Project Runway – The Best of the Rest

Project Runway season 13 has come to an end, with Sean Kelly being the winner. NYFW is where the finalists show their final collections, MBFW at Lincoln Center to be precise. Fashion Week happens a little before the finale airs. In order to maintain secrecy, other designers will too present collections so that the finalists will remain unknown. As I’m sure many of you have already done, I am now perusing the other designers’ presentations and of course ready to discuss! So here is what I call “The Best of the Rest”!

Korina for sure had my fave collection amongst the fellow eliminated designers. I’m still holding onto such a grudge that she was eliminated early and unfairly. I think she could have done great work in the last challenge, thus securing a spot for herself in the finale. I really dig the vibe and attitude her looks are giving off. The pieces exude such confidence and have the capability of being worn by either chic fashionistas or bad-ass women who dare to be feminine and sexy.

Based on the finalists we saw, I think the judges would have given great feedback to Korina. She clearly demonstrated she was far more than just an “ethnic” designer as Nina so annoyingly dubbed her. I think she showed a greater range than one other finalist for sure. And I also think she wouldn’t have needed quite as much direction as at least 2 of the finalists. She had a clear concept here and stuck to it. She’s demonstrated such growth this season within her own aesthetic.

Korina is another contestant this season who did have a clear vision, a focused aesthetic. And because of this, and what was created at hand, I think she could have done well in the finale. I saw growth from her, right at the same level or pace as that of Amanda or Sean. Too bad the judges were sippin’ on some crazy kool-aid and made the poor choice in sending Korina home before she had the chance to present as a finalist! And as crazy as the judges & I were about Amanda’s jewelry, I am the same level of love-fest craziness for Korina’s booties, which I’m pretty sure she had a hand in creating! I know they are not from Aldo and they fit too perfectly with her looks to not be a part of her design-work.

This look above is one of my faves. Honestly there are too many faves to pick just one! But this one represents so well what Korina’s collection is about. She works well with leather. Her jackets or outwear are TTDF! She works well with texture, mixing of various fabrics. She can do more than just dresses, her separate pieces are divine, such a great fit. She also had a great use of color, bold red, sunshine yellow, soft teal, and royal blue. All of the colors worked well together and were paired nicely with basics in black and white.

Other great facets to her collection, the color-blocking, excellent fits, and good proportions. Other finale collection pieces certainly had some execution issues, but I didn’t see that with Korina’s looks. Poor fit and execution should not be issues a PR finalist has. And really, by that point, a designer’s clear voice should be heard. And we have all of this with Korina!

There is always a question about what cohesion means. Generally it’s a multitude of things, but cohesion shouldn’t mean 1 fabric throughout a collection or the same colors. There should be more. And with Korina, we have connective colors, similar vibes, ultimately having the same girl wanting all of the pieces. I see that here. There can also be a story. Unsure of Korinas’ since we didn’t hear her thoughts, but there are still other cohesive points to discuss. There is color-blocking, patterns, styling, and more. This was more than I saw from another finalist!

To Korina, great job. I want your pieces and will keep an eye out. I would proudly don any of these looks. I know we will see more from you in the future and I can’t wait!

fäde’s collection was too quite impressive overall. I don’t think his intricate work with prints was truly able to flourish during his time on the show. He is really about pushing the creative bounds, being innovative with his print work. And more often than not, a day or less is just not a sufficient amount of time to really develop this type of work.

Now this is the way to incorporate words or phrases into looks! For the runway, you can’t just stick a word on a boring top and expect that to cut it. Is it wrong to make a sweatshirt or basic tee with words and put it down the runway? Absolutely not! Wildfox, Desigual, and other brands do it all the time. But the point is to still be exciting; you still must amp it up somehow. And fäde did just that!

He of course is a master with prints, but really showed he could work well with his great use of color. It was the perfect idea of a graphic print work to incorporate a teal or burnt orange, and just play around with those colors – various shades, mixing textures, etc.

