PROJECT RUNWAY.....Nick Verreos Recap: The Finale Episode! "The Lone Wolf Goes For Her Kill"

Finale Divas--Season 11 Project Runway Finale Judges (left to right) Zac Posen, Heidi Klum, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia--Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week

Last night was the Finale of Lifetime Network's Season 11 Project Runway---If you read my RECAP from last week's Pre-Finale episode, I had a good hunch--from just that "preview" of three looks the Top Three designers showed the judges--of who the Winner would be. And I was right. But before we get to all that, there's several things to discuss:

What Does...

 Grace Kelly and Barbara Bush...

 Steampunk Style

Native American horse hair bustle...have in common? 

It's the Project Runway Season 11 Finale of course!

Back in February, I had the opportunity to attend the Finale Show at Lincoln Center. A BLIZZARD had just engulfed NYC and let me tell you, it was A MESS--the city that is. People were falling...

Nina Garcia--and a person falling on the iced walkway to Lincoln Center Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week

...slipping on the ice on the the way to the event, snow falling...not pretty on the ensembles and more importantly, the shoes (oh those poor NYC girls and their Louboutins!). Anyhow, I finally made it and had a chance to do some pre-show socializing with the likes of:

Nick Verreos with (left to right) Season 10 designers Christopher Palu, Sojia Williams and All Stars Season 2 Finalist Uli Herzner--Lincoln Center/Project Runway Season 11 Finale Fashion Show

Nick Verreos with Season 1 Winner Jay McCarroll--Lincoln Center/Project Runway Season 11 Finale Fashion Show

The  Collections--My "Nick Two Cents":

Top Three: (left to right) Patricia Michaels, Michelle Lesniak Franklin and Stanley Hudson--It was down to the last three designers--Patricia Michaels, Michelle Lesniak Franklin and Stanley Hudson...Let's see how they fared with their final NY Fashion Week Collections...

Stanley Hudson was inspired by...Ladies Who Lunch. Or at least that's what I thought. It was elegant, lady-like, very Barbara Bush-meets-Laura Bush-meets-Barbara Walters.

Guest judge (God, I missed him!) Michael Kors said Stanley's Final look reminded him of "Betty White on Dancing With The Stars". It was like a 1998 evening gown version of a Figure Skating costume.

Here's the Good:

 

Grace Kelly-looking gold coat (left photo) was very luxe and elegant. The gold lame peplum top with beaded front panel (right photo) was Stanley's way of "sex'ing" up the dowdy dress he had shown to the judges in his preview. This look was also very nice but again, I can find this in any department store RIGHT NOW. That's not the point of showing at Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week. It's about making the buyers, editors and WOMEN...DREAM.

Then, there was this ivory shift dress with gold sequin applique. It looked STUNNING from the front--and good choice of model I may add. But...

She turned around to make the long, long, walk down the runway and I could here gasps all around me. Yep, the center back zipper was uneven. This was UNACCEPTABLE. I don't even accept it with my fashion school students. What happened?

Here's a Screen Cap of my Face--and some of the Project Runway Alumn around me

Patricia Michaels: Patricia was inspired by "trees' and infused her textile manipulation and Native American culture into her designs and entire 12-look collection. The Good: These four looks above were my Standouts from Patricia's collection. LOVED the horsehair headdresses and that blue shift dress on the upper right especially. But...She also went "Kooky Art Teacher/Tarot Card Reader in Venice Beach":

No. No. And No.

Michelle Lesniak Franklin: I dubbed Michelle as "Bad Luck Michelle" early on in the season since her team seemed to always be at the bottom every week... but she persevered. Her Fall 2013 NY Fashion Week Project Runway Finale Collection which was inspired by a lone female wolf "going for the kill", was very Katniss Everdeen from "The Hunger Games" mixed in with some of the Steampunk fashion element. It looked fresh, new, directional, and a perfcet and ideal winning collection for Project Runway..

All of these looks above were FAB! I was so moved by her collection during the show that when I was there in the audience--at Lincoln Center--I gave her a standing ovation. Not kidding. And so it came as no surprise that she won the whole thing!

