Project Runway All Stars 7/6/23--"Seeing Red" summary

 

Previously on “Project Runway All-Stars”: the contestants were put into pairs to make gowns for “modern royalty”. This was achieved with varying levels of success. Korto and Prajje used a fabric Korto brought from home with rich beading to make an African gown, and Korto was declared the winner. Brittany and Anna made a sad droopy beige number, but were both safe over Kayne and Viktor. Viktor wanted to make a “corset” that was really a breastplate, and he was sent home for costuming. (click for more)

Kayne is starting to freak out. He tells the group he really does respect what Viktor does with leather and corsets. Sure.

Christian forces everyone to walk into the runway room in the dark while he hides behind a huge bolt of dark pink fabric. Someone asks if it's “What Not to Wear” which is a great reference. He says the challenge is his own idea. Heh. You need to make your mark and separate yourself from everyone else. Everyone must share the same fabric. I mean the bolt is as big as Christian, so surely there's enough to go around? I have no idea how much fabric it takes to do anything. It is pink, although it looks dark and not Barbie pink. Fabio calls it a “primal red”. I guess it could be red. There will be notions in the workroom. Do whatever you want. Then Christian pulls some shears out of his back pocket and says there are 110 yards. Divide amongst yourselves, you have 45 minutes to do that and sketch because it's a one-day challenge. (It ends up being 11 or 12 hours.) They all carry the fabric to the workroom, except Korto who says “I'm a queen and queens don't carry stuff”.

So for all that drama, there are 11 of them and 11o yards so everyone gets 10 yards. Google tells me this is plenty for a gown, although you can't screw it up. Kayne measures by arm span and not with a ruler. Anna is trying to be creative, so she's doing ruffles and boning to make a cage? Hester is doing “a pair of pants where the crotch turns into a tie closure” which they call size-inclusive because it fits multiple shapes? Brittany has an idea for separates that are sporty but fashion.

As everyone starts working, Hester is using an electric cutter? Like, battery operated shears. They do that thing where they cut a bunch of times to everyone looking up but they also have an interview with Kara Saun where she complains about how loud it is so I guess it's actually loud. Now this fabric looks red, so why is the lighting on the runway so terrible? Fabio has a jumpsuit that looks like a dress from the front. Bishme talks about his style which is creative streetwear. He's got fusible interfacing that is supposed to go on the inside of the garment, but he's got it on the outside? It's also black, and I wonder this is less a construction choice and more a way to have something that is not red.

Christian comes in and he is very pleased with himself. Prajje is tailoring a suit. Christian basically says that he's not known for suits so don't make one. Brittany is now doing activewear in her professional life, so she's not getting the same criticism. She makes custom clothes for Peloton instructors? Then out of nowhere she says she had a stroke on an airplane, starts crying, and says she was paralyzed but used Peloton as recovery. This is just out of left field. Korto references her seatbelt coat and shows Christian the weaving she is doing. That coat was so great. Kayne's design is declared “the design you sell to the store after the runway show” and he says he wanted to make a dress for the everyday woman and Christian is like “well that is NOT the challenge”. Which is hilarious coming from Christian, a man whose fame comes from dressing people who are generally shunned by the fashion industry. Kayne decides to change his design. Christian's advice to everyone is “what do you do better than everyone in this room? Do that.” He loves Bishme's design and cutouts. Anna has ruffles, and even Prajje says she's the queen of ruffles. Kara Saun has no sketch and nothing done. I think it's a reveal? Tearaway long skirt to short skirt? Hmm. Fabio has put a swoop of fabric from the hip to the shoulder and it's the same swoop that was in his playing card dress from the unconventional materials challenge. But it's a jumpsuit now! Is it going to be amazing? Fabio might be ignoring Christian. Rami is taking advice, which is to put a bunch of zippers that make a calla lily shape. They argue over if Rami is a fast worker, because Christian knows.

