Project Runway 7/26/12--"Candy Couture" summary

Previously on Project Runway: We met a new crop of designers, and some people made no impression while others made a poor impression. Gunnar was on last year, but got cut right away, and then he came back. In the interim he decided that the best thing would be for him to become Josh 2.0, and he’s not even that funny. But he’s already picked a fight, so…yeah. Designers brought one look from home and were asked to make another one. Ven did very well, but it was Chris who won. Beatrice can’t sew and they actually eliminated her instead of saying what a great job she did for someone who couldn’t sew. It’s sad that I’m impressed with that. (click for more)

The designers don’t seem to be morning people. At least not the boys. Lantie says she was stunned to be in the bottom three. Ven thinks he should have won. That’s what they all say.
   
Heidi greets everyone on the runway and congratulates them. Kooan says he is going to make sure everything’s perfect. Chris has immunity. Heidi says something about high expectations (…ha) and this is not child’s play. So now go find Tim at a “sweet” location, and something else about kids. No model selection I guess. Dmitry is worried.
   
Tim is waiting for them outside Dylan’s Candy Bar. Dylan is Ralph Lauren’s daughter. Unconventional materials challenge! Everything inside is available, and they can make anything. Gunnar claims he was dreaming about a candy challenge. Whatever. Raul is less than thrilled. The budget is $250, but Dylan is a nice person so half off the whole store! Also Dylan is the guest judge, which is pretty cool.
   
30 minutes to shop, and then one day to make things. There is pretty much anything you can think of, but I am sad to see actual like, T-shirts and fabric. You know people are buying those. Buffi is trying to avoid those things, but Andrea is not. I think there is going to be a lot of trash talking about who bought actual fabric and who is making pure candy clothing. Ven is thinking of stained glass windows. Lantie is making sure to have a foundation. I think Raul wants to buy galoshes for his model to walk in. Chris asks for a chocolate boyfriend. Hee. No one appears to go over budget.
   
Fabio is smashing rock candy for texture. Buffi wants her dress to look wearable. I think she is weaving bubble gum strips. Elena wants the straight lines of licorice. Tim comes in to remind them to push boundaries and wow the judges. They have until 1am. Tim tells Chris since he has immunity, he could take a nap this whole challenge, but probably shouldn’t. Yeah, don’t do that. Today’s winner will also get immunity.
   
Gunnar is watching Chris and making faces, for no reason. Do your own work. Gunnar interviews that Chris is totally threatened by him, which has everything to do with his talent and personality and nothing to do with how Gunnar attacked him yesterday for no reason. Or, since Chris is going about his business and Gunnar is obsessed with watching him, I’m thinking maybe Chris is not the one who’s threatened. Alicia is making a one-shouldered overall short. And some truffle looking chocolate, to represent dirt. Sonjia got gummi sharks, so she’s trying to glue them tightly together so you can’t see the muslin. Chris describes himself as the “nice twin”, compared to Gunnar. Oh, it would have been so much better if you had never mentioned him at all. Buffi is using an umbrella as a skirt, so in order to break the metal parts she’s smashing them with a hammer. Ven thinks she’s being obnoxious for no reason. Lantie starts talking about how she almost opened her own store but the economy tanked. She wants an eye-catching design. Dmitry interviews that Lantie isn’t pushing herself, but he seems to explain that by saying she’s still trying to decide what to make. Andrea is sewing an apron out of what looks like a pillow or something. She says “Victorian candy clerk gone wild”. Yup. She also is very confident, so there’s that. Kooan is working hard and being quiet. He’s making a sweater dress out of woven Twizzlers. I think there also is a giant eye and mouth on the dress. But he’s weaving Twizzlers, so that’s something if he can pull it off. He has to hot glue the pieces together, but it’s not going well. Ven and Sonjia chat in the sewing room and both agree that the outfits should be made out of candy, but that from far away they should look like real clothing. As opposed to a costume. Ven brags about his awards from school.
   