Congratulations Michelle!

The Lone Wolf Goes
For Her Kill

My guess was right. If you
read my recap for last week's pre-finale episode, I
surmised that "Only One Can Win...And I Have a Good Guess!" It was
pretty obvious, especially after the judges' pre-finale show critiques that
designer Michelle Lesniak Franklin's collection was the ubiquitous favorite and
standout. So, it came as no surprise that she got the final crown. What was a
surprise is what happened to Stanley Hudson. Those wonky hems, uneven center
back seams and four unfinished dresses? And then, there's "kooky"
Patricia and her lack of cohesion. It's the finale and I have plenty to say, so
let's get to my final recap for this season...

Top Three Fixings

When the episode begins,
we're down to the top 3. In last week's critiques, Michelle was suggested to
ditch some of the tricky purses/bags and glam up her models' hair and makeup.
Easy enough. Patricia was told she somehow needed to bring cohesion because
from those three looks she showed, there was little. Stanley was told his looks
lacked a "sex" factor, were too dowdy and not outstanding creatively.
He had the hardest job because how do you fix all that? And in a few days. As
we find out, he couldn't.

$500 Surprise

Tim walks into the
workroom with a final surprise: $500 and a final trip to Mood to buy whatever
they need to either switch up a look, improve on what they have, or in
Stanley's case, create an entire new collection (wishful thinking!). Post-Mood,
they are back in the workroom to finish their collections, along with the help
of their "sewing assistants." (Poor thangs, those kids are still
working!)

Bleeding Heart, Stubborn Stanley and Kooky Patricia

Tim does a final check-in.
He loves most of Michelle's collection deeming it "extremely
innovative." However, he doesn't like her "bleeding heart"
sweater. I LOVE IT! I believe it was made by...

CLICK HERE to read the rest of my RECAP! 

And PS: Can't wait for that KRAZEE "Reunion
Special" next week!!! As the tagline says "The Backstabbing
Continues..." Ouch.

PROJECT RUNWAY.....Nick Verreos Recap Episode 13: Pre-Finale Episode "Only One Can Win...And I Have A Good Guess!"

Top Four: (Left to right) Michelle Lesniak Franklin, Daniel Esquivel, Patricia Michaels, and Stanley Hudson--Project Runway Season 11

ALMOST New York Fashion Week...This episode was the penultimate Pre-Finale episode of this season's Project Runway. Yes kids, Season 11 Project Runway is on it's final "fashion lap" and there are four designers remaining: Used-to-be-Bad Luck Michelle Lesniak Franklin, Cry-a-Lot Mustached Daniel Esquivel, Miss Native American-Momma Patricia Michaels and Not-Nice-to-Tu Sweatshop Boss Stanley Hudson. In this last week's episode, they finally left the Project Runway workroom and went home to create their 12-look Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week Collections. Heidi gave them $10,000 and many, many months.

Three's Fab: Nick Verreos with Michael Costello (left) and Project Runway Season 7 Winner Seth Aaron Henderson ---Project Runway Season 11 Finale Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week

The show ended filming around July/August and the Season 11 Project Runway Finale NY Fashion Week show was on February 8th (I know because I was there). So, if my Calendar Math is correct...that gave them 6+ months to create their collections. Anyhow...it was time for the "Tim Gunn Visits" and he went to:

 Taos Pueblo New Mexico--to visit Patricia

 Portland Oregon--to visit Michelle

 Austin Texas--to visit Daniel

 And...Los Angeles--to visit Stanley

After the visits and after several months went by, the designers returned to NY. Tim told them that they had to show their three best looks to the judges and then one designer would NOT go to NY Fashion Week--even though we ALL KNOW that EIGHT of the designers--the three Finalists plus the next Auf'ed designers Layana, Samantha, Amanda, and Richard of Season 11 Project Runway actually DID show! (lucky them!).



The Runway:

 My Favorite: Michelle's looks were my fave of the four designers--BY FAR!

