Project Runway: Warrior Fashion
October 28, 2017 12:45 AM - Season 16, Episode 11 - Subscribe
It’s an emotional Runway as the designers create looks inspired by “Warrior Women” — women who have battled breast cancer.
Challenge: Create an editorial look inspired by Warrior Women.
Finished looks: EW.com recap
WINNER: Brandon
TIM GUNN SAVED BY TIM GUNN: Margarita
Challenge: Create an editorial look inspired by Warrior Women.
Finished looks: EW.com recap
WINNER: Brandon
TIM GUNN SAVED BY TIM GUNN: Margarita
Margarita's dress was painful. The TG Save seemed forced and fake to me. I can't imagine Tim really liked that hot mess.
I thought Kenya was going to get the win until the judges predictably started gushing over Brandon's garment. The craftsmanship in Kenya's work deserves recognition. But I fear she'll be sacrificed next week because I don't think her style fits with what the judges think is edge and hip.
posted by essexjan at 2:58 AM on October 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
I thought Kenya was going to get the win until the judges predictably started gushing over Brandon's garment. The craftsmanship in Kenya's work deserves recognition. But I fear she'll be sacrificed next week because I don't think her style fits with what the judges think is edge and hip.
posted by essexjan at 2:58 AM on October 28, 2017 [4 favorites]
I was watching while doing something else, so didn't quite pin down whether Kenya's bubbly seams were a pressing issue or a bigger construction issue - it certainly didn't look seamless, but I think it was a clever and wearable dress. It's not hip, but it's interesting in a classic and sharp way that works on lots of body sizes. I'm surprised they've rewarded Ayana so often though, because while I think she has the potential to be interesting, it's not edgy either?
Brandon, man. It feels like the Emperor's New Clothes to see them praising variations on a narrow theme each week.
posted by carbide at 3:16 AM on October 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
Brandon, man. It feels like the Emperor's New Clothes to see them praising variations on a narrow theme each week.
posted by carbide at 3:16 AM on October 28, 2017 [6 favorites]
I think TG saved Margarita out of guilt, since he encouraged her during his check-in. I kept yelling at the tv, "Spray paint the leather bustier!!" It needed to be hot pink. They loved Kentaro's hot orange and red chiffon dress a few weeks ago, and hot pink is more associated with breast cancer support than that drab millennial pink that Brandon used. Hot pink and red together is a look. A gold leather bustier is just costumey. I mean, it would have been better to just start over (the dress was hiddy and the corset such a cliche) but she invested a shitton of time into it.
Margarita is not a good designer. She takes everything too literally. Like this dress for the Leap challenge. *cringe*
Brandon and Kentaro...ugh, what are we going to do with these two. Neither one of them seem to be inspired at all by women's bodies. I think they need to go into business designing androgynous looks and menswear together. They can call their design studio BrotherHood. For reasons ;)
That dress that Kenya designed flattered the fuck out of her model. I really liked it, and the observation that Nina made, which was that it would look great sitting down, was spot on. I do love a strong shoulder. *sniff...misses the 80s*
I loved Ayana's blouse, but didn't like the look overall. It was impeccable. It did not speak "warrior" to me in any way though.
posted by the webmistress at 8:27 AM on October 28, 2017 [7 favorites]
Margarita is not a good designer. She takes everything too literally. Like this dress for the Leap challenge. *cringe*
Brandon and Kentaro...ugh, what are we going to do with these two. Neither one of them seem to be inspired at all by women's bodies. I think they need to go into business designing androgynous looks and menswear together. They can call their design studio BrotherHood. For reasons ;)
That dress that Kenya designed flattered the fuck out of her model. I really liked it, and the observation that Nina made, which was that it would look great sitting down, was spot on. I do love a strong shoulder. *sniff...misses the 80s*
I loved Ayana's blouse, but didn't like the look overall. It was impeccable. It did not speak "warrior" to me in any way though.
posted by the webmistress at 8:27 AM on October 28, 2017 [7 favorites]
I heard the word of the week as "editorial" which is a big step up from wearable so I figured that Kenya was in trouble. Her dress was well made, a great color and fit on the model, a good silhouette and very striking but! would it have looked half as good on another model? Liris sold that, she is a warrior woman no matter what she wears.
Margarita, oof. Even the color combo red+gold looked so not-fresh. I liked the skirt, when the model was walking around in just the skirt, I thought she should completely change the top from a bustier to something like a Carolina Hererra white shirt for contrast. Or maybe keep the gold and cut it into a t-shirt. Something more casual to balance out the evening skirt. Something interesting. Tim's save was more because he had a guilty conscience for steering her wrong.
