Project Runway 3/14/19--"First Impressions" summary

Previously on “Project Runway”: well it was a very long time ago. And on another network. And it had Heidi and Tim. Project Runway has moved back to Bravo, with a new model and a new mentor and new judges except for Nina. (click for more)

It's launch party time. So the runway is new. It's not elevated, so no more looking up people's skirts. The judges are sitting on a ledge, not director's chairs. Actually there are almost a dozen people over there so I'm not sure who all they are. The designers seem to be standing on the other side of the runway. The chyrons tell all: the people on the ledge are “fashion press and influencers”. I am sure “influencers” means “people with many social media followers”. The judges are also standing? Let people sit down, damn. Anyway, there are many “fashion press and influencers” standing around with champagne and whatever, and Christian is actually watching the runway which is nice.

We all know who Nina is. Elaine Welteroth, journalist and author. Brandon Maxwell, fashion designer. I think some of the designers have glasses, so you're letting them drink? Fantastic. Karlie Kloss says this is everyone's first impression of the designers, and their first impressions of each other. Venny: black and white skirt and crop top. The skirt is white down to her hips and then black to just below the knee, and the top is all black. There is beige piping making a V pattern on the top, over the shoulders and down the arms, and then down the skirt to elongate it. The piping in the back is more circular so it looks very eye-catching. Renee: big oversized coat with big fuzzy lapels. Rakan: long white wool coat, with a high neck, and geometric cutouts appliqued in random spots. The hem is cut so there's a big notch over one leg, about as wide as her leg, and then shorts under the coat. It's very architectural and interesting. Garo: short black cocktail dress, with a strapless bodice. The bodice has kind of a deep V but it doesn't look like it fits at all. It looks way too big. Also a big black leather collar.

Cavanagh: white knee-length skirt and crop top, with a matching jacket. The crop top looks like a long line bra, so just a bra with a band underneath to cover more of the stomach. The skirt is just a straight skirt, and she's not even wearing the jacket. All three pieces are in those sequins that are different colors depending on how you brush against them. Eh. Somehow this is perfectly Cavanagh and I've watched less than 5 minutes of her. Jamall: puffy coat dress in dark gray. I think it fastens in the back because there is no zipper or buttons in the front. The neck is high, but has a fan for volume, and then the back is exposed. It's cute. Kovid: long teal dress, with orange straps. The orange straps have buckles, and then there are more straps that hang down the sides of the dress to the floor. It's a tea-length skirt. I like the color, but not the matching sneakers or the random straps. Who was it that did straps all the time? I can't remember. Frankie: first of all, this is a plus-sized model because she her chest is pretty big (I like to say, she has a deep veranda) and she's got hips. Long dress in dark raspberry, with a high crew neck and elbow-length sleeves. It's fitted to the knee, then opens up with strips of black and raspberry feathers and tulle. It's fitted wonderfully.

Hester: Baby blue dress, with a knee length pencil skirt and a strapless bodice. But the bodice has two lobes over her boobs, then sheer fabric up to her neck and around each arm. There is dark blue trim along each “sleeve”, and outlining the lobes and the neckline. Over the skirt is a puffy skirt of baby blue tulle, gathered like a bubble skirt but short, so like 6 inches of the pencil skirt sticks out. Also the model has blue hair. It's silly. The back laces up. Hester says she can't get jobs but she's here to be herself. I guess, but the demand for these looks is a very small slice of the fashion world. Very small. Bishme: bronze cocktail dress, very short. It looks like he wrapped a length of fabric around her and knotted it, then fanned out the ends to cover her chest and crotch. When she turns around, you can see there is technically a very short strapless dress under the fan, all made of leather. Sonia: long dress (or maybe pants?) in a dark brown or maybe an olive. The bodice is gold, and it extends down over her hips and between her legs. A bolero jacket in the same brown/olive is over this. At the end of the runway she takes off the jacket to reveal the bodice has shoulder guards, that are attached to the rest of the bodice just at the neck. It comes up to a high turtleneck collar, and then there's some skin between the shoulder pieces and the rest of the bodice. Regardless of if it's a skirt or pants, the back is one piece like a skirt. Some gold trim in a swirly pattern runs down the front of the legs, and the back of the skirt. Nadine: tight white cropped pants and a white jacket. The pants are very tight and end just above her ankles, and have a horizontal gold filigree pattern. The jacket has wide lapels and big bell sleeves with more gold on them. I can't tell if the model has a shirt on, or just a skinny tie. It fits wonderfully.