Tim time! Nathan has a bell shaped skirt and he’s concerned about weight. Chris is making a skirt out of a gang of stuff. Tim says it’s ambitious and that Chris has won and wants to stay in the top. Raul…I don’t know what he’s using, but it looks like fabric. Even close up, it looks like heavy corduroy. Melissa has licorice, but right now there is just an open weave thing. Elena’s dress is going to be all one color, and Tim points out she can’t do anything about that now. Sonjia’s jelly beans and sharks look pretty cool. Ven has framed out panels in black licorice, and he’s going to bust up some candy and make it as close to glass as possible. Fabio says something about glue, and Tim says “This is a ‘glue the shit out of it’ moment.” Hee. Buffi’s weaving looks pretty awesome. Gunnar is making a checkerboard pattern with licorice. He babbles about loud patterns and his peplum and weight. Dmitry is waiting for his model to show up to start his corset. And gluing, I guess. Tim is horrified and says he can’t possibly wait that long. Kooan is just weird. He only has a bib’s-worth of dress and wants to start over. Alicia needs time. Lantie has a bunch of fabric and candy to glue still and then she starts talking about rain boots. Andrea has an apron out of candy dots. I guess it really is the candy dots on paper, and not fabric that looks like candy dots? Tim is rendered speechless for a long time, and finally says he’s just going to be direct: he does not have the words to explain how underwhelmed he is. It’s a craft project and he literally says “You are throwing the challenge”. Wow. Andrea is shocked. She interviews that she has no idea what she’s going to do, and then she says she can’t do this now and asks them to turn off the cameras. And she gets up and leaves the confessional.
   
Back from commercial Andrea says she had cut up her design, but then realized she didn’t really have to listen to Tim, but now she’s cut up her design. Dmitry is still worried about his corset fitting his model. Elena is sick of gluing licorice, and it appears that beige licorice is pina colada flavored. Ew. Kooan has made a face in his dress. Heh.
   
The models finally show up. Kooan’s model looks worried. Dmitry has lucked out that his dress works really well. Gunnar flirts with his model, except for the part where shut up, Gunnar. Then he wanders around and announces he wants to check out what everyone’s doing. Girl, please. Chris rolls his eyes and sighs loudly, but seriously, Gunnar is going around the whole room telling everyone how great they are. Then Chris imitates Gunnar’s laugh which is hilarious. Andrea appears to be resewing her garment and putting in strips to cover the seams. She’s going to stand by her original outfit. Lantie is starting over with like two hours left, but she’s using the umbrella material and I don’t see any candy in it. Ven tells us how no woman will want to buy Kooan’s clothes, as if most women are totally OK with buying dresses made out of candy as long as they look good. A lot of last minute flailing and hot glue burns. Elena drips glue straight out of the gun onto her leg. That sucks. Chris is like “She’s hurt, but why are you wearing hoochie shorts to work?!” Because generally a clothing designer isn’t using hot glue, is why. She’s starting to freak out.
   
The next morning, Elena is still in pain and she looks exhausted. When the designers arrive at Parsons, all of a sudden Kooan freaks out and runs to his dress form. Apparently he used cotton candy as part of the skirt, and overnight it dissolved. It looks like the fabric has rotted away or something. Luckily he has more, but it’s another color. Buffi’s bird’s nest has also melted. Lantie is feeling confident. Tim gives them two hours. Side note: shut up, Gunnar’s super-fake-looking glasses. Elena tries to move her dress so she can reglue some stuff, and it rips. I’m impressed she put a zipper in it though. Hot makeup guy. There is a bunch of product placement. Ven tells his model she has to stand up straight and can’t touch anyone.
   
Heidi is wearing an ugly snakeskin jumpsuit. Bleh. Gunnar: sheath dress in black and white checkerboard pattern, with a big black peplum. Also I’m glad to see they’ve gone back to listing the materials used, which is mostly licorice. It’s a really stiff peplum but she can touch it anyway. Sonjia: also a sheath dress, with flaps over both hips and sort of in the front. The collar is gummi sharks, and then the rest of the dress is jelly beans. It looks really good. When she turns around, you can see the hip flaps are actually tied on? And covered in gumballs. Melissa: black tank top and skirt, with black licorice. It’s not very exciting, and I think most of the top is just bare fabric. Nathan: strapless dress with a bell shaped stiff skirt. It’s all covered in gumballs and foil-covered chocolates. It looks awesome, but the model is walking with her hands holding the bottom of the skirt because it weighs so much. Andrea: long apron made out of candy buttons. It’s straight, there’s no waistline or any shaping to it. In the back, there’s a bustle/skirt back that seems to be a separate piece, made out of the umbrella fabric. Alicia: a bandeau bikini top, sort of covered in white gumballs, and a one-shouldered overall thing, with I think shorts attached. It’s loose, and seems to be green with an orange waist. At the bottom I think she ran out of candy because there is a lot of muslin. Elena: short dress in beige licorice. There are strong shoulders and short sleeves. It’s not bad, and then the pieces of candy start falling off onto the runway. Fabio: blue dress that looks like real fabric. The top is crushed rock candy, left big, and the skirt looks painted, and there are white gumballs up the side.
   