Hester and Prajje go outside to smoke and talk about what they're doing. He's got a lot of work to do. Kayne is now doing a gown because that's what he does. Somehow they're supposed to challenge themselves but Christian also told everyone to do what they do best. The models come in and it's not a total train wreck for most people. Hester has not fit the model well at all. They give you measurements so get out of here with the “I didn't know how tiny she was”. It looks like the “tie crotch” is like a sarong but pants. So instead of how regular pants open in the front and fasten with a zipper and button, these have long panels that you wrap around your waist and tie. I guess so they're adjustable and that's why they're size-inclusive? But the pant legs themselves don't adjust that way, right? So if your leg is too big you still can't war them. Fabio has made a loose dress, which I think looks perfectly fine. But of course it's not “enough”. It's very Fabio though. Anna has a basic dress with a lot of loops of ruffles and she's not answering fast enough when Christian asks if she loves it. Is it enough to just make a basic dress and put ruffles on it? She says she has to make this happen. When the models leave Christian says “gather 'round” and that he has a “treat”. They want the designers to stand out too! Shopping trip! And Christian is taking them shopping. How fun! It's a product placement credit card but they are giving the winner of this challenge $10,000.

Hester tells Brittany they didn't account for the stretch in the fabric and they're complaining in confessional it's not doing what they want. I don't think anyone is happy about this challenge. Anna doesn't know if she's going to finish. Both Korto and Kayne shittalk her ruffles in confessional. I mean she did cover a dress in ruffles before, and it's the same ruffle, same size, constructed in the same way, same width strips that are on top of a basic dress. Fabio says he should have looked around the room more today, because there are a lot of other people draping. He's doing it intentionally but they are problem solving.

Christian meets them at a shop and they don't say how much they will get. It's a nice shop with some oversized jackets and like, streetwear-adjacent clothes. That was weird.

Runway Day. Hester complains about how much work they have to do, except it sounds like the same amount they had after the model left and they were there for like two hours after that. So I'm not sure when this interview was filmed. Korto is still weaving. Brittany at least will stand out from all the draping with her sportswear. When the models come in, Hester tells the model they'll finish “but you're early!” What. Fabio is obsessed with Bishme's face cutouts. He interviews that he started clubbing while young so that's how he started making clothes. Hester is asking Bishme to tell them how to fix the pants. Anna's model is trimming all the loose threads off her dress while Anna stitches. Anna looks like she might burst into tears at any moment. Kara Saun's skirt is so high. I mean I'm shocked Bravo didn't blur it. She blames it on her model's torso being long but you have measurements and you had a fitting yesterday. I don't think this runway is as elevated as the first seasons, but it's not on the floor level the judges are on so they're going to see everything. She only has ten minutes? You didn't put your dress on the model until 10 minutes before the deadline?? Prajje's model has like, a pencil skirt but it's got a slit in the back all the way up her ass so you can see her cheeks for sure. What is going on today? Hester's model is not wearing any part of the design because it's not done. Kara Saun sews a band on the bottom of the skirt but it's maybe an inch long if that and then she's shocked it's still too short. She can't do her reveal at this point because then she'll get in trouble for flashing everyone.

Guest judge today is Lena Waithe. Cool. Fabio's gonna cry. Brittany: so the top is a basic triangle bikini top, maybe slightly more coverage than a string bikini, with two strips criss-crossing over her stomach. Over this is a shrug-type of garment that has long, tight sleeves with a lot of rouching and ties at the wrists, and then goes across her shoulders with a hole for her head. So it covers the tops of her shoulders and her arms. The pants are loose, and slit up the front. Lining the hems in the front are buttons and white stitching so it looks like they snap up the front like track pants. There is also at least one cargo pocket.