He also showed a great deal of versatility. He not only made some stunning dresses, but really worked well with separates too – jackets, shorts, pants, and more!

When you can tell a model is having genuine fun rockin’ a look, I think that speaks volumes! So either these girls can add “great actress” to their resume, or they were authentically having a fun time!

These are just a few of my fave looks, but really I had so many to choose from so you will have to forgive my lack of ability to pick only 2 or 3!

fäde also gets shout-outs for Philip B. hair, a little chic yet messy distressed hair-do; it really worked with the streetwear vibe, but also Mary Kay for beauty – very clean, natural make-up look, spot on with the bronzed cheek!

Alexander had some great looks, but my main issue was cohesion. I remember when Tim told Sean during the finale, part 1, that his collection seemed like it was divided; there were 2 different presentations. I think I saw this with Alexander’s 10 looks. I saw pieces that were more sportswear-oriented and then ones of a more refined, elegant level. I’m just not sure I got the connective thread, except that both were still executed in a simplistically minimal manner.

This is not to say I didn’t like the various pieces, but I’m still not sure Alexander has developed a clear vision for where he wants to go as a designer. I’m not sure if he would be ready to make a brand for himself. But I have no doubts he can get there and I would look forward to seeing his development and growth as a designer!

I think this was a decent start for Alexander though. Over time, I’m sure he can work with a great foundation in the basics he already has at his disposal, and just work with developing some “Alexander” signatures to add to his pieces.

It was great seeing the versatility though, lots of separates and beautiful dresses. I’m interested to see where Alexander can go from here for sure!

Next up, Emily, who too was cut right before the finale, barely missing her chance at being a finalist. I think she is another designer this season who had a clear voice, a clear vision. I think with her final collection we saw her aesthetic, but with a bit more sophistication; it had a more luxe feel or quality to the various pieces.

Emily made use of some great work with sheer pieces. This stunning turtleneck sheer top above was immaculate! I don’t think the judges showed much love for Emily over the season. But I wonder how they would have reacted to her work, but turned up a notch as she did with this presentation.

The vibe was somewhat luxurious, but still youthful and chic street. There was a wide range for her type of girl to choose from — shorts, great tops, day dresses, or even some more elegant night-time looks.

A lot of her fabric choices caught my eye, especially the sheer printed tops. I would love to know if she screen-printed her own design on them, but definitely would be intrigued to learn more!

There was a little flare with her show, some volume, some structure in the pieces. So that was great to see RTW, but also with a little dramatic umpf.

Upon my first few glances for Sandhya’s looks, I was quite confused. This was a different side of her work as a designer with more understated looks. Sort of as with Alexander’s more basic vibe, I’m not sure I was over the moon about Sandhya’s more simplistic looks. I think they were executed just fine, but I wasn’t sure how much I was seeing Sandhya in them or that they stood out, being memorable. This was just such a new facet of her work so it was a bit perplexing, nonetheless intriguing.

But later with her collection, the more DIY side of Sandhya came back. I understand the desire to go avant garde, to create a bit more show-y pieces. As we saw from our 4 finalists, this was not their direction and it made sense based on their aesthetic. But for Sandhya, going with this more dramatic flare route made sense. I still feel her looks read very DIY though and not high fashion.

There were a few looks though where I might have thought differently or could have changed my mind if I had seen them in person. And these are looks I wouldn’t mind getting a more up close and personal visit with to better gauge my reaction! Let me be Zac Posen, who always made sure to get really up close and personal when doing his final judge’s critique! Actually, I really commend him for caring. He judged from his seat, but when it came time to really study the looks up close, he was right there, looking so closely. Other judges tended to hang back some, their prerogative, but I was glad to see Zac with genuine care or concern!

All in all, I’m still not the biggest Sandhya fan, but I did see some improvements with her work since she had more time. I think she still needs a bit more time to work out some kinks though!