I have to be honest here. I almost chose to entirely skip this season of Project Runway. Frankly, I was burned out on the show. And with All Stars blowing chunks, I think the franchise made a tactical mistake by not giving fans some breathing room before plunging in to a regular season. But plunge they did, and since I've always been, at heart, a lemming ... here I am.
This season is going to be a bit different, as I'm going to list the top 5 moments from each episode, and then posts the designs so you can have at them. Will this Team season work? I'm intrigued, but not entirely sure. We'll see!
1. Tim and Heidi Plead Their Case
Heidi: TEAMS!
Tim: This is my favorite season!
Heidi: TEAMS!
Tim: I've always thought that unless you can work with others, you don't have a shot in the fashion world. It's the most important thing.
Heidi: TEAMS!
Tim: So we were basically doing it completely wrong the last ten seasons!
Heidi: TEAMS!
Tim: Yes, I know it's a desperate gimmick, but they won't let me start poking the designers with cattle prods, so we need some other way to boost ratings.
2. Meet this season's breakout star, Daniel Esquivel's Mustache
Not only did he win this week's challenge (deservedly), he was also the most exuberant and charismatic. If there's an early frontrunner, he's definitely it. And come on, there's no getting around it ...
3. Meet this season's other breakout star, Patricia Michaels' Ululating
Patricia is the first Native American designer on Project Runway, and I think has the potential to be a hot mess. Let's keep our fingers crossed. She had the most memorable moment of the premiere when she lets loose with an ear-piercing Ululation not heard in New York City since Edward James Olmos ran naked on the beach in Wolfen.
4. Meet my favorite designer, Cindy Marlatt
Cindy is not the best designer (in fact, she missed being eliminated by the slimmest of margins), and looks like every school administrator who's ever lived, but she did give one of my favorite quotes in all of Runway history: "After 23 years of running a funeral home, I was feeling a creative void in my life." That's good enough for me.
5. Karma's a bitch.
There are two sure ways to tell if a designer is doomed for elimination at the beginning of an episode, and poor Emily Pollard managed both. The first is to confidently boast "I'm going to win this competition, so everyone else may as well pack their bags and go home!" Check. The second way is to learn a complete and valuable life lesson within the episode, and Emily does that when she realizes that ... older ladies are helpful. Check. And goodby Emily, you're auf'd for your terrible, horrible, unfinished bib thing. Everyone tried to help you, and it still looked like this.
So Daniel wins the first challenge, and his design really was well done.
Daniel and his Team Keeping It Real are the winners. Below you can see their collection.
And here is the losing Dream Team.
So what do you think of the Team season so far? Is Zap Posen an acceptable substitute for Michael Kors?