Prajje: it's a sleveless V-neck sheath dress that hits above the knee. Over this are two big loops of fabric that go from her right shoulder down to her hips and then back up to the shoulders. One loop goes on each side of her body, but right above her knees they are tacked together so it's like another layer of skirt. In the back each loop ends at the corresponding shoulder so it's more like a cape. I think the loops are tacked together in the back also. Korto: long very loose pants (Korto says they're pants but I can't see any separation), and a top with woven sleeves. It's wide strips, in a basket weave on the arms, and then making a chevron pattern on the front. The top is kind of boxy with a boatneck and in the back it's just two flaps, it's not sewn up the center of her back.

Fabio: halter top and pants, which is apparently a jumpsuit. He has also draped fabric around the hips and attached in the back so you can't see the pants from the front. It looks like a dress with a lot of extra fabric hanging around her hips and a slit up the front, but the skirt is loose enough she's not showing leg. Then she turns around and because you have the fabric attached to her neck it gapes and you can see the pants. Anna: short halter dress covered in vertical strips of ruffles. They're bumpy, like she attached one end, made a little half-circle, then attached that part and so on, so there is a lot of volume. Unlike her last ruffles dress you can clearly see the dress underneath, which is just a sheath dress with a band collar and no sleeves.

Kara Saun: so she's not doing a reveal, but she's arranged the long skirt in such a way that you can clearly see how short the miniskirt is, so what is the difference anyway? The top has a hood and long sleeves, and a wide V that hits just under where her bra band would be. The sides of the hood fall into draped lapels and I think there are cutouts on the sides, although with her arms down and the lapels it's not super obvious. Then a very short skirt, and a long skirt over that which is basically a long piece of fabric she tacked at her waist. There's no back and the long piece has a train. Hester: the pants are bell bottoms, and I guess they turned out OK, although the frame I paused on it looks like the ties at the waist have been converted into a weird belt with a point in the center. Like something you'd see on a superhero costume. Also this frame the model looks like she has an erection which I'm assuming was not the plan. The top is...imagine you took a button-down shirt, cut off the left sleeve and made it a crop top. Then on the right you not only cut off the sleeve, but the shoulder as well, like a traditional one shouldered top. But both lapels and the whole collar are intact. That's the shape. There's a tie under her right armpit and the fabric looks as if it's gathered horizontally? If I took a skirt with a gathered waistband and then wrapped it around my torso? I have no idea what's going on here. In the back there is still a criss-cross of straps like her original belt.

Laurence: a jacket and pencil skirt that hits just below the knee. The jacket is buttoned at her waist, but she doesn't have a shirt underneath. It's got slightly blousy sleeves and over the shoulders and front of the jacket are cut out leaves for texture. Kayne: a long gown with a draped skirt (lots of fabric hanging over one hip) and a high slit on the other side. The top is a V down to her waist, and then the same “attach fabric to her shoulder and drape over her back” situation so many people are doing. At this point Brandon turns to Nina and says he doesn't know what to think, and Nina says she knows what to think. She is “alarmed”. Not sure if that's good or bad.

Rami: a long gown as expected. The top has a halter neckline with a band (as opposed to two triangles attached behind the neck) and no sleeves. There is a diagonal zipper running from one shoulder to the opposite hip, and it's slightly unzipped to make a slash over one shoulder. It looks like if it was zipped up, the two sides of the dress wouldn't be perfectly symmetrical. I forgot he was using zippers and at first I thought he made the bodice in two parts and tacked them together here and there, to show some skin. I think the slit in the skirt is also a zipper. The skirt is slim but not tight. Bishme: a jacket and slim pants. The jacket has big leg of mutton sleeves, and the front is open to just below the bra band in a V. There are black lapels, but they're not the usual triangular shape, they're round and sit on her chest. They kind of match the arms? There's also a peplum. On the back of the jacket there's a black cutout of two faces looking away from each other. You can also see in this shot that the leg of mutton sleeves are actually the same faces, they're not just round. There's a definite nose and mouth. The black in the front is also the faces so they DO match the sleeves.

