We all know what this means! We see some sparks of genius from some designers, while others become an utter disaster! And with this bunch of designers, this trend was no different. The episode began with the designers walking into a transformed workroom. They were able to see a pop-up installation from Simon Huck & his A. Human body modification exhibit. The exhibit featured live models with special effect-like transformations to parts of the human body.
Of course this pop-up was the inspiration for the challenge. There were 5 types of body modifications. With 5 types, this meant there would be 5 teams of 3 for this first team challenge! Each team would create a mini collection, each designer creating their own look. Despite individual looks being made, each mini collection still needed to be cohesive. The looks would need to demonstrate the future of fashion. Additionally, their looks needed to highlight their assigned body modification — so enhance the special effect, not cover it up!
The teams were randomly chosen from the infamous button bag. And with a revamped season, we get to see a new button bag! It actually looked more like a clear clutch, but oh well, it does the job. Here were the teams and the assigned body modifications —
- Shoulder Horns — Garo, Hester, Nadine
- Neck Ruffles — Afa, Sebastian, Tessa
- Scaffold Back — Lela, Venny, Bishme
- Chest Feathers — Kovid, Renee, Frankie
- Necklace/Neckline — Sonia, Jamall, Rakan
I didn’t recall from the last challenge that the winning designer was given immunity. So with that, Tessa could not go home on this challenge. There would be a winning team with a winning designer, also again receiving immunity. And then 1 losing team, with one designer going home. The winning designer also gets to choose their first pick for a model, leaving the rest to race to the comp cards to get their choice, or for some, just what is left.
This was another 2-day challenge, with a $750 team budget from Mood. Before shopping, the teams had to sketch & game-plan first. Most of the teams were doing okay. Hester was getting a little crazed with her team, really trying to make sure she didn’t lose her designer POV. Tessa’s team was also finding difficulty getting on the same page. And these 2 teams still found trouble at Mood. Tessa’s team was lost, trying to find cohesion. And Hester was determined to get a ton of tulle. Christian nor her teammates were feeling this. And even with being overbudget, the team still sacrificed fabric for tulle.
Getting back to the workroom, Tessa decided to take charge of her group. Frankie having been in the bottom last week had her teammates worried, namely Renee. Hester was being a little chatty and Nadine nipped that in the butt. And even though Tessa decided to put on her boss hat, she was having trouble executing the design she wanted. Her teammate Sebastian had to help, but ended up losing time for his own look. In fact, he ended up scrapping everything he worked on with Day 1, meaning he was starting all over on Day 2.
On the 2nd day, Sebastian had a new gameplan — he was going to work on his own garment, no teammates getting his help, even though they were still asking! It was a little disappointing to see some not so pretty personalities come out with this team challenge. I am intrigued by Hester’s aesthetic and love what Tessa has created thus far. But both really showed poor personality skills when working in a team setting. You can be a bold, strong, confident woman. But don’t be overly bossy or unrealistically uncompromising.
Siriano sessions included reminders to find cohesion. Christian said it couldn’t be just a color that created cohesion. He also reminded the designers of time management! After the chats, Hester decided she wanted to change her look, lose some of the tulle. She needed fabric, but since her team didn’t get that much fabric (remember, she insisted on tulle!), she was kind of left with no wiggle room. Nadine was saying No at the onset. I didn’t really care for Tessa being a part of this discussion; she is not on this team so butt out! Nadine ended up later changing some of her design so that she could give Hester some fabric.
Next up, model fittings! I love that Christian really seems to be sticking around for more than just one session. This is where Kovid began losing steam and he started crying, definitely taking over Frankie’s drama queen role. Kovid was having some fit issues with his model. The morning of the runway quickly approached and many teams were scrambling right up to the last minute. Again, designers working up until the runway show was about to begin!
Only 2 teams were critiqued this week, the top & the bottom. So despite Hester’s team craziness, they were safe. And they were lucky! I actually loved the blue they used, but most of the looks were constructed so poorly. They worked with their shoulder horns well, but the looks were vastly unimpressive. I don’t think Nadine can make pants. I’ve seen her do 3 pants looks now and they are all way too tight. But her structured top was the strongest piece here. Garo seemed to make such a simple dress, very sad it was still so poorly made. And I liked the softness Hester was trying to go with to contrast the hardness of the horns, but you couldn’t see past the poor construction in this look! I couldn’t even focus on finding the future of fashion in any of these looks because the construction was just that bad! Luckily for this team, other teams were also riddled with issues.
Even though the necklace team had some issues, Sonia was their saving grace. I loved her fabric choice, so stunning! She really showcased this light up neck feature so well. And I did like the idea of using nude fabrics with this entire group because it highlighted the body modification very well.
The looks went downhill from Sonia’s bombshell opener. Rakan just created a big nude moo moo. There was absolutely no design in this.
And then the big bragger Jamall, his look actually took away from the neck modification rather than enhancing it. And really, what was this, attack of the bed comforter?? I didn’t see the future of fashion with these looks either, but I am still in love with Sonia’s look!
It was hard for me choosing between the back scaffold and the neck ruffles team as to who should win. Ultimately, I agree with Neck Ruffles winning, but Team Back Scaffold did a pretty good job here too. I loved that Bishme brought back his super sexy style. I guess his attempt with the future of fashion was playing with the shoulders on his dress. I didn’t care for the pointy shoulders, but it was a great dress (photo below on right). Venny continued with the sexiness, a standout jumpsuit (photo above). I appreciated for the future of fashion he played with the jumpsuit silhouette. And of course given that this collection had to showcase back scaffolds, all the open backs were even more amazing to look at! And what a comeback for Lela! Such a gorgeous voluminous top, very glam chic. There was such great cohesion in this collection, between the color, ruffles and glam vibes, probably the best of the bunch.
I too loved Team Neck Ruffles. I think what held me back a little here was it being all white, very one note, lacking a bit in dynamics. But ultimately, it was still a strong, regal collection. Afa had a solid look, nice fit on the pants and an interesting, cut-out bodice.
Tessa created another strong look, very upscale and luxe. All really did attempt to work towards the future of fashion, putting in interesting twists on their silhouettes.
But wow, Sebastian really just knocked this out of the park. He wins for basically doing some of Tessa’s look and creating his own knockout look. Tessa certainly tried to go for the win saying she took charge, but she didn’t help her situation when she admitted to having help on her look. Great job Sebastian, well deserved win!
I wasn’t sure who would be in the bottom between Team Chest Feathers and the shoulder horns team. Both teams were so heavily featured during the episode, so both could have been contenders. But ultimately it was team chest feathers. Given Frankie was on this team, I wasn’t surprised. She still had so many construction issues in her look. It was a step up from her last look, but that is not saying much.
I did at least see cohesion in this collection, but each look was such a hot mess. And most of the looks hid the chest feather modification. This lifted wraparound neckline, with a bold line going right thru the feathers, where was the logic in that. As seen below with Kovid’s look, I think if you actually took away the connecting piece from the neckline to the dress, and this gold dress was sewn better, it could have been amazing. But ultimately, the future of fashion also missed the mark for everyone here as well.
Renee has been such a standout, so it was shocking to see she even created a poor look. The pants & top were so ill-fitting. And the binding jacket didn’t work either. There was no leader here, but Renee was doing some of the talking for the group during the critiques. Kovid was crying which Nina seemed to not be having any of that. And it obviously crossed the judges mind in saving Frankie, only to see her in the bottom again. Kovid probably had the best look of the bunch and Renee has shown much more potential. It was clear Frankie was the one who needed to go!