Lela: white pants and a white tube top. The pants are loose, but not palazzo pants yet, and the top flows down to a sash that hangs down one leg. It feels boring after some of these other looks. Tessa: long slim black skirt, and a lighter black crop top. The top has a horizontal narrow keyhole just above her boobs, and then there are cutouts in the sleeves that give the impression most of the sleeve is just hanging on by a thread. The sleeves are then big and long so they cover her hands. Afa: long slim green gown. The skirt is tight, with a slit up to mid-thigh, and the top is sleeveless with a darker green panel down the middle. There's a white collar that hangs down over her boobs, and a brown belt. Over the skirt is a huge overskirt in a pink, black, and green floral print, that gives a ton of volume and a train. Very dramatic. Sebastian: light mustard yellow gown, with a long skirt and an off-the-shoulder top. There are a lot of pieces hanging down around her waist, like she tied a bunch of pieces of fabric to make the dress and all the ends are there in front. There's some random loops and I think part of the skirt is pleated.

Tessa says she's a little intimidated, and some of the looks aren't to her personal taste, but she doesn't want to judge anyone yet. Karlie thanks everyone for coming and then says it's time for your first challenge! Then she giggles about how much fun that is to say. So the new prize is $250,000, a feature in Elle, another $50,000 that is supposed to go towards your design studio, and a mentorship from the Council of Fashion Designers of America.

The new workroom looks very cool. Very industrial, exposed brick and raw wood columns and stuff. Christian is there to greet everyone and explain that he is the new Tim Gunn. Plus he's been a contestant. There's still a sewing room, and fancy pens to sketch. Christian says their inspiration today will come from four of the biggest names in fashion. Oh, the judges and Karlie. Sure. Karlie says that everyone has photos from the time when they recognized they were destined for fashion. Everyone gets a photo (and a judge) for inspiration.

Karlie has a runway photo from her first show. Brandon's photo is his mom. His grandmother ran a clothing store, and he grew up there. The photo is his mom in a fashion show for the store. Nina has a black and white photo of her first photo shoot that she was in charge of for her first magazine job. Elaine has the cover of Ebony magazine. It's her first cover, and she says it was the first time she saw a woman of color being celebrated for her curves. Everyone had meaning behind their photo, but Elaine's has a little bit more weight. Evolve the fashion in the photo. Two days and $250.

20 minutes to talk to the judges. Brandon says his central idea is to make women feel their best. Elaine is from a small town where no one had a ton of ambition, but she was very persistent to get the job at Ebony. Karlie was 13 in her first runway show. She thought she was tall and awkward. Nina learned from her internship to find strength from being a Latina instead of trying to assimilate. They seem to have done a good job matching people up, so for example Frankie, who was the one with the plus-size model, is with Elaine, and Sebastian, who is from Colombia, is with Nina. Christian calls everyone over to randomly draw models and sketch. The models seem to be a variety of body types, but no Liris or Jazzmyne. Hester is already wearing a different wig and outfit in confessional. She's just aggressively quirky. Tessa wants to incorporate aprons since both her parents have jobs that require aprons. Renee has nine (!) kids, and she's inspired by Brandon's story about his mom. She wants a strong piece. Frankie loves a leotard.