Michelle Lesniak Franklin--Michelle was inspired by Wolves and particularly, a "Lone Wolf". It was very "Hunger Games Hipster Fashionista", and I really loved the three looks. I didn't like the makeup and hair necessarily (neither did the judges) but this was certainly the freshest, most directional and new of the four designer's showings.

 This coat was so FAB!! (just too many bags!)

Stanley Hudson--I expected Stanley to be Michelle's biggest competition. And he wasn't. His designs were very luxe, elegant and he used very expensive fabrics yet...there was nothing new. It didn't look "NY Fashion Week" fresh and "What's Next" in terms of what editors and fashion experts look for.

This gold below-the-knee dress above (left) from Stanley was pretty but so dowdy. And again, nothing about it said "I'm The Next Fashion Wunderkid". It was all very Barbara Walters and Oscar de la Renta.

Patricia Michaels--Patricia maximized her ability to use textile manipulation and Native American details. The first look was this dress above and it was tacky, dated and over-accessorized. Not a good sign...

She did better with the other two looks she showed--this horsehair cape-and-pants ensemble and the light blue sequined dress with horsehair headdress. These two were new, innovative and wanted me--as well as the judges--to see more from her! Therefore she was moved on to the you-get-to-show at Finale Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week stage.

Daniel Esquivel--Daniel showed three ALL BLACK looks --allegedly inspired by Salvador Dali, Berlin, and the Nebulae around Planets. Showing three all black looks to the judges was a BIG gamble--especially since he had actual COLORS in the rest of his collection. Well, it didn't pay off. It was BA-BA-BORING.

Sweater Boring: But not as boring as this sweater and black pants he showed. I am still NOT OVER the model holding her purse as if she was Queen Elizabeth II ! I am kind of mad at Daniel for wasting this opportunity and showing a BLACK SWEATER and BLACK PANTS look. Seriously? It's NY Fashion Week! HELLO!



And now...Here's my Full Recap for this past week's Episode...

Only One Can
Win…And I Have a Good Guess!

When looking back at past
seasons of "Project Runway"—and particularly the pre-finale
episode—it wasn’t always obvious who the winner might be. Whether it was the
editing or the amount of talent, there was always a sense of "I wonder who
it will be?" Not this time. At the end of this episode, it was pretty
obvious that this was Michelle’s year to win. The other designers didn't even
come close, in my eyes, to what she presented. So how did this penultimate
episode play out and will my prediction be right? Time to discuss…

Fall Schoolin'

Michelle, Stanley,
Patricia and Daniel are in the top four. The episode begins with Heidi and Tim
congratulating—and reminding them that "only one can win." Heidi
announces that she’s giving them each $10,000 to create a 12-look collection
for Mercedes-Benz NY Fashion Week (That’s about $833 per outfit!). Oddly, she
then tells the designers that they need to use Fall colors, make sure to
forecast Fall Trends, and think outerwear. It reminded me of when I give a
"How to Make a Collection" assignment to my fashion students; it’s
understandable that I have to tell my students this, but why say it to these
designers. Shouldn’t this be obvious if you are showing during Fall Fashion
Week? But I digress...it's time for the designers to head home and create their
collections.

Taos Momma

Four months later and Tim
begins his home visits. First, he’s in Taos Pueblo, NM, to visit Patricia.
After a nice lunch with her family, he surveys her pieces. Patricia’s
inspiration is "trees." She’s done a lot of fabric manipulation to
the textiles she’s using, giving her collection a definite "Patricia"
stamp. Tim is intrigued but worried it might look too "arts-and-crafty."

Portlandia Hunger Games

Tim is now in Portland,
OR, to visit Michelle. Her inspiration is wolves, and particularly a female
hunting "lone wolf," which she says is a perfect metaphor to how she
felt during the entire filming of the season. She’s making breastplates as well
as a great hunting coat (She listened to Heidi and her "make some
outerwear" directive!). It looks very “Hunger Games," the
Ready-to-Wear Collection. And just from the small sampling of garments she is
offering up to Tim, I can tell it is going to be a great collection.

Salvador Daniel Cosmo Girl

Next up, Tim is in Austin
Texas to visit Daniel...

Click HERE to read the rest of my RECAP!