PROJECT RUNWAY.....Season 13 "Project Runway" NY Fashion Week Decoy Collections Part 1

 DECOY COLLECTIONS: Part One...

Decoy No. 1: Fade Zu Grau

Coral Gables, Florida-based designer Fade Zu Grau was OUT on Episode 8, the avant-garde episode. He was the first Season 13 designer to get a chance to show a "Decoy Collection" in Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week. Lucky him... In case you don't know the whole "Decoy" thang--it goes like this:

"Project Runway" begins airing in late July and Fashion Week is in Early September. Because NY Fashion Week is so photographed and publicized, there is no way to hide the final collections from the press. So the producers decided years ago that every designer in the competition that is still "In" at the point of Fashion Week, is allowed to show a collection. Yes, that's why I say "lucky them".

Project Runway Season 13 Finale Judges

Anyhow, now that we are this far along in the season, we know who created the "Decoy Collections". I think it is fun to see these collections, especially when some are better than the actual finalists! In this post, I want to highlight designers Fade Zu Grau and Sandhya Garg. Let's begin with Fade:

My Thoughts: While I love the graphics and Fade's "kookiness"...it's a bit on the Junior side of fashion. The graphic tees are so him. The mixing of prints is very "now" but somehow this collection comes off a bit unpolished and disjointed. But on a good note, it made me smile. But certainly, not a NY Fashion Week "Project Runway" winning collection, knowing the judges and how they think.

Sandhya Garg: much-maligned Sandhya Garg--and her collection were very well praised (if you read most of the "Project Runway" fan forums); almost everyone thought she would be a Finalist, from her NY Fashion Week collection. As it turned out: not so much....

My Thoughts: After you see ALL of the Season 13 "Project Runway" finale show collections--you do get the sense that Sandhya's was one of the better ones. But, alas, she was not even close to being Top 3/Top 4. I really liked the collection--from looking at the photos--and I didn't even mind the rather garish lipstick colors. The collection to me was both fun and "New Couture"; refreshing and reminiscent of Raf Simons for Christian Dior. Too bad she wasn't even Top Four. But her Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week Collection was right up there for me.

**NEXT UP: Decoy Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week Collections from Season 13 "Project Runway" Alexander Knox, Korina Emmerich and Emily Payne.