Project Runway: Bold Innovation
December 2, 2016 9:49 PM - Season 15, Episode 11 - Subscribe

In what was billed as the first "hybrid challenge" the remaining six designers had to meld the unconventional materials challenge with the Avant Garde challenge. And work in some time for a car commercial as well.

First here are the looks.

After it was all over, Erin, Rik and Roberi were on the top with Erin getting the victory, and Mah-Jing and Cornelius were on the bottom, with Mah-Jing getting sent home.
posted by sardonyx (6 comments total)
 
I really didn't think Erin deserved the win. Personally, I would have stuck her in the bottom, but that's just me. I liked Roberi's the most but would have been equally satisfied with Rik being victorious as well, even if it wasn't the most avant-garde in style.

If the the judges are going to say Laurence is stuck in a rut, they'd better say that about Erin too (and Maj-Jing as well but that's not a concern anymore). Seriously, more yellow with stuck on bits? And really, none of the judging panel had ever seen a paper doll dress? I'm not even in the fashion world and I know I've certainly seen them. It also didn't seem to really integrate the material with the found objects, instead it was more just the wire thrown on over the top.

I thought the guest judge, UnReal's Shiri Appleby, was better than a lot of the ones they've had so far this year.
posted by sardonyx at 10:03 PM on December 2, 2016 [1 favorite]


I do not understand the judges' love for Erin. I knew Mah-Jing was going home from the beginning though just from the quantity and quality of his interview segments. Is it just me or are they telegraphing those super clearly this season; I don't remember thinking that before.
posted by bleep at 10:07 PM on December 2, 2016


I figured Mah-Jing was going home just because basically he'd sewn some crumpled mesh onto a badly sewn denim dress. The only thing I liked about his design was the copper looked great with that shade of denim.

I can feel Laurence's frustration. She can't not make a perfectly fitted, immaculately sewn chic little dress. I liked the bodice with the chain links (?), I liked the stair step skirt. If she had just not used her typical shoulder, she'd have been in the top instead of Roberi. And not in black although that was a bit unfair. There've been plenty of designers who only worked in black and they were never called out on that.

The very first challenge this season was unconventional materials so they repeat it and add avant garde. The former is fun, I can't remember the latter ever being worthwhile. I prefer challenges with a more narrow focus: the redesign of the postman's uniform for example.

What was all the stuff at the beginning about how many challenges were left? is it supposed to mean that there are four official finalists instead of three?
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:12 AM on December 3, 2016


I hated, absolutely hated, Erin's dress. Can't believe that won.

But even more than that, I can't BELIEVE that they send Mah-Jing home over Cornelius. That dress was bad, bad, bad. Take off the tubing and it's an extremely boring black dress. Add the tubing and it's a uterus-eating snake on some color cutouts. AWFUL.

Cornelius definitely deserved to go home over Mah-Jing, who at least made an attractive dress, for all the design flaws.
posted by chainsofreedom at 7:24 AM on December 3, 2016 [3 favorites]


I keep wondering if the judges are promoting Erin because they somehow believe she'll be successful at branding or marketing or doing the commercial things a designer needs to do in order to be successful. It's not that I see those skills in her, but I keep thinking they must have a different perspective--that is a perspective beyond needing to promote a woman in a reality show and knowing that they can't turn Laurence into a story because she's quiet, keeps to herself and barely says anything.
posted by sardonyx at 9:52 AM on December 3, 2016


Yeah I get that sense too. She's being artificially promoted in the show because they want another Christian Siriano.
posted by bleep at 1:16 PM on December 3, 2016


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