Ayana deserved the win. THAT was editorial, had a lot of interesting detail, was on trend with the men's wear style. Whereas Brandon hasn't strayed from his particular aesthetic, she has adapted hers to the individual challenges. I think the only one she really flunked was the real woman one.
Kentaro, I liked his look. I thought it looked more sophisticated than Brandon's. That the judges weren't shown criticizing Brandon's awful baby bonnet and the raptures over the bow on the hip? It's ridiculous.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:49 AM on October 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
Margarita, oof. Even the color combo red+gold looked so not-fresh. I liked the skirt, when the model was walking around in just the skirt, I thought she should completely change the top from a bustier to something like a Carolina Hererra white shirt for contrast. Or maybe keep the gold and cut it into a t-shirt. Something more casual to balance out the evening skirt. Something interesting. Tim's save was more because he had a guilty conscience for steering her wrong.
Ayana deserved the win. THAT was editorial, had a lot of interesting detail, was on trend with the men's wear style. Whereas Brandon hasn't strayed from his particular aesthetic, she has adapted hers to the individual challenges. I think the only one she really flunked was the real woman one.
Kentaro, I liked his look. I thought it looked more sophisticated than Brandon's. That the judges weren't shown criticizing Brandon's awful baby bonnet and the raptures over the bow on the hip? It's ridiculous.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 10:49 AM on October 28, 2017 [2 favorites]
Margarita's end result was different from the way she described it, and I think Tim fell for her description and then felt bad about encouraging that. I thought there'd be more volume up and below, with structure in the middle, moving bits of that structure extending up and own. Instead we got a tightly fitted tiny drooping bustier and a generic full skirt and an exploded fabric corsage on one side. It was the worst thing she's designed all season.
I saw the merit and work in Ayana's shirt, but those sort of overly elaborately constructed tops leave me generally cold. I liked Kenya's look more, but she also designs for people other than a 20 year old - she also designs for her model. I bet you if she had Misha this week, the design wouldn't have looked different.
I expect we'll end up with Ayana, Brandon, and Kentaro as our final 3. I think Kenya's been on a more solid streak lately, but those 3 would make the judges feel best about themselves, so...
posted by julen at 7:36 AM on October 29, 2017
I saw the merit and work in Ayana's shirt, but those sort of overly elaborately constructed tops leave me generally cold. I liked Kenya's look more, but she also designs for people other than a 20 year old - she also designs for her model. I bet you if she had Misha this week, the design wouldn't have looked different.
I expect we'll end up with Ayana, Brandon, and Kentaro as our final 3. I think Kenya's been on a more solid streak lately, but those 3 would make the judges feel best about themselves, so...
posted by julen at 7:36 AM on October 29, 2017
I keep falling asleep watching this season.
posted by sciencegeek at 10:01 AM on October 29, 2017
posted by sciencegeek at 10:01 AM on October 29, 2017
I loved Ayana's blouse, but didn't like the look overall. It was impeccable. It did not speak "warrior" to me in any way though.
posted by the webmistress at 8:27 AM on October 28
Exactly. Now, if the challenge had been "Design a futuristic take on what you'd see a shopkeeper on Road to Avonlea wear," she would have nailed it.
I keep falling asleep watching this season.
posted by sciencegeek at 10:01 AM on
You're not the only one. One of my relatives has been experiencing this reaction as well. I think there is just too much time spent in the workroom on boring, inconsequential stuff and not enough on the runway, on Tim's evaluations, on the judging, etc.
posted by sardonyx at 10:18 AM on October 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by the webmistress at 8:27 AM on October 28
Exactly. Now, if the challenge had been "Design a futuristic take on what you'd see a shopkeeper on Road to Avonlea wear," she would have nailed it.
I keep falling asleep watching this season.
posted by sciencegeek at 10:01 AM on
You're not the only one. One of my relatives has been experiencing this reaction as well. I think there is just too much time spent in the workroom on boring, inconsequential stuff and not enough on the runway, on Tim's evaluations, on the judging, etc.
posted by sardonyx at 10:18 AM on October 29, 2017 [2 favorites]
carbide: Brandon, man. It feels like the Emperor's New Clothes to see them praising variations on a narrow theme each week
The only thing I can think is that his designs are 1) fairly unique, and 2) have a strong personal style that he continues from look to look. For people who live and breathe fashion, #1 stands out the most, while #2 is great in a contest that ends with a full runway look.
Personally, I rate him a lot higher than Erin from last season, who grated on me like none other. Brandon, up to this episode, has been pretty humble (at least in the edit). That said, it seems like he goes to his personal style instead of really speaking to the challenge, so his looks aren't as diverse as Ayana's, which is a big reason that I'd love for her to win this all.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:26 AM on October 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
The only thing I can think is that his designs are 1) fairly unique, and 2) have a strong personal style that he continues from look to look. For people who live and breathe fashion, #1 stands out the most, while #2 is great in a contest that ends with a full runway look.
