PRAS Designers Partner in Crime to Take on Bonnie & Clyde

PRAS designers get the team/pair’s challenge marching orders this week and so we know what this means, sheer brilliance or utter disasters! I think we got a mix of both, some great looks, no major freakouts, but certainly some interesting collaborations!

So this week was all about Lifetime’s promotion of its new mini-series Bonnie & Clyde, starring Emile Hirsch. It also stars Sarah Hyland and Holliday Grainger who gave the designers the instructions for this week’s challenge. The designers were to work in pairs and create young modern looks inspired by the 1930s and the B&C duo. They were to capture the glamour and romance of this era in both a menswear and womenswear look. The designers were judged separately, but the looks needed to still be complimentary. One designer in the duo would tackle each look for this 1 day challenge.

The PRAS designers definitely showed some maturity and brought some surprises with this pair challenge. Christopher won last week so he got to choose first and selected Viktor. They worked so well and were very helpful with each other. This was so nice to see and definitely was seen with all of the other duos, which was surprising since it would be a solo win, not a team win. Viktor got to choose who would select next and so he chose Seth Aaron who decided to work with Jeffrey. Jeffrey was clearly down this week from his many bottom placements, but Seth Aaron was right by his side, pushing and encouraging, which was so great to see! Jeffrey then chose Irina who selected Mychael. And so, we were left with Korto and Elena, who ended up working very well together. Korto balanced some of the Elena crazy!

Elena was of course a bit bothered that Viktor didn’t pick her so I wonder where this frenemy setup is going! Zanna came by for her rundowns and basically encouraged the collaborative partnerships and to use that support for editing eyes! I did feel badly for Jeffrey with his model fitting. His model’s measurements were a year old and Jeffrey was close to finished with his fitted jacket so that blew that he had to make so many changes. But as Irina pointed out, you have to take those moments in stride and move forward.

The gorgeous Georgina Chapman of Marchesa was absent this week so more guest judges arrived to the rescue — former PR and PRAS designer Austin Scarlett, famous supermodel Bar Refaeli, and modern designer Elie Tahari. It was of course sad to see anyone go since there is a lot of talent this season, but the top and bottom were pretty much on point. The winning look would receive a film credit for the film series.

It was hard this week to fully grasp the top and bottom because it seemed as if the judges weren’t in complete agreement and that some elements of the garments the judges liked, but for others aspects, they didn’t. Elena and Korto were in the safe zone this week, but who was in the bottom?

I thought Seth Aaron’s popping purple trench coat look was pretty great. I saw the 30’s in the lines and silhouettes, but there were modern touches to it and I loved his attention to details this week. I also thought Alyssa was a huge fan, but then we heard from the other judges who just thought it was a bit too much and that surprisingly placed Seth in the bottom. He was quickly saved and so it came down to Viktor and Mychael in the bottom.

I would hate seeing either go, but I did find issues with both garments. Viktor’s look, the fringe was over the top, the cut of the jacket was so wide and a bit off-putting. But menswear is hard to do and is not ever been done very well on this show. Mychael was out this week, which was sad, but his menswear piece was also not a standout. The gold and leather was an odd combo, the jacket was also very short and it just read feminine, not menswear. So adios to Mychael, but what did the top look like this week.

I am glad Irina finally was in the top, but again it was confusing with the feedback. Some liked the masculine leather jacket, while other judges didn’t. I think hands down her sequined top and flowing gold skirt were flawless, but she did find herself nonetheless in the top. Congrats! I was rooting for Christopher this week because his dark red or burgundy sheer, deep V-neck dress was just stunning. But I think the judges were impressed with Jeffrey for his comeback and with a decent menswear look so he got the win with his grey elongated trench coat. He is back on track so the question is, will he stay there?!?