Project Runway finally got its villain this week, and it’s not Kara as I expected. The villain of All-Stars is…wait for it...Jerell! This week he proved to be snarky and bitchy, and pitted against the hapless and helpless Michael Costello, a pretty excellent villain. Thanks for livening up this way-too-happy season, Lifetime.
This week’s challenge pairs off designers, but they were competing against each other, rather than with each other. Each contestant picks a purse randomly, and inside is one of the four seasons. The designers must create an outfit of American sportswear that a woman would wear in the spring, summer, fall or winter. The winners of the pair competition would be in the top four, and the losers in the bottom four.
Rami is paired against Mila for the fall. Rami makes a bright blue jacket, a braided belt, with a pretty ugly lime green turtleneck to wear underneath. Mila makes a tan cape with leather accents, a pair of jeans, and a red turtleneck. The judges aren’t overly impressed with Mila’s look, but she still takes the season.
Kenley is paired against Mondo for the summertime. Kenley makes a polka-dotted shorts jumper with a bow-tie neckline. It’s cute, but it looks like every other Minnie Mouse-inspired she’s made so far. I preferred Mondo’s polka-dotted, oversized silk shirt and tweed shorts, but the judges didn’t. He’s on the bottom between the two.
Austin is paired against Kara for the spring. Austin makes a truly awful floral printed top topped with a pink sweater cardigan with some sort of sprouted-flower trim. His pants are nice, but overall, the look likes it belongs on the unfortunately-fat chick in some World War II period movie. Kara makes a breezy pair of white pants, a fuchsia top and a slouchy, grey sweater on top. Mizrahi doesn’t like her color palette, but she beats Austin by a mile.
Finally, Michael is paired against Jerell for the winter. As I mentioned earlier, Michael copied Jerell’s sweater-coat concept, so they sent almost identical models down the runway in grey sweater-coats, black leggings and black shoes. Jerell’s is better, and he’s rewarded for his originality with a win.
Michael’s look is good, and Mondo is going to win the whole thing, so they are soon relieved of their bottom four statuses. The lights beat down on Austin and Rami—two great designers—until the judges decide to send Rami home. It’s a shame that he’s gone and Kara and Kenley are still there, but hey, that’s Project Runway.