Dmitry: short black dress with a halter top, and fringe. He made fringe out of candy and it looks pretty good. But there isn’t any candy on top? It’s hard to tell. I will say what candy he did use looks like beading. Kooan: it’s a dress that is a giant face. It’s not quite abstract enough to maybe pass as not a face. Orange on top, with pointy white teeth and a fuzzy pink skirt. Things are falling off it. Is it all jelly beans? In the back, there are thick ropes draped over her butt. Chris: short dress with a sweetheart neckline, in chevrons of candy. It looks pretty good. Sparkly and lots of stripes. Raul: two piece with exposed midriff, in licorice and it doesn’t look like candy. Buffi: the top with the woven candy strips looks amazing. The skirt is a pink handkerchief hem with rows of candy on it, but not covering it. Lantie: halter top and handkerchief hem skirt made of out umbrellas, with jelly bean flowers outlined on the skirt. And galoshes. It looks pretty lame. Ven: strapless dress with an art deco look to it. The panels and stuff are outlined in black, and then inside are crushed rock candy in colors, so it looks painted. The rose motif he did in his top last week shows up again in the skirt.
   
Gunnar, Elena, Ven, Sonjia, Lantie, and Buffi are called up. Everyone else is safe. Woah, that means Andrea and her apron thing are safe. Oo, girl. When the models come back out, Elena’s model is now missing like, 15% of her licorice. Buffi was thinking of Carrie Bradshaw. The skirt is paper, and Heidi wishes it was candy. Plus there is a bag and a lollipop and bracelets and the bird’s nest. Too many things. Kors says “Toddlers and Tiaras” but does give her credit for the top. He thinks she looks insane and not fun. Nina is clearly disgusted. Sonjia’s skirt has crushed rock candy. There’s a lot of texture and a good shape. Also Sonjia put a square hat on her, and Heidi doesn’t like that. But the dress is good. She gets nothing but praise, and even Nina doesn’t care it’s a little like a costume because there’s a theme and it’s well made. Lantie talks about her meltdown, and this is her second dress, and the galoshes are actually cut down somehow to make booties. Kors says she’s having the same problems as last time. It’s just fabric with ornamentation. Kors calls her a decorator, which is harsh but fair, and Lantie tries to blame the time factor but that doesn’t work at all. She didn’t do anywhere enough. Nina is the nice one and says “At least it’s not atrocious”. Ven’s dress is fantastic. Heidi loves it of course. Nina raves about it, so you know it’s good. Elena’s dress looks terrible now, all half bare. Heidi knows from the silhouette it was Elena’s dress, but it looks like macaroni art. They keep cutting to Gunnar making faces, just like Kenley, and shut up Gunnar. It’s not joyful, and Kors starts babbling about eyes and whatnot. Elena likes it, and she tries to defend herself by saying she wants that warrior look, but you can have that look and still look good. It’s bulky. Somehow no one has mentioned the fact that the glue is failing. Nina says she can’t be monotone all the time. Gunnar made jewelry too, so…good for him I guess. Heidi likes that he created a print, and Kors likes that he thought about it.
   
Buffi is upset about her critique. Lantie is still complaining about not having time. Gunnar is the only one to make candy accessories, Sonjia made a fun candy dress that was made well, Ven’s dress is gorgeous. The judges talk about Sonjia vs. Ven for the win but don’t say their decision. Lantie’s materials had no transformation, and they don’t have any patience for her excuses. Everyone hated Buffi’s because it was too much, but Kors knows that she spent all her time on the top and had to make a skirt out of paper. Elena made a stiff dress and her “I must stay true to my aesthetic” offended everyone. They STILL don’t mention the fact that it was falling apart everywhere.
   
Ven is the winner. Nice. He has to add in confessional that he should have won last time too. Sonjia is in. Gunnar is in. Elena is in. What? That thing was terrible. Stupid. Lantie is out. She didn’t think she was going out so early, and this is not a good representation of her designs. When they’re talking to her about her elimination, she actually says “I don’t have anything else to say”. Well then.
   
Next time: teams of two, make looks for former designers (GOD), shut up Kenley, Andrea fails at something.