PR 17 Ep 6: Video Killed The PR Star ... or, Nina Cracks the Whip!

It’s game day! Video game day. Well, female superhero badass woman in a video game day.

Karlie morphs from video game doll to living doll and brings with her three women involved in the video game industry: Robin Hunicke, who created the “MySims” franchise, Mitu Khandaker, a game developer, and Nina Freeman, who is on “Forbes” 2015 list of most influential game industry figures.

Karlie tells the designtestants that this week they will create a video game character and design her look; a look that is functional and fashionable. Afterward each gaming expert takes a few designtestants to talk about character creation; it’s all very computer code and, well, let’s move on to the fashion. Okur?

The designtestants have two days and $300 to spend at Mood, so this really is no game; let’s rip …

THE SAFES

clockwise

BISHME He created a Queen of Hearts who stabbed her fiancé at their wedding. I don’t get strong female video game character, but I do get evil queen; not Bishme, the look.

LELA She wanted to make pants because in pants a woman can kick. This, to me, looks like trying to be trendy suburban housewife heads to the city for lunch and everyone stares at her outfit, and not in a good way.

RENEE She went tough girl, with a kind of mesh and chains motif. I liked it, thought it to be a contender and yet here she is, safe.

SONIA Oy, did she struggle; she made her outfit twice. And it was still a mess, unless she intended to create Negligee, Queen of the Queen-sized Bed!

SEBASTIAN He went literal, actually writing computer code onto his look. I liked the idea, but the finished product looks a little milkmaid who got grafitti’d.

TOPS AND BOTTOMS

VENNY

He is first mistake was the idea of a modern savior who wraps dying, dead, people in her cape and takes them to Heaven. His second mistake was seeing other designers choosing the same fabric as he did and changing his mind. His third mistake was going almost $100 over budget and having to get rid of materials on the spot. His fourth mistake was when Christian Siriano happened to spot Venny’s look and muttered, “Looks dated.”

But Venny tells Christian his “savior of the world” flies, and she wears a cape, and has a vortex in the back; Christian liked that detail, but still seems nervous. Venny’s last mistake? He.Added.Feathers. And a cross on the leg that, he says, makes her look like she just stepped off the choir stage.

WHAT HE SAID

I like it. Just not loving that it can go church-y.

WHAT I SAID

She looks like she’s wearing the flag of Iceland on her leg.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Brandon got the church vibe, but said the look needed Jesus, and that Venny needed to learn restraint. Nina called it a head-to-toe disaster; she worried that Venny is good one week, and awful the next. Guest Judge and gamer, Robin Hunicke liked the idea, though she thought the cape looked like a tortoise and that the colors didn’t work. Elaine called it “not good fashion, and Karlie muttered, “Feathers.”

TESSA

Again, Tessa thinks this is her week, this time because she has been interested in digital design and coded her own website. Her idea is to create a strong female character that can do what is typically viewed as the man’s job.

The Miller’s daughter? Sack of flour? Huh? And she’s using brown? Christian, so frustrated that no one is using colors, and Tessa says brown is a color … but is it a good color? And is the fact that a woman works in a grain mill really a great idea?

WHAT SHE SAID

I’m so excited and happy. It’s wearable and functional.

WHAT I SAID

She has a sack of flour on her shoulder.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina loves it and says, “It’s ready to ship.” Robin got emotional, because it’s exactly what she wants to see more of in game design—what am I missing? She’s carrying flour!!!! Elaine calls it a modern interpretation of a gamer. Brandon did point out that while the edges were unfinished and meant to be, other parts were not finished, and should have been.

JAMALL

He wants to redeem himself from last week’s poorly made look, and so this week he’ll show off his tailoring, though not his strong ideas. See, he’s doing Bond. Jane Bond. In a tuxedo suit.

Christian worries that it’s going to be “just a great suit.” But Jamall will add a mesh top and head covering, which might work, but when he tells Christian the collar will be white, Christian sees “chic server.”

Serving tea and shade, eh, Mr., Siriano? Perhaps not, because Jamall ruins out of time—again—and ditches the top and headpiece.

WHAT HE SAID

I think she looks amazing, sexy, good.

WHAT I SAID

I think she’s a small spin away from being a chic server stripper. Hello boobies!

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Robin was annoyed because Jamall fell into the trap of making a powerful woman in a man’s suit; a woman doesn’t have to be a female version of a man, she says. Brandon asks, “Did you have access to a bra, Jamall?” He notes she’s more off a bond girl than Bond and asks the model if she feels exposed; she does. Karlie noted the top and headpiece in the video game version and lamented the fact that it didn’t make it onto the model.

