This Thursday's "The Art of The Matter" episode on Project Runway Season 9...featured Avant Garde. Or so, that was the premise. The designers/contestants were paired with young art students from the Harlem School of The Arts and they were to create an Avant Garde look inspired by the young artists' work. "Think COUTURE NOT Costume!" Tim suggested, or as I would say "Think Nicki Minaj at the VMA's!" (so the young-ums can understand). Most of the creations missed the mark and ended up being Avant-NOT. Let's Take a Little Photo Look at some things I need to get off my No. 2 Clipper-trimmed chest--before you get to reading my RECAP of the Episode:
First of All Kids---This:
Glue Gun
Does NOT Equal This:
Brother Project Runway Sewing Machine
During this Challenge, several of the designers hot glued their way through the two days they had. Miss Laura Kathleen, Andrew Ryan Auld and Olivier Green, all got Glue Glue Happy. Olivier, in fact, almost hot glue gunned his model to his creation!! Tim got notified of this (probably by the producers who were watching and thinking "Umm, this AIN'T OK! Let's get Tim back in here!"). Tim questioned him on it and chastised him but after some lame "I'm only hot gluing the dress not HER!" excuse, it was all fine...I'm just saying, they had TWO WHOLE DAYS to make something and SHOULD NOT have had to be using glue guns!! They should be BANNED from Project Runway. Also...
This Is Avant Garde:
Guo Pei Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2010
Comme des Garçons Fall 2009
This...
Is just HOOCHIE: Season 9 Contestant Viktor Luna created the dress above which somehow ended up in the middle. It was BAD. Not Middle Bad but Bottom Bad. She is SO NOT Avant Garde. She looks more like she thought she was going to get into the BET Awards and still didn't. Also...
How This:
Straight-jacket creation also ended up in the Middle is beyond me. This Avant-Nasty gown was created by Bryce Black, who for sure, should go home next week, just because I said so! I think even Nicki Minaj would have passed on this if it was on a rack for her perusal...
Bert Keeder--yes, the "old guy" who hates all the "inexperienced untalented kids" in the workroom--made this gray "Empire-waist" pleated "carrot" pants ensemble with geometric padded brightly colored pieces. It was a bit of a miss, in it's Why-Does-She-Have-a-Baby-Bump shape--but then again, its color scheme and idea could have easily been part of the Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall 2011 Collection inspired by Frank Gehry, Jean-Michel Frank, and the Memphis movement of the eighties. I "get it", and so did Miss Heidi, who liked it as well.
Laura Kathleen's half glue-gunned yellow organza ruffle-tiered gown:
Was romantic and kinda pretty I admit, but A) Not Avant Garde (maybe the hair and make-up); B) Not original; and C) On a similar note, very close to a low-rent knock off of...
Project Runway Season 4 Winner Christian Siriano would have done WITHOUT the GLUE Gun--One of Siriano's gowns from his Spring 2009 Collection above.
The Winner:
Was Anthony Ryan Auld's brushstroke-inspired gown, which was the best of the bunch according to the judges. After seeing all the others (it was "Slim Pickins" as they say!) , I guessed that this one would win.
However, I want to see A.R. do something more other than a basic base of a dress in which he "piles" stuff on it--his Avant Garde creation reminded me just a little bit...of what he did for the "Make a Garment from the Pet Store" challenge (above photo).
Now, the REALLY Worse:
HUUUUNEEEYYY!!!! Poor thang: Designer/contestant Olivier Green--and his model! Olivier has been so blah and uninspired lately, I can almost hear crickets as the model comes down the runway! So, for this Avant Garde Challenge--in which he was inspired by a very colorful painting--he decided to be "Sexy Blah". It was GRAY and Sad. Not just gray but the color of PUTTY! And then, if you look closely at his model...
The opening was so high, her UNDERWEAR-panty strap was showing!!! (photo above). This was ALL THINGS WRONG!!!! It reminded me of one of...
Those Stripper-like "gowns" some past Miss Universe Pageant contestants decide (against their better judgement) to wear.
A Wolf Serving Beer...
But the worst was Joshua Christensen's creation. Josh C. was lucky to have been "invited back" after being eliminated (and you KNOW he was happy to see his boyfriend, "Mean Girls Josh M.) so this was his chance to "step it up".
He was inspired by a painting of a wolf-like creature (above w/ Tim Gunn in the Parsons Workroom). When he began--after Mood Fabrics shopping---he had faux fur and from his sketch, it looked like it would be a gown of some sort. But then, it went into a territory best described as a cross between something one can find in a local mall (Hello Bebe!!) and...
A Hofbräu Waitress Costume
So...it was Josh C. who got eliminated...AGAIN!!!
Below is an excerpt of my mylifetime.com blog:
Happy Times ... Last night, on Season 9 “Project Runway,” the contestants were done with their bitchfest of last week, and as those introductory scenes from their Atlas Apartments proved, it was all “Kumbaya”/happy times/let’s just all get along with each other. As Queen Mean Girl said, “I’m done bitching, now I’m going to be nice.” Yes, GURL, you keep telling yourself that. Even Bert “I-Can’t-Stand-All-These-Kids Keeter wants to make amends ...We’ll see how long that will last.
Art Class Is in Session They all meet Monsieur Gunn at the Harlem School of the Arts to get their next challenge: to create an avant-garde look inspired by artwork from students of the school. Go Nicki Minaj at the MTV VMA’s or GO HOME. The “Project Runway” contestants meet their student artists and have a design “powwow” where the young kids (the Harlem School of the Arts students, in case you were confused) draw a painting that the designers will be inspired by. The one thing I got out of this was that somehow these young kids can DRAW better than the fashion designers on this season’s “Project Runway”! ...
Click HERE to read the rest of my myLifetime.com BLOG Recap!!!
4 Responses to "PROJECT RUNWAY.....Season 9 Project Runway Recaps: Avant-garde or Avant NOT?"
I was reminded of Anthony Ryan's birdseed dress too. Especially the way it came up on the throat, though I like the dress and I like him.
I agree about banning glue guns—but only if the designers are consistently given proper timeframes in which to complete the challenges.
Besides, if there had been a glue-gun ban from the get-go, Chloe (Garden Party dress) and Santino (pretty much everything he made) would never have gotten anywhere near the season 2 finale.
Did anyone else think of Kayne's corset showing through his gown in season 3?
Did anyone else think of Kayne's corset showing through his gown in season 3?
My mind went there immediately, especially since Laura Kathleen's effect was praised while the same thing nearly got Kayne auf'd.
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