Project Runway All Stars 4/21/16--"State of the Art" summary

Previously on “Project Runway All Stars”: the designers were asked to make an outfit for a pre-existing clothing line. Said clothing line is “sophisticated with a badass edge” and also it was a summer look. This didn't go as well as I assume they thought it would. It's hard to make a summer look that includes the usual “badass” indicators like leather and dark colors. Anyway, Emily won by making a sleeveless vest with an asymmetrical lapel (in black) and knee length culottes. Asha was eliminated for a mostly boring sheath dress with leather in dark red which was not summer. (click for more)

Everyone meets in an art gallery. This week's challenge is the avant-garde challenge. Everyone is excited, even though no one on this show really has a good grasp of what avant-garde really is. Wearable art. Two days to work, which might happen. It did before. Alyssa also tells them the guest judge will be Boy George, so they can all freak out. The artists all come out to explain their pieces, which is nice but I didn't think they were assigned specific people or anything. The sketching is pretty ambitious, which is to be expected. Sam wants to make a rainbow flag. Because of course he does.

Emily cuts a bunch of strips. Sam is painting his fabric for his rainbow, and I guess it's supposed to have obvious brush strokes and whatever. Ken interviews that Sam is a huge threat. Not because he's a great designer but because he has some kind of relationship or something with the judges that they can't put their finger on. They think he's cute, it's pretty clear. Kini and Ken roll their eyes about it in the sewing room. Ken didn't get to his avant-garde challenge his season. Kini claims the avant-garde challenge his season was that stupid “rainway”, which, fine. Ken smugs that Sean (who also won that challenge with Kini, he made that dress with the dye in it that ran as it rained) didn't really do anything avant-garde, his dress just bled. Well for that matter Kini ripped off several designers with the umbrella dress he made so whatever. Sam can't handle this slander against Sean, I guess, or he just wants to argue with Ken. He claims “avant-garde” is an idea. Ken and others say it's about silhouette. OMG who cares about this argument. No one actually does avant-garde on this dumb show anyway! Sam brags that his version is not ridiculous, but let me remind him IT'S A RAINBOW DRESS. It is a literal rainbow. So even if this is “an idea” your idea is not original or interesting.

Day 2. Ken is glad to have had the chance to sleep on his design. Zanna Time! Emily has some tubes (I think) in pink and blue that are woven down the front of the dress to make a design. Like a cable-knit sweater. Zanna holds up a photo of the artwork she is using for inspiration and says the colors are identical. Maybe be more creative? Dom has some metallic print like a tweedy kind of print with an organza overlay. She needs to really bring it. Kini made a ton of ruffles and a big loop of fabric on her shoulder, which is I think what most of the designers on this show default to for this challenge. Lots of hand-stitched ruffles and a big collar. It's not modern enough. Ken made black leather armor which looks pretty good, actually. Zanna tells him “Don't make it too 'Blade Runner'”. Sam's look is a hot mess. It's just a big blob. I guess at least it doesn't look like he just wrapped the fabric around the dress form. And the painting doesn't look as shitty as it did while he was still painting. But a literal rainbow clashes with itself. His artwork inspiration is a digital projection of an owl. There is no color in it. He says the rainbow is because of gay marriage being legal. Is that what the artwork is about? If not, then why is your dress about that? Also that is so literal. Zanna tells Sam this design is not supposed to be about a moment in your life, it's about being inspired by the artist, and also making a rainbow dress to represent gay marriage is cliche. YA BURNT, son. Then when she leaves they pan out and it looks like when Sam was painting the paint bled through and stained the floor. That's a dick move.

Sam decides to drape purple chiffon over his dress, “like a shroud”. A shroud to represent how Zanna killed his precious idea? Model fitting. Sam claims he tore his dress apart, which he did because NOW it looks like he wrapped fabric around his model. Emily knows she maybe isn't super avant-garde but she likes her look and she'd rather go home for something she likes. Kini puts a hood over his head and Ken tells him it's the best he's looked in a long time. Hee. Ken is still bitching about Sam, I guess with cause because Sam has been coasting through. Really he should be posing that question to the judges, but Sam has been so damn cocky in addition to coasting through that I could see directing some anger his way.

Runway Day. Ken is STILL bitching about how Sam just draped some fabric while everyone else is working their ass off. I get it but it's not like he's never been in the bottom. Dom hopes she has something unusual but still “fashion”. Hot makeup guy Scott. Everyone makes fun of everyone else's looks. Both Ken and Kini have covered up their models' faces in some way.

Boy George is actually here. How about that. Ken: long black dress with long puffy sleeves. There is a huge piece of fabric running from her waist, up her chest and around her head and back down, that is acting like blinders. Other than that I don't think the dress is so unusual, but it is dramatic. Lots of ruffles on the top. Emily: black sheath dress with a cowl neck, with bright pink and blue tubes that are interwoven like a cable-knit sweater. The bottom six or so inches is just plain black, although it may be fringe? I can't tell. Actually I think it's more tubes, just in black. It looks cool but I don't know if she went far enough. Sam: the purple chiffon over the rainbow helps, because it doesn't look as tacky as it did before. But it's just a dress with big flaps of chiffon. I feel like I could buy this somewhere right now. Plus the flaps look sloppy, like they aren't on purpose but rather are because he didn't sew the dress properly and it's unfolding on the runway.