HESTER

Girl loves her wackadoo-ness. Her video game character is a woman who jumps through stars to get to a rave. I don’t know how this plays into powerful woman, but it plays fully into Hester’s aesthetic; wild colors, a tiny backpack; clear vinyl pieces covering cutout that show skin.

Look, up in the sky! It’s Rave Girl! And she brought Molly.

WHAT SHE SAID

It’s super-flattering.

WHAT I SAID

It’s a party look. And I don’t wanna go to the party.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Robin says it could be animated right away, while Elaine calls it a “virtual-reality Wakanda,” though she adds that she finds it a little kitsch. Nina, however, loves the kitsch, the feminine ruffles and the Lucite panels. Brandon thinks Hester is finding her voice in fashion and thought if you broke the look down into separates, both men and women would want it. Karlie was simply obsessed.

GARO

He does club kids; he does corsets; he does bondage. Is it any wonder that he wants to create a Fashion Editrix? Is he channeling Nina?

Christian wonders what Nina might think, but he likes the vibe, calling it sultry. Of course, the level of sultry escalates with the addition of hand-made leather gloves and a whip. One moment of panic is that Garo runs out of time before making the dress beneath the leather; luckily, he has a go-to ten-minute dress and gets it done. that was a total Make It Work moment.

WHAT HE SAID

I mixed fashion and this challenge.

WHAT I SAID

I’m kinda terrified and intrigued. And it’s perfectly executed.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Nina was taken aback that anyone thought she would be a Fashion Editrix, but she loves the look, and the accessories; I loved when she actually cracked that whip. She does point out that the S&M theme isn’t the way to showcase a powerful woman. But Elaine points out that there is very little skin showing; it’s Modest Dominatrix. Robin was Team Nina and said Sexy Dominatrix isn’t new. Brandon calls her a sexy video vixen in control.

RAKAN

After spotting several designers choosing red at Mood, Christian sees Rakan’s fabrics and calls him out on the color. Rakan says he’s different because he’s using a “Bordeaux” colored fabric, and Christian says, “Okay, but that’s red.”

Rakan counters, “It’s Bordeaux.” And that’s one of Rakan’s problems; he doesn’t listen. His other problem is that last week he created a Syrian Farmer’s Market girl and this week it’s an ancient Syrian queen, Zenobia, who does not grow her own vegetables for market. He also chose to work with fabrics he’s never worked with before and the sewing is a nightmare. Lastly, in the makeup room, he cannot commit to a makeup, even with the makeup artist giving him all kinds of suggestions; finally, she says, ‘cat eye’ and he agrees.

Rakan needs to get to the Testicle Store and buy himself some balls and commit.

WHAT HE SAID

There were some mistakes, but it looks like I imagined it.

WHAT I SAID

Every week he says it looks like he imagined it, and if that’s true, he needs a new imagination.

WHAT THE JUDGES SAID

Elaine thinks that the jacket, which Rakan sees as armor, is choking her, and liked it better in illustration form. Brandon is not having the Lycra or the color, and channels his inner Joan Crawford, “Never use it again!” Robin tried to be nice, saying material failures can happen in games, too. Uh huh. Nina called the silver leather ‘duct tape’ and pointed out that much of the look is unfinished.

Garo, Tessa and Hester are Top Three. In the end, the Flour Girl and Nina with a Whip are safe, and Hester’s Raver Girl gets the win.

That leaves Rakan, Jamal and Venny in the bottom. Jamall, surprisingly enough, gets the save—possibly for his tailoring. It comes down to Venny and Rakan, and, well, you don’t need superpowers to know what happened.

Bye Rakan.

It was Rakan’s time; he’d bottomed a lot … on the show …  and while he has good ideas, sometimes, he never listens to critiques, and in fashion, everyone Nina to Brandon to Bob in Smallville is a critic.

I’m kinda over Tessa; she’s quite fond of herself, and quite fond of trashing other designers. While Hester’s style may not be hers, or mine, it is a style, it is a look, it is an idea … and she won twice Tessa. Take that.

Christian is growing on me more and more. I love his “You’re killing me” as he walks away; I love his impish shade and he strolls through the workroom.

Line of the Night: Brandon, upon seeing Garo’s look come down the runway:

“I’m sweating through these Spanx.”

Brandon might be a little Fashion Designtrix.

I’m still feeling Sebastian, though maybe it’s because of that smile. I also think Garo is coming on strong. Renee seems good almost every week, so she’s also running to The Tents. Lela and Sonia are still nearly invisible. Tessa, as stated earlier, annoys me. Bishme missed it this week, but I like his style. Venny needs some consistency, and Jamall really needs to step up his game. Hester, while she is too much a cartoon, does make showy clothes, and that could be good at The Tents.

Next week? Category is …Looks that embrace Eleganza!

What did YOU think?