Project Runway: Finale Part 2
November 17, 2017 10:11 PM - Season 16, Episode 14 - Subscribe

Fashion Week is finally here and the designers rush to put the final touches on their collections. Four designers will have their dream of showing at New York Fashion Week, but only one designer will reach the ultimate goal of being crowned the next Project Runway Winner! Guest judge Jessica Alba joins the panel.

In a surprise upset, Kentaro wins!

EW recap

Final looks at TLo
posted by TWinbrook8 (19 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Brandon and Ayana were both in a position to win and both lost for the same reason: really bad fabric choices. Kentaro and especially Margarita were underdogs and both had better collections overall but even so, I only liked about half of what they sent out.

A couple producer machinations really irked me though. One was Margarita helping Kentaro organize his sequence of looks for the runway. I think it was Nina who commented on how his show evolved so it made it seem like his success was due to Margarita's input. The other was Brandon breaking down backstage. He really had been promoted so heavily that it's no surprise that he was shocked to lose. I don't like seeing a designer set up to fail so I wonder why we didn't see Tim querying the monotony of his looks and the overuse of the button loops during the home visit because it was obvious to everyone watching.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 11:59 PM on November 17, 2017 [3 favorites]


Yeah. Though I was never a Brandon fan, he was consistently told he was fabulous and no one ever pointed out that he ought to branch out a little. I was surprised when Tim went to his house and said nothing about the sameness of the looks. And the judges, too, when they saw his mini-collection last week. So I feel sorry for him, though I was glad he didn't win.

Before the runway show, I was kind of rooting for Ayana, but the first few looks in her collection were so unflattering! It was like the fabric was designed to stick to the models in such a way as to make them look like they were wrapped in lumpy mylar and facing the wind. And some of her outfits were dowdy. (That said, I went shopping yesterday and the stores were full of clothes with those Little-House-on-the-Prairie shoulder ruffles, so I guess she's "on-trend.")

At the end, I hoped Margarita would win, although I knew the judges would not choose her. I liked most of her clothes and they were fun. They were probably right in saying that she could open a boutique in Miami. I hope she does and makes a jillion dollars selling resort wear.

Kentaro's collection looked good, but he's been pretty hit or miss all season and basically admitted he didn't understand being cohesive--and as TWinbrook8 says, Margarita helped him to make it look more cohesive.

Overall, this season disappointed me. I hope All-Stars will be better.
posted by pangolin party at 6:58 AM on November 18, 2017 [1 favorite]


Brandon's collection was not good. It was very "Garanimal" in that each piece matched every other piece and they were all interchangeable. All together on the rack or on the runway, it looked like someone had mass amounts of two fabrics and made a giant collection of clothes for some little kid's doll. The worst thing he could have done was go all in on that flamingo print.

Ayana's first three looks were terribly unflattering. Overall I liked her collection the best though. Like...I found it better by light years ahead of the other three. I loved that she sent down the traditional show ender - a wedding dress.

Kentaro's collection was underwhelming but good for him. I found it ugly and boring. I think they were entranced by the music, which was wonderfully moody and elevated his show. I hate that they showed his dad falling off of the stage. Edit that shit out, PR.

Margarita's collection was exactly as expected. I'm sure she'll have no trouble selling her clothes though.
posted by the webmistress at 7:49 AM on November 18, 2017 [2 favorites]


Just delighted that Kentaro won. Did not see that coming at all!
posted by likeatoaster at 8:17 AM on November 18, 2017 [1 favorite]


I'm glad that Kentaro won. I hope he enjoys that trip to Japan! :^)
posted by Elly Vortex at 10:47 AM on November 18, 2017 [4 favorites]


I have not been a Brandon fan but I think they did him dirty in the end. I think the season overall would have been less infuriating show to watch if they had been giving him the critiques all along that he actually needed to hear, to mix it up a little. But on the other hand that might have given him the win so I guess I'm OK with it.

I'm so glad Kentaro won. The only times he was in the bottom was when he listened to Tim's misguided advice to try to give the judges what Tim thought they were looking for, so it makes sense that at the end he was like "Welp I don't give a fuck any more, so here's the real Kentaro" and it was awesome. I don't usually find "Fashion-fashion" very appealing but that's his thing and I genuinely liked his collection the most.

It made me sad for Kenya when Ayana & Brandon were talking about how their wins gave them the confidence to be bold. That's what Kenya needed and didn't get, and it wasn't fair.

I think this season was kind of a weird one in general. I think the show doesn't really know if it's about fashion-fashion as art or fashion as designing clothes for people to buy and wear and that leaves the contestants & viewers confused about what they need to do to win. It seems like when contestants try for one, oops it was supposed to be the other one, no matter what they do.
posted by bleep at 11:26 AM on November 18, 2017 [3 favorites]


I'm really glad Kentaro won. I've loved his personality and humour this season. And I thought his runway show was stunning, with that music he composed being the perfect complement to his clothes. As was said in the judging, you could've heard a pin drop.

Brandon's collection was hideous. That awful curtain fabric he used, the monotony of his designs, it was terrible. I agree that the judges did him a disservice by fawning over his designs so much. He truly was shocked to not win - and not even to be the runner-up.

Ayana's fabrics were awful and did her models no favours. If a garment doesn't flatter a 6ft tall reed-thin woman, then it stands no chance on anyone shorter or wider. But it was heartwarming to see Ayana's family members weeping with pride at seeing her collection go down the runway.