Dom: tight dress in silver and gold prints. Both prints have the same stripe, almost tweed pattern to them, just in different colors. She cut a bunch of panels to make designs with the colors. Then over this is a chiffon jacket, with a ton of ruffles. I think it's a jacket with sleeves but it's so shapeless it's hard to tell. Maybe it's a sheer overlay dress? All the chiffon is trimmed in gray-blue striped fabric so you can see how the ruffles are. I think it looks interesting. Kini: long pink skirt with a ton of ruffles. Then over this is a black tulle peplum, I think, and then over that is pink and black brocade, going from one shoulder to the opposite hip like a sash. It sticks up over the shoulder too. Then a pink belt, and then underneath all these layers is a skintight black bodysuit that covers all exposed skin including her head. The bodysuit is dramatic but the rest of it is just a dress?

Emily talks about female strength and being strong but soft. They like the piece but it's just not far enough. They wanted the shoulders to be wide and the waist to be narrower, i.e. to have a weird silhouette. Kini wanted his model to be like a mannequin: faceless. Isaac says it's too pretty? What? They all love how her head is covered. Alyssa says it made her uncomfortable which she liked. I think he's fine? Dom talks about mosaics. For some reason they don't think it's “avant-garde”. Dumb. Oh, it's avant-garde for Dom. Whatever. It's not weird enough, I guess. Isaac says they've had a weird long conversation and then says “I mean who knows what the hell we're talking about.” HE SAID IT.

Sam tries to tie a projection of an owl to his rainbow dress. He also pretends he changed his mind about his “joyous” shape and how he realized he wanted his dress to be about all the gay people who didn't get to see gay marriage legalized so that's where the shroud came from. No mention is made of how Zanna showed up and roasted him thoroughly. Boy George thinks it's well constructed but that's about all it has going for it. I...feel like it's probably not well constructed either. Isaac declares it his favorite because he's fucking insane. It's not lovely, Isaac, it's lumpy. Georgina says it's unresolved, and then Alyssa tells Sam it's a kite stuck in a tree. Ha! Ken does a really good job explaining his artwork and then has his model stand in profile to show how she can just barely peek out. Boy George calls it “pure Grace Jones” which is both perfect and a huge compliment, I think. Isaac loves that you can see just a sliver of her face. It's leather and cut really well and everyone loves it.

Back in the Scrap Bin Sam makes some weird comment about the top and bottom (heh) and Ken decides now is a good time to confront him about sucking. He asks Sam how he feels as a designer, and when Sam says he feels pretty good, why do you ask? Ken says he's just draping and hand-stitching things instead of pushing himself. Listen, I get that Sam's an obnoxious child, but really the judges are the ones letting his outfits through. Alexander's comment of “maybe we should all flirt with the judges” is better because you're knocking him for not being any good. This faux “I'm just concerned you're not pushing yourself” bullshit is so ridiculous because we all know you don't give two shits about whether or not someone else is living to their full potential. As Ken continues he does bring up the point that Sam appears to half-ass things sometimes, and that's upsetting to Ken, who really wants to win and is pushing himself really hard. He's had to fight this whole way, while Sam has just been flirting with the judges. Sam claims to want this too, and when Ken says he doesn't believe it, Sam says “I don't care what you believe.” Rude, but also you can't really tell people they don't feel what they feel? At least say “your actions don't show it” or something. Ken then calls Sam a liar and a snake, who rests on how pretty he is. Sam gives up at this point and says there's nothing he can do to change Ken's mind, and Ken is like “grab your balls and man up.” Don't pretend you care about Sam doing well. You want him to go home. So don't pull this bullshit of “you need to do better”. Ken's not saying anything blatantly false but we all know he's not doing it because he wants Sam to be a better person. It's like every internet troll who hates on fat people and then says “But I am just concerned about your health!” I can't roll my eyes hard enough.

Ken's high collar really impacted everyone a lot and their only complaint is that the collar is not attached to the dress. And maybe the skirt is plain. But I think he did really well. Dom's dress has a clear inspiration but it's not so challenging. They do like the dress itself, though. Kini has some colors that are too pretty? Too bright? But the hood and bodysuit is very striking. Sam fucked up, and Georgina knows it. Plus she hates the purple. I think Isaac is the lone person who liked it. Emily could have done more, although the dress itself isn't horrible. But it's not challenging either.

The winner is Ken! Nice. Kini and Dom are also in. Sam's dress is super boring unless you tell everyone who sees it what it is about. Emily's dress didn't push the envelope. Emily is out. OF COURSE. I mean, when you knew they were the final two who thought Sam would go home? Come on. For some reason (I'm sure producer-scripted drama) Sam goes back to the Scrap Bin without Emily so he can tell everyone he's safe and Ken can say “Wow, I think that's bullshit” to his face. It's true, but come on. Sam sighs that he doesn't care and then Ken is like “I wasn't talking to you, I didn't say Sam.” Oh please. If you didn't want him to respond, then keep your fucking mouth shut until he's out of the room. Also maybe don't look at him, you dummy. Now Ken is done talking about it, which is ALWAYS code for “I will bring this up as many times as I can.” Emily made a lot of friends and she thinks the judges' critiques were constructive. Sigh.

Next week: Nina Garcia! All previous All-Stars winners! Alyssa is like “For the first time this season the judges cannot make a decision” but you had TWO non-eliminations so don't feed me this bullshit, Alyssa.