They get a whole penthouse! No more garbage hotels and apartments with beds in the living room! Cavanagh makes some dumb comment about how she doesn't sleep in twin beds. She's going to be like Laura Kathleen and complain no one understands her bougie life, isn't she. Renee asks that the rooms be single sex as she's Muslim and can't have men in her environment. Frankie was ready to move to Chicago with her boyfriend of 9 years, and two days before he broke up with her. Damn. She's couch surfing currently.

Everyone seems very lost at Mood, as they don't know where anything is. Lela wants to be environmentally conscious, so we can only hope for another Timothy situation. Cavanagh whines that $250 isn't enough money, so obviously the next shot is of Frankie saying she can't believe she has $250 whole dollars for just one outfit. Christian is there because of course someone has to be there to give advice. Hester finds “plastic organza”. She is currently wearing a rainbow striped sweater and black and white checkered overalls, and she's rejecting fabrics for being tacky.

Four hours today to get started. Everyone is pretty friendly and chatty. And helping each other. Hester is starting to freak out because she's never used this fabric before and I guess it's not going well. I just noticed everyone's chyron with their name also has a description of their style. For example, Hester's says “contemporary avant garde designer”. She's starting on her dress because the coat isn't working and she needs something to put on her model. Frankie and Afa giggle about hungry booties (basically she's making sure her model doesn't get a wedgie). Kovid says he's making a “goddess” gown. Cavanagh has a “curvy” model, which I can't imagine isn't on purpose. Come on. She's had like five minutes of screen time and I am sure it was on purpose. She mentions she's been in Elle already, and her father got to see it before he passed unexpectedly. Venny wants to put feathers on his garment, to call back to the balloons in the photo. Frankie put a seam down the front of her bodysuit, so she's got to redo it to avoid camel toe.

Day Two. 12 hours to work. Karlie and Christian show up pretty quickly for a gather 'round. Karlie says something about branding and e-commerce. This is a “flash sale challenge”. In some challenges this season, America will vote on the looks. Both the winning look from the judges and the fan favorite look will be manufactured for sale by Nineteenth Amendment and sold on Bravo's website. That's a good prize. Once the looks are done they'll be photographed and posted on Bravo's Instagram. This is a good twist because they don't really have to do anything extra.

Christian time! He just sort of walks through, asking the room if they feel good and then talking to whoever. He's so tiny. Kovid explains his goddess gown, with a structured jacket. Maybe he doesn't need the jacket because this looks cool and modern. Kovid then fangirls about Christian. Venny has a lot of different textures and fabrics going on, and he gets the advice to simplify. Cavanagh has a black skirt and top, and a jacket. Christian stares at it for a couple of seconds, then says the jacket has to be really interesting because otherwise it's just a black dress. Frankie has a royal blue bodysuit. Christian cautions her to not cut her model's body into too many pieces. And be tasteful.

Model fitting. Everyone is excited to see their models. Cavanagh has cut her tweed jacket too small and there's not really any way to make it work. She's trying to attach the panels at the shoulders and she can't even get that to happen. Kovid's model is the first transgender model on this show. Fantastic! When she tells him this, he does the hands-to-cheeks shocked face, then he bows in respect and tells her he's so honored and thanks her. Aww! It's such a touching and genuine reaction. The bow got me. Kovid interviews that where he was living in India, homosexuality is still a crime, and he had to run quickly when his neighbors called the cops on him and his boyfriend. He feels a connection to his model. Frankie's model is taller than she expected. Which is weird because I don't understand why the height wasn't in the initial measurements? Maybe the problem is the length of her torso. She's got to put new panels and stuff. As soon as the models leave, she goes to the lounge for a quick cry. She tries to get back to work but Hester finds her crying. Then Christian comes back...? He suggests maybe do shorts, because that would be easier than the swimsuit. But she's only got two hours. There's plenty of working, but it's not as frantic as it could be.