Margarita's collection was better than I'd expected. It'll definitely appeal to the 70-year-old widows in Boca Raton, but I didn't think it was particularly fashionable. (Disclaimer: my idea of what I know about fashion is the polar opposite of the judges on PR.)

I really wish Kenya had been in the finale. But I think there are a lot of women who will love her clothes, which were often the most commercial and 'wearable' on the runway.
posted by essexjan at 12:06 PM on November 18, 2017 [2 favorites]


Brandon's collection looked like it was from some sort of tablecloth challenge, and while she'd done some great things earlier in the season Ayana's collection was just not that good. I thought Margarita's first two looks were the best of the night, like wow, and it seemed unfair that she was dismissed first, but Kentaro's win was well deserved.
I still love the show and hope it will persist but this was a pretty lacklustre season that'll probably just be remembered for the twins.
posted by Flashman at 1:40 PM on November 18, 2017


I just wanted the show to be over so I didn't have to watch Margarita cry any more. I get that she had a legit reason to be upset, but seriously. Does she have to cry in EVERY EPISODE?
posted by lyssabee at 5:48 PM on November 18, 2017 [1 favorite]


lyssabee: Does she have to cry in EVERY EPISODE?

The ending for her legitimately made me sad - knowing what was coming for Puerto Rico, and how the island is still in terrible shape, I was worried that her parents wouldn't even make it out, or that she'd get some terrible news about her friends or family.

And speaking of JC Penny-friendly clothes, I thought that she'd be a shoe-in, given that the image they always show for JCP was a pink shiny track suit. Still, interesting to see Kentaro's pieces there, thanks for the link, primalux!

Also thrilled to see Brandon lose with that collection, and sad that Anaya didn't really bring more to her collection, given the recap reminder they had in this episode.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:27 PM on November 18, 2017


I think the show doesn't really know if it's about fashion-fashion as art or fashion as designing clothes for people to buy and wear

The show's been about RTW for ten seasons at least but it's never really given up the rhetoric of the earliest seasons, which can produce...some weird juxtapositions.

Also, for those of you who may not have heard, the notorious Wendy Pepper, the show's first villain, died this week.
posted by praemunire at 11:04 PM on November 18, 2017


Didn't fall asleep.

Quite happy to see Kentaro win. I do enjoy Brandon's clothing and felt that Margarita put together an enjoyable collection.

This is the first time in a few seasons where I've been impressed by what the contestants were able to do in terms of a final collection with more time and without a camera crew following them. Things came into focus - and I wonder if this is coincidental to the individuals who were in the finals or if it relates to changes in how the show was put together.
posted by sciencegeek at 4:15 AM on November 19, 2017


I was happy with Kentaro's win. I was worried that he was going to draw from the samurai well a little too much, but delivered instead just a great collection of elegant unusual dresses.

Brandon delivered a suffocating snoozefest, though I liked the dyed flamingoes. There was just way too much of it.

Margarita had some cool stuff. The oversized lapels on that one jacket were awesome.

Ayana I love. I didn't really want her to win, because the colors were just kind of dull and weird, but when she does cool she does it so well, and the modesty aspect of her clothes is combined with a seductiveness and power that's just so great, and seeing her work and talk about her clothes was always really great. I love her. She's clearly so talented, and got so much done within the deadlines of the challenges.
posted by Rinku at 11:07 AM on November 19, 2017 [3 favorites]


I also think it speaks very highly of margarita that kentaro knew to go to her for advice about his runway show. He pretty clearly just let her choose the order in which his pieces went down the runway, and that was totally part of his win.
posted by Rinku at 6:59 PM on November 19, 2017 [1 favorite]


Honestly, I was rooting for Margarita just because I loved loved loved Jazzmine's catwalk experience. The whole room exploding with joy at the sight of her thighs was my everything. I watched this season primarily to see how far they actually let Tim take his inclusive dream.

I mean, Liris should have been the winning model. She has killed it all season. But Brandon gave her the most boring pieces of his collection.

That's also why I'm kinda upset Kentaro won. His pieces were fine. But he usually flubbed working with larger models. His fit issues with Jazzmine were just ridiculous a few episodes ago. He specifically avoided using the dress form and argued that his own body was comparable. I really identified with Nina's comment about how Kentaro's weakness is a tendency to dehumanize his models.
posted by politikitty at 11:30 AM on November 20, 2017 [1 favorite]


Ayana I love. I didn't really want her to win, because the colors were just kind of dull and weird, but when she does cool she does it so well, and the modesty aspect of her clothes is combined with a seductiveness and power that's just so great, and seeing her work and talk about her clothes was always really great. I love her. She's clearly so talented, and got so much done within the deadlines of the challenges.

This 100%. One good thing about this ending is that modest fashion is such a small niche to begin with that I’d be amazed if the modest fashion world isn’t beating a path to Ayana’s door anyway, despite the fact that she didn’t win. I suspect she’s going to do just fine for herself.
posted by Itaxpica at 2:01 PM on November 20, 2017 [2 favorites]


I expect Ayana will show up on All Stars presently.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 2:42 PM on November 21, 2017 [1 favorite]


One good thing about this ending is that modest fashion is such a small niche to begin with that I’d be amazed if the modest fashion world isn’t beating a path to Ayana’s door anyway

She is Muslim, so a part of a community that likes modest fashion, and she lives in Salt Lake City, the headquarters of another community who likes modest fashion. I can't believe she doesn't have a crazy amount of business already.
posted by chainsofreedom at 12:25 PM on November 22, 2017


Did this season have a fan favorite? I didn’t see mention of it in recaps of the reunion.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 10:56 AM on December 10, 2017


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