Personally, I rate him a lot higher than Erin from last season, who grated on me like none other. Brandon, up to this episode, has been pretty humble (at least in the edit). That said, it seems like he goes to his personal style instead of really speaking to the challenge, so his looks aren't as diverse as Ayana's, which is a big reason that I'd love for her to win this all.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:26 AM on October 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
I half-love Ayana's but something about the proportion seems off to me so I'm down to merely appreciating it. To me it seems like a kind of awkward shape on the model. Maybe if it were a little lower-waisted? Still, she's become the stand-out of this season to me.
Poor Kentaro seems like he's getting kind of exhausted.
posted by en forme de poire at 10:38 AM on October 30, 2017
Poor Kentaro seems like he's getting kind of exhausted.
posted by en forme de poire at 10:38 AM on October 30, 2017
It would be quite the twist if Kenya won out over Kentaro for the final three.
Let's be honest, Margarita is not going any farther than this episode, Tim Gunn save or no -- of the three saves mentioned on Wikipedia, which is spoiler-free for future episodes at this point, the saved individuals came in 3rd or 4th, but I think that's better than Margarita will do, unless she pulls out something amazing next time.
I can see how her design was way more interesting than the final product, not only in shape but also colors, but I agree with the webmistress: She takes everything too literally. And furthermore, she has no unifying vision, unless "superhero chic" is her (new) thing :P
posted by filthy light thief at 2:47 PM on October 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Let's be honest, Margarita is not going any farther than this episode, Tim Gunn save or no -- of the three saves mentioned on Wikipedia, which is spoiler-free for future episodes at this point, the saved individuals came in 3rd or 4th, but I think that's better than Margarita will do, unless she pulls out something amazing next time.
I can see how her design was way more interesting than the final product, not only in shape but also colors, but I agree with the webmistress: She takes everything too literally. And furthermore, she has no unifying vision, unless "superhero chic" is her (new) thing :P
posted by filthy light thief at 2:47 PM on October 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
That said, it seems like he goes to his personal style instead of really speaking to the challenge, so his looks aren't as diverse as Ayana's, which is a big reason that I'd love for her to win this all.
This is why I love Ayana - she is adaptable. During the Real Women challenge, she started with her trademark modest look, but the long skirt wasn't working and the customer was like, "You know, I'd really like a shorter skirt." So Ayana was like, ok! and cut the skirt above the knee and it not only worked so much better but gave the customer what she wanted. I wasn't in love with her look this week, but it was interesting and not so samey-samey like Brandon.
Oh Brandon. I love the Brandon-Kentaro Bromance, but I just don't get Brandon's style. Mr. Freedom and I are wondering if he is plugged into something in the fashion world that we mere mortals just aren't seeing, because there is no other way to explain the judges gushing over him every week.
posted by chainsofreedom at 6:12 AM on October 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
This is why I love Ayana - she is adaptable. During the Real Women challenge, she started with her trademark modest look, but the long skirt wasn't working and the customer was like, "You know, I'd really like a shorter skirt." So Ayana was like, ok! and cut the skirt above the knee and it not only worked so much better but gave the customer what she wanted. I wasn't in love with her look this week, but it was interesting and not so samey-samey like Brandon.
Oh Brandon. I love the Brandon-Kentaro Bromance, but I just don't get Brandon's style. Mr. Freedom and I are wondering if he is plugged into something in the fashion world that we mere mortals just aren't seeing, because there is no other way to explain the judges gushing over him every week.
posted by chainsofreedom at 6:12 AM on October 31, 2017 [2 favorites]
His work is indeed super current, if not nearly as unique as Heidi et al. are saying. People on Reddit have noted that his work is very reminiscent of Yeezy (see S/S 2016) and Public School.
posted by en forme de poire at 10:15 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by en forme de poire at 10:15 AM on November 1, 2017 [1 favorite]
Yeezy wasn't as polished, at least what I saw in that ready to wear collection. Maybe it's just the materials and elastic bands, but there's a sharpness to Brandon's designs that I like, particularly in direct comparison to Yeezy's work there.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:27 PM on November 6, 2017
posted by filthy light thief at 1:27 PM on November 6, 2017
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I can't help but think Margarita's look might have worked if she hadn't chosen a Wonder Woman colourscheme, or if her armour was the same leather in a Laurence jacket over the dress.
posted by carbide at 12:48 AM on October 28, 2017 [2 favorites]