Runway Day. Lots of stress and people faking optimism. Christian arrives to bring the models in and tell everyone he's so excited he could pee. Frankie has something to show, so that's good. Afa says he'll show her how to put an invisible zipper in. Cavanagh asks her model to sew her own garment. The model is clearly shocked. Afa is next to them and says something to the model about how she didn't think she'd be sewing today, or whatever. Then he says he doesn't want to sound like a douchebag on TV, but he's helping Frankie because Frankie and Cavanagh are completely different people. Frankie is a sweetheart and Cavanagh does her own thing. Oh I can get what you're saying. Christian reminds them of the Instagram photo. We're back to TRESemme and Mabelline. But sadly, no hot makeup guy Scott. Everyone takes their photos with iPhones. Cavanagh snobs that she'd never take social media photos on her phone like a pleb. Professional photos only.

Backstage Frankie is still sewing, and like three or four people are sewing anywhere there's a safety pin. They all offered, and I know I usually tell people not to help because it's a competition, but I like Frankie and it's the first challenge. Also Cavanagh is still over here with her side eye saying how it's not sustainable business practice to have people helping you. Girl you asked your model to sew for you like two hours ago.

No guest judges today. Venny: black skirt, knee-length and slightly full, in a flowy fabric. Organza maybe? Down the sides of the skirt are long orange feathers. The top is a bandeau bra and a vest, both in black. The vest has one sleeve, and the feathers are shorter on that side, they don't go all the way down to the hem of the skirt. Her whole stomach is exposed. Nadine: long white shorts, almost down to the knee, and a white jacket. Under the jacket is a sheer black lace top,, with long sleeves that end in ruffles. Like she was wearing scrunchies on both wrists. The jacket has elbow length sleeves. The shirt has more ruffles over her chest, and the shorts have black down the sides. Cavanagh: black skirt and top. The top is sleeveless and I guess a crop top? The skirt is just a knee-length slim skirt, with a wide leather belt. It's pretty basic. Renee: long skirt under a long tunic, all in dove gray. The tunic is cinched at the waist to give her shape, but there's a lot of volume in the bottom part. Long sleeves and a high neck. The bottom hem is asymmetric, and the neck is open just a little bit to show a black lace top. I thought it was pants at first, but when the model stops at the end of the runway you can see it's a long skirt. Then she takes off the asymmetric part of the skirt and flings it around her neck like a scarf, leaving a long gray dress. Awesome.

Lela: long gray shiny satin skirt, just a slim cut with a slit in the side. The top is a coral red, with a high neckline. It ends just below her boobs, but on one side the red fabric hangs down to almost the floor, like the end of a sash. I don't know if I like the skirt ending mid-calf. Rakan: shiny gray jumpsuit with wide legs and a nicely draped sleeveless bodice. Jamall: wide-legged pants in a pinstripe, with a long sash. The top is a sleeveless jersey top with a hood and a cowl neckline. It kind of looks like there is some embellishment on the hem of the pants, but I can't really see. Bishme: very shiny silver pants with a slight bellbottom and a gray top. The top has a big asymmetric peplum, but it starts high so it's more of a empire waist. The long sleeves are open on the sides, with lacing.

Garo: white pants, or maybe a full skirt, and a short corset. You know when you get a waist shaper, and it isn't supposed to cover your boobs but just your waist. Then a very short crop top in navy and white horizontal stripes. The top is off the shoulder so it's just like a band of fabric across her body. There's a matching wide leather collar. Tessa: black pants and a long black tunic. It looks like a minidress with pants. The top has thick white straps that criss cross in the back and then hang down to almost the floor. Sonia: super wide-legged pants in white, and a black top. The top has a halter, the kind with a collar. Then there are two huge black sleeves, attached just at the shoulder and wrist. Sebastian: loose white pants, and a navy and white top. It looks like a bikini top, and then over that two strips of navy and blue horizontal stripes above and below her boobs. There's a jacket with kimono sleeves that the model slides down her arms, where it still looks like it's on purpose. The ankles of the pants are wrapped up with black strips (or maybe they're navy). There's a lot going on here.

