Project Runway 4/11/19--"High Fashion to High Street" summary

Previously on “Project Runway”: we had this season's unconventional materials challenge out in the woods. Everyone was supposed to make “survival chic” outfits out of camping supplies and leaves. Also camping, and also the runway was outside too. Several people made high fashion looks, but not “survivor” looks. Renee made a cargo jacket and hung pouches and whatnot off it, and she really did the best at meeting “survival” so she won. Afa was eliminated, for making a weird net skirt and I think because his model was cold and the judges fixated on that fact. (click for more)

Everyone is glad to be indoors again. And shower. Kovid tells us it was difficult to loose Afa and to be in the bottom with him. Tessa says it's time for a “sad” challenge. I don't know what that means. Karlie texts...Rakan? A communal cell phone someone left on the table for this purpose? Anyway, get in the vans downstairs and go on another field trip.

Uptown somewhere. No one cares much because it's going to be inside. As soon as someone figures out they're in Harlem Venny guesses they're going to Dapper Dan's. Dapper Dan revolutionized hip hop fashion in the 90's. Karlie does indeed have Dapper Dan with her. Like half the designers really freak out. Karlie also confirms what Venny told everyone in the van, which is that Dapper Dan introduced the idea of luxury streetwear to hip hop. Casual and luxe at the same time. Sebastian is not that happy because streetwear in Colombia is not very big. That's true, he wouldn't have the same experience with American fashion that pretty much everyone else has. Dapper Dan took the items and fabrics and things that represented class, and did things like make logos out of diamonds and brought luxe fashion to his community. Garo brags that because he does corsets and club wear, he's also an outsider. Today's challenge is to design a “fresh version of luxury streetwear”. No trips to Mood. There are fabrics already in the workroom. One day. Renee has immunity, and wants to keep her model. Karlie passes out the other cards “randomly”. Always quotes with “random” events. I will never trust the producers again. Dapper Dan won't be judging, but he'll be around tomorrow to see what they've done. Jamall is thrilled because this is right up his alley, but he is slightly worried because it takes a lot of time.

Back in the workroom there's bolts of fabric and boxes and boxes of rhinestones and bling. Hester declares it “extra extra AF” and she says “Aa-Eff”. Well...I guess you can't swear on TV. Sebastian claims two work tables and the other designers give him shit about it. But no one seems super pissed. Lela wants to make her logo the recycling triangle for some reason. Tessa plans harem pants. Rakan also has pants, but he h as no idea about the top. Garo associates streetwear with comfort, but he still is making a corset because that's his brand. Kovid I think is making wool culottes and an oversized blouse. He wants to be himself, but also he wants to honor the communities that helped him when he moved here: Asian, Latino, and Black. So three pieces and three communities? Jamall is making a dress, but some of it is sheer, but still casual. Sebastian is still lost. He does have some kind of idea, but I think he's winging it and hoping for the best. Venny's inspiration is the sneakers he's always wanted. His family growing up didn't have a ton of money. Bishme is being inspired by his ideal lady from his hometown of Baltimore. He's tired of being safe.

Christian arrives and is very cheerful. Renee is doing a street tuxedo. She loves when someone has such a commitment to their community, and she has that same commitment. He walks by Garo and says “what is that, a tweed? Old tweed” and then walks away. Tessa has a “pant skirt”. And a “puff bomber jacket” with hopefully her logo written all over the lining. Christian loves it but do a test to make sure it's not crafty. I have no idea what a “pant skirt” is. Rakan says that farmer women always grab his attention. They always look different from everyone else, with handmade clothes, I think. Christian says “street farmer” and they giggle. Dropped crotch pants and a cropped vest made of organza. Hester found some pastel platform hi-top sneakers. Think if you had Reebok hi-tops, but made of candy. She says “Rococo boxing look”. Double layers of shorts and a wrestling cape. Christian loves it. Jamall has made a fit-and-flare dress. Not street. But it's going to be made out of a fabric with roses and gold. That design with that fabric reads “tea party” so that may be a problem. Somehow there will be bands of quilting. Now he says “18^th century Elizabethan”. Christian reminds him if he has to explain his idea, he's going to end up on the bottom. Kovid starts to talk about his look, but Christian interrupts to say he seems down and don't be too hard on himself. Remember the first look you brought, that was great streetwear. Christian then gives them a “gather 'round”, although he doesn't say the words. It's looking so easy in this room! As everyone groans, the twist is just that it's a Flash Sale challenge. OK having to take a photo to put in Instagram isn't that much more work.