Nina starts by asking if they've all turned into drapers and minimalists. Oof. I think someone was saying “we did good” and that was Nina's response. Elaine says Nina was alarmed and they edit it as if everyone immediately stopped laughing and got serious. This challenge was to show themselves, and unless they're all suddenly minimalists there were a lot of very similar designs. OK but does that mean Anna gets a pass because it's not minimalist? Sometimes that's not great either. Rami, Brittany, Anna, Hester, Fabio, and Kara Saun are the top and bottom. Sad, that means Bishme was safe.

Brittany is in the top. She wanted to put in the top stitching for contrast so the look wasn't flat. Very smart choices. Fly but refined. Also her pants are really well made. I do like the look even though I'd never wear it. Rami is in the bottom, and the safe designers in the Scrap Bin don't like this choice. Prajje especially says his dress is beautiful, and Laurence I think says “let them talk” like she doesn't agree. Rami talks about the zipper being him, and Brandon thinks this is highlighting all the flaws in the dress. Elaine tells him it doesn't flatter her body, but I don't see that? It fits? Lena has a good critique which is that from far away the zipper is too thin. OK I can see that. Nina hates all the jewelry but she does like the dress.

Hester is also in the bottom. They call the material “spongy polyester” and then they have a close-up of the pants, where this poor model has a distinct bulge in her crotch. There is rouching on the sides of the pants, but Nina says it's sloppy and the seams all over are uneven. There's a lot going on. Brandon knows Hester was really struggling so they tried to style their way out of it. Elaine is like, well at least it's not boring. You could wear it in the club in the dark. Then Elaine shits on the fabric, as in she basically says this is more about the shitty fabric than your design talents. Everything Elaine is saying today makes zero sense. The one thing she's said that's sensible is that this isn't boring. But they all had the same shitty fabric and some people didn't fuck up their garments so now it just sounds like Elaine loves Hester and is making excuses.

Anna ended up being in the top. The Scrap Bin is very confused, and Laurence is all “just wait, it's gonna go left” which I have no idea what that means. Anna herself looks shocked, like she was sure she was in the bottom. Is this because it's not draped and minimalist? So she gets a bump? Anna confirms she thought she was going home today. Prajje is straight up laughing at this, and Korto and Kayne are irritated. Korto interviews that Anna always makes the same look. Then they put the two ruffle looks next to each other and they do not look the same. Yeah there are ruffles but they're no more “the same” than two looks in the same designer's collection. Also this is two out of five looks. But you know what, this seems like it's going to be good drama so I'm not going to insist Korto be nice. She could be more accurate in her complaints but I'm not mad people are being catty. Brandon mentions the other ruffle dress, and Anna is like “that was plastic and this is polyester”. Girl come on. 1. it's still ruffles and 2. polyester IS plastic. It stands out, and maybe they're giving backhanded complements, I don't know. No one backstage is happy, and Korto says this is bullshit and she's going to leave (she gets up but just kind of walks in a circle) and “clearly we can repeat looks here” and Laurence says there are different rules for different people. I don't remember anyone else this season getting busted for making the same look more than once. Have they? Do I just not remember? Or is everyone offended because they think Anna is lazy and uncreative yet she's in the top? Korto is insulted. Laurence and Bishme have straight up left the room, but it's not clear if they are actually leaving or if they're just avoiding Korto or what. Nina thinks this is creative. Bishme interviews that at first he was salty about this too, but now he's viewing it as Anna using ruffles as a signature. You never know what the judges are looking for. That's a great point.