Afa: long gown with a very long train. It's in a dark blue or maybe a purple? With a lighter center panel and off the shoulder bodice. Frankie: royal blue swimsuit. I don't think it's long enough to be shorts. The bodice is cut down to her waist, like two pieces that go over her boobs and shoulders but don't touch each other. There's a pattern of strips of fabric, like she sewed a bunch of random pieces on there. It doesn't fit on the top. Also her butt is hanging out. Hester: dark blue short dress, with a draped skirt that swirls around. The bodice has side cutouts and arm bands, and then two strips of fabric down her shoulders like an outline for her collarbone. The fabric has a slight stripe pattern. There are some strings and beads hanging off the back of the collar. Kovid: long gown in blue, with a lavender layer underneath. The straps on the top are light blue ribbons that tie at the back of her shoulders and hang down.

Lela, Vinny, Frankie, Renee, Cavanagh, and Tessa are the top and bottom. Everyone else is in. Oo, the Scrap Bin looks nice. AND! It has a TV so everyone can watch the judging. Vinny explains how the feathers are supposed to represent the balloons in the original photo. He claims you could wear it to an art gallery. There's a lot going on, but Nina says she'd rather have more ideas than fewer ideas. His model was clearly confident in it. Cavanagh claims she was going for strong, confidant woman. It's basic, for how much money and time they had. Brandon wants to know where the money went, so Cavanagh has to explain she scrapped the tweed. Elaine mentions that she's noticed that Cavanagh isn't surprised by the feedback. Renee is designing for a woman who doesn't scream but still gets noticed. Brandon says it really represents his mom. They love the details and all the work. I really like how it's tailored but still modest and interesting.

Lela shades all the other designers who had Karlie, because the picture was a gray dress and everyone else used gray except her. It's sporty, but Nina doesn't think there's a lot there. The details need to be perfect. Tessa wanted the straps and buttons to mimic a boat. It looks very expensive and Nina loves the pants. Also she's crazy over the pockets on the tunic. Frankie doesn't talk about her inspiration but immediately starts explaining how she had to start over because she mismeasured. She starts crying (and the Scrap Bin seems to be urging her to keep it together). The judges stop her to say she gets one shot. Nina asks what the fabric is, and as Frankie is trying to show it's got stretch to it, she pulls the piece off the garment and has to tuck it back in. Uh oh. It doesn't look good because Nina especially is not impressed.

We're still doing the hands-on, up close inspection of the clothes, which I like a lot. Vinny has a ton going on, but Nina appreciates a risk and they agree the tailoring is well done. They can't get enough of Tessa's look. It's simple, but very expensive looking. Renee's outfit looks perfectly sewn. Brandon wants to lay on the floor and start crying. Lela had an idea, but the fabric of the top is wrong. It's kind of whatever, but clearly is not the worst. Cavanagh made a super basic outfit, plus it's not very inspired. Frankie clearly didn't do well, but Brandon argues that at least she had an idea. She's used the wrong fabric, and Elaine doesn't think it looks like she designs for curvy women. Ouch.

The winner is Tessa. Nina tells her that all the women judges feel like they could wear her outfit. She gets immunity, too. Vinny and Renee are also in. Lela is in. Cavanagh fell flat and was basic. Frankie's bodysuit was poorly made and had a taste issue. Cavanagh is out. Frankie is in. She starts crying again, while Cavanagh just stands there stone-faced. Frankie goes back to the Scrap Bin to tell them she's safe, and they cheer so loudly I can't believe they didn't hear it on the runway. Cavanagh is numb, but in her exit interview she basically says her garment was flattering and others were shittier. Now she's ready to wash her hair and sleep with a real pillow. Already this show has not kept her around for drama and conflict so it's very refreshing.

This season: famous people, camping, Elton John, some drama obviously. I think Brandon is the new Kors.