Bishme and Tessa joke about Bishme's food baby (I think) and Rakan asks Jamall and Venny if they think the judges will decide he gave his model a penis. Hee. I missed the joking in the workroom. Model fitting. Sebastian has shiny harem pants. Jamall has a muslin dress right now, and he's got a lot of quilting to do. Rakan, Jamall, and Lela are hanging out eating. Normally I wouldn't dock people for eating, because I think the producers make them eat. But they only had half an hour with the models, so I would think they'd let them eat either before or after that. Right? Christian yells at all of them for shitty time management. It's killing me because he sounds exactly like I do when I yell at my students for fucking around and wasting time. And Rakan sounds like they do, “oh I'll love the top” “I have time to fix it” etc. Oo I'm having flashbacks.

After commercial...we don't know what happened with Rakan. Venny has a lot of tailoring. Tessa paints her logo on the jacket lining and dries it by running around in circles. Sebastian's harem pants look too Aladdin. The top is leather and has sleeves and it's not reading street. Everyone feels crazy. Sonia says there's no time to do anything like eat or take a break. Kovid seems to be on the verge of a breakdown again. Garo made his garment more complicated than it needed to be, so he's annoyed with himself for making his life harder. Hester has a pink hood. There is a lot of complaining about exhaustion for how many people are still here and how early in the season it is.

Back at the penthouse everyone is now loud and giggling. If they're already this sleep-deprived and crazy what's going to happen six episodes from now? Bishme says fashion helped him stay out of trouble.

Runway Day. Garo actually asks his model how she wears her hair just on the street. I like it. Dapper Dan is also here to inspect everything. He loves Hester's look. He really likes Bishme's look too, and I think Bishme is about to cry. Rakan still has a ton of work to do with his quilting. Like a ton. Dapper Dan actually really likes most things except Rakan, and then Kovid. His jacket doesn't stand out enough. Even Garo gets an “Oh my” for his sexy sweater corset. Rakan knows his construction is not up to par.

Guest judge is Brandice Daniel, founder of Harlem Fashion Row. Hester: shiny pink brocade shorts, about mid-thigh, and a cropped jacket. The jacket has a hood and is supposed to look like the robe a boxer would wear as they entered the ring. Over the shorts is what looks like a light blue tulle skirt, but I think that Hester said it was shorts? Rakan: black pants with a slight dropped crotch, and a crop top with a crop vest. The top is gold, and it doesn't look like it fits well. It looks baggy and like the bottom hem is supposed to be fitted and it's not. Not baggy enough to be on purpose, if that makes sense. The vest is black organza with some ruffles. It's just kind of whatever. Sebastian: shiny gold harem pants, with a much lower crotch than Rakan. There are straps hanging off it too for some reason. The top is a wrapped top in tan leather, with a triangle of exposed skin at her navel. The sleeves on the top are a different brown fabric, and are loose. Or maybe they're ruffled? It's an asymmetric top, with gold trim. One sleeve starts at the neckline and the other side has a cap sleeve, and then the brown ruffled part as if she had a T-shirt over a long-sleeved shirt.

Venny: black pencil skirt and a long sleeved jacket. It's a high-necked jacket that's zipped up to her neck and belted. The sleeves are made from a stiff fabric with an open weave, so they have volume and shape, but are open too. The skirt has darker panels at the hips. Sonia: long, loose black pants, I think with some sequins? The top is a strapless top in the same black, with a deep V down to her navel. There are two horizontal straps holding the sides of the V together, and a vertical strap from the bottom of the V to a collar around her neck. The fabric isn't sequins but sparkly pinstripes, and the pants are slit up the insides of her legs. Lela: a white dress with long sleeves, and a dark teal robe with short sleeves over it. The teal is belted, but as the model walks by the camera it looks like maybe this is a multi-layered dress. The skirt has two panels of the teal, over the white, and it ends below the knee. It looks so heavy and thick. And kind of shapeless.

Jamall: knee-length dress with a full skirt and high collar, but no sleeves. It's very 50's and still fit-and-flare. Most of the dress is a white fabric with a rose print with gold accents. There are two strips of quilted gold fabric down the front, and a matching belt. The neck is a high neck with a ruffle like an Elizabethan collar. But his model looks very wide, and it all looks sloppy. Also I love a fit-and-flare for myself, but the strips are weird, so it's not quite either thing he was going for. Then she has sneakers on. Oh Jamall. Bishme: tight navy pants and a lighter blue sequined jacket. The jacket has mutton sleeves. Under this is a white and blue striped shirt which is shiny and tied at the waist. The jacket has his initials on the front and the name of the street he grew up on on the back. Garo: I think it's a jumpsuit in a brown and white print that looks like tweed. Or maybe it is tweed? The bottom is cropped culottes, and the top is sleeveless and looks like those tops where you just take two lengths of fabric and drape it over your shoulders. The waist is cinched with a sweater corset, which matches the collar. Or maybe it's sweatshirt material? So there's a V-neck on the jumpsuit, and then a white sweater collar, with a thin strip (maybe a zipper?) running to her waist.