Kara Saun also has a high score, which is mildly annoying. The design is matched to her model, and this is somehow showing her background as a costume designer but edited. It's dramatic. OK that's fair. Cinematic. It's still too short. Fabio is in the bottom. Sigh. Brandon asks how Fabio is doing, and he says “distraught” and then Brandon is all “Oh? How so?” You just told him he was in the bottom, you idiot. Of course he's distraught. He says he IS a draper and a minimalist so he felt all Nina's comments were directed toward his look. Elaine is shaking her head and making a face but I mean... you bitched about how everyone did a draped minimalist look so how are you going to be shocked someone with a draped minimalist look assumed you were talking about them? They all promise him the draping comments were not about him. Fabio explains about how this garment is all one piece, and Nina says when his model walked out she did not see the “nuance” that this was one piece. Maybe that's a critique, that it's not obvious. It's not a bad look, but they're bored and know he can do something more forward-thinking.

When everyone comes into the Scrap Bin, there is a lot of comforting the bottom designers, and then Korto announces to the room that she's going to make her African dress again next time because apparently “we can repeat looks here”. This is great drama and at least she's owning it but there have been MANY designers who actually made the same look and this ain't it. I can't see any shots with both Korto and Anna in them, but Korto is saying “you” and not “she” so the implication is she's just complaining to Anna's face that she's doing the same thing over and over. Also why are you mad at Anna when it's the judges who put her in the top?

Elaine says the three top designs have a “wow” factor. When talking about Anna they of course only include comments that she did something “different” and made polyester do something it shouldn't. Brandon's the one who called her out on doing ruffles before and he's the one who said it was different! You can't even be consistent? Brandon tells everyone he's sure the other designers are mad at Anna because it's just ruffles on a cocktail dress but it's not a Grecian drape which I guess is too boring. They're not mad it's ruffles on a cocktail dress, they're mad because apparently you can only do ruffles one time per season, and the judges are acting like this is the first time. Brittany transformed her fabric. Her model looked like she felt amazing. This is really what Brittany is good at. They also can't talk enough about Kara Saun, but half of it is because her model is tall and skinny so she made a look for a tall skinny person so it “fit” her.

Brandon starts the bottom discussion by saying he gets that Fabio is upset he was in the bottom and that he felt singled out, because there were draped looks that were safe. The look was all about the pants, and he wanted layers but they cover the pants. Nina has zero sympathy for Hester's struggles with the fabric, because that's the challenge. Use this fabric. Elaine is still insisting she got the vibe and at least there was a vibe. Nina liked Rami's look, but Elaine and Lena don't think it was ready. Just underwhelming. Brandon doesn't think it was the worst.

Anna is in. Good because can you even imagine if she won? The winner is Brittany. Phew. She really did such a good job. Kara Saun is in. Rami's look did not stand out. Hester took a risk but it didn't work. Fabio hid the most important part of his look and was too safe. Hester is out. Rami is really emotional about it. Elaine tells Hester they have a very clear point of view and they stand by it, so keep that up because there's a place for you in fashion. Hester's still pissed about the fabric, but it comes down to who can do what with whatever, and they couldn't do anything with this so now they're here. Christian doesn't Save them. Hester wanted to win but it sounds like once they got here and saw who else was here that idea kind of fell apart.

Back in the Scrap Bin everyone is crying for I'm sure various reasons, and to my surprise it's Kayne who is the one to attack Anna for still being here. I guess because Hester is weird and Anna made ruffles twice, Anna should have gone home or at least gone home before Hester. It's still not Anna's fault for the judges being delusional today. Kayne straight up asks her if her unconventional materials dress and this dress were similar. She says “I know what I've done” and that she thought she was going home. Someone (I think Rami) points out it's not Anna's fault but Kayne has to add that it's disrespectful. Kara Saun gets involved and yells at everyone that they're designers and they each have an aesthetic and they are creating “art” so don't bring negativity into this space. I think that's a big ask and also a lot of bossy mom energy but it's not Anna's fault if the judges don't feel the same way you do. Korto finally speaks up to say “this right here is going to divide us” as if there is any way for it not to since she and Kayne are so determined to be mad at Anna about this. Of course it's going to divide you. You're going to be bitchy to Anna until one of you leaves.

Next week: bring back the 90s. I'm sure the drama continues.