream girl.

WHAT I SAID

It’s, again, totally Brandon; very urban, very modern; very cool.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Zac Posen said it was a nice winter version of Brandon’s POV; he loved the layering and dimension, and called it both street and luxurious.

Nina also loved the layering and the proportion and texture, but didn’t think it needed the addition of the handbag.

Heidi says the look is “impactful” and loved the way it moved and all the Brandon details in it.

Katie Holmes called it modern and sexy and chic, and loved the color.

AYANA

Ayana has been coming on strong these last few weeks because she’s been taking risks and giving the judges some very cool designs and ideas; and so she’ll keep up that plan with a pea coat of neon pink and black. The pink slashing across the front of the look.

She also thinks about doing some sort of white painting technique to the coat and, luckily, Tim shoots that idea down, calling it a kindergarten art project. He does suggests he think about using black paint to tone down the paint and Ayana does a Pollack-esque splatter technique that she and Tim both like. Still, Tim is concerned about the trickery of the zip off bottom of the coat, but Ayana likes the idea.

She also likes the idea of a hat, makes a hat, hates the hat, then puts another hat on the model.

WHAT SHE SAID

It is really high fashion and fully modest.

WHAT I SAID

I thought the coat was too long; shorter might have been more modern and pea coat-ish. As for the outfit underneath, when I saw it I thought, Sam I Am; it was very Seussical.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina loved the coat and the colors, and the painted technique.

Heidi agreed about the coat but called the look underneath a childish costume.

Zac Posen called it over-styled and “theme-y” but liked the coat, calling it fresh.

Katie Holmes liked the two-in-one coat ... the better to slink away at night and disguise yourself from your soon-to-be ex and his hounds ... and said it was pleasing to the eye.

Heidi asks the designers who they would pick to go with them to Fashion Week ...

Kentaro wants to go with his brother Brandon and Ayana, while Brandon wants with his brother Kentaro and Ayana; Kenya wants Ayana and Brandon, and Margarita wants Brandon and Kentaro with her. Lastly, Ayana chooses Kenya and Brandon.

Clearly, we know that Brandon is in, and Kentaro and Ayana; we’re down to Margarita and Kenya ... and Margarita is in.

And so is Kenya ... until Heidi tells them that they will have $10,000 to design a ten-piece collection, but only three of them will make it to the final show.

The cruelty-free business was kind of odd, because every single season, including this one, some designer or other has used leather and, I might be wrong, but isn’t leather animal skin, like fur? Just sayin’.

Line of the Night goes to Tim Gunn, looking at Margarita’s lime-green first attempt dress:

“It’s Tippi Hedren in The Birds.”

And that cannot be a good thing.

I am obviously thrilled that Brandon is going; I know a lot of you don’t like his clothes and I can’t see myself wearing anything of his, in menswear I mean, but I love his fresh take and his designs. I like Kentaro but, especially last night, I thought his look could have been Brandon’s look. Ayana’s look was not a favorite for me at all, but I think she deserves a shot because she goes all the way, balls to the wall, modestly.

Kenya is good, not great; Margarita is all over the place.

And angry; as she stewed in the stew room about how not one of the others chose her to go to Fashion Week. Well, Margarita, it’s because there‘s no sense of a design point-of-view from you; you made some nice things, but each week was a different idea done a different way. Ayana has modesty; Kenya has the expert tailoring and pleating; Kentaro ahs the origami styling; Brandon has the urban streetwear ideas. Margarita doesn’t ... sorry.

What did YOU think?