Kovid: wide legged shorts, that hit at the knee, with a tube top and a sleeveless long duster. They're just blue shorts, and a dark print top with rectangles, and a beige long vest. It's very boring. Renee: wide legged black pants, that are cropped, and a black jacket. I think they both have sequins. There is a black and red plaid piece of fabric wrapped around her waist like a flannel shirt. I can't see the jacket clearly because they don't show any closeups. There's a white shirt too but I can't see that either. Tessa: black pants and a black crop top and a black cropped bomber jacket. Actually I think it may be a long tight skirt over leggings, because her model is keeping her legs together as she walks like she can't take long strides.

Lela, Renee, Hester, Sonia, Sebastian, and Tessa are safe. I think Lela is lucky. Venny talks about growing up in Brooklyn and sneakers. The shape is great, and Nina says it's the most authentic work they've seen from him. They really love it, and he's moved to tears. Rakan tells the judges about the farmer women he told Christian about. It's a little too genie, and he should have had sneakers and not heels. Brandon wants a pocket, because pockets are essential for streetwear. Is this a secret requirement? Like when they make fried chicken on “Top Chef” and get in trouble if it's not on the bone, because fried chicken should be on the bone, even though they didn't explicitly say so? It's not luxurious but cheap. Nina decides he was trying to be safe and she's mad. Jamall says how streetwear is connected to Blackness, and then says that's the trigger to the idea of Victorian 18^th century woman. What? Elaine says no cool Black woman would wear this. He also has to admit there were supposed to be sleeves. It's not streetwear and it's not modern or young. Elaine asks if he thinks this is youthful, and Jamall says he's terrified of the question of who his work is for, because he's still young and his work is for himself as he tries to figure out who he is. Brandon acknowledges that he can do that, no problem, but the hem and seams are unfinished and that's not acceptable.

Garo insists that his clients wear cinched looks as streetwear. I thought he didn't make streetwear? They love the cinched waist and for some reason also the white dad sneakers. It's wonderful. Bishme explains the labels on the jacket, and Elaine especially loves that. Bishme then says his Baltimore girl may not have a lot of money, but she's always flashy and she always looks like she has enough money to get to where she's going. I really like that description, it's so specific. The shape of the jacket is current but will also be relevant in the future. Nina loves that it says something and means something. Brandon is immediately dead if he sees this on the street. Calm down Brandon. Kovid talks about the three communities that supported him. The pieces clash. Nina thinks it looks suburban. Ouch. Kovid is down because he feels like they don't understand him. Last week he liked what he did and they didn't. He missed the mark this week.

Venny's look is very flattering. It's restrained and represents him. Garo's look is impressive for the time they had, and he was smart to make the corset in a fabric that went with the rest of his look. Everyone will want Bishme's jacket with their own initials and neighborhood on it. It's very chic.

Rakan made his gold brocade look cheap, and the organza is too “genie”. If the pants were lower or had pockets it would have worked better. Nina still is insisting that he's too safe. Jamall has unfinished edges everywhere, and it's not anywhere near streetwear. Kovid's look is “unfortunate” and it all clashes. It also looks worse when they have a closer look, which is really not good. The long vest is suede, and the shorts are some kind of knit, so they don't go together at all. But he has better finishing than Jamall. Maybe this is the wrong platform for Kovid.

Bishme had a story and it was editorial, but Garo also really stepped up and fit the theme. And Vinny produced his best garment of this competition. Kovid's look wasn't cohesive and it lacks a point of view. But Jamall's garment is unfinished. Elaine pipes up that Rakan is in the bottom too, and Brandon admits he's tired of going in circles with Rakan. He's not stepping up.

Venny is in. Bishme is the winner! His perspective was everything they wanted for this challenge. Garo is in. Bishme is proud of his look and he says that as long as you believe, you can achieve. Rakan is in. Kovid's look was confusing and they question his taste level. Jamall's look was unfinished and not streetwear. Kovid is out. Yeah, it's probably about time for that. Jamall is in. Brandon tells Kovid he hopes he'll grow and some day they'll see him again and his looks will be in fashion. Aww. He knows he had a lot of courage to stand in front of big fashion names and speak his mind, so he's proud of himself for that.

Next week: video game characters, some looks that...do not look like any video game I've seen, some badass models.