Project Runway (Season 19) - REVIEW

Date for Entry: (Thursday 24th February 2022)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Tuesday 1st March 2022)

Dear Diary,

    On this day my hardcopy materials from the process of documenting and making sketches for the Project Runway season nineteen. I decided to make copies of the journal entries and the important words section. These sketches will be shared and discussed lower in this entry but SUPER BRIEF.

    During the season, around episode nine, I decided to create episode data forms that would be effective in gathering all of the information for the typewritten document. A special one was created at the end of the season to treat with the finale.

    There have also been several attempts in trying to create and develop the sketch board form that also keeps several crucial pieces of information per episode. The sketch board form has gotten to version ten and seems to be satisfactory. I await season twenty of Project Runway to experiment on it in trial mode to perfect it. A special sketch board form was created at the end of the season to treat with the finale.

    ** The Magazine-Souvenir-Thesis-Journal created for this season was also made from a stencil for easy working each season and can be altered for a new fashion series if one should be provided on television. Links for a free copy!! All entries below will be further discussed in this book.

Link(s):

1. Project Runway 19 - Fashion Journal & Sketchbook.

EPISODE 1: "A Colourful Return"   *Date and a Movie*

Thursday 14th October 2021

Guest Judge: Jason Wu

Brian "Bones" Jones was the winner. Caycee Black was eliminated.

The designers were taken to Lincoln Center to be given welcomed at the start of the season and to be given the first challenge. 

The sixteen designers were split into two teams: eight being the warm and the cool team. 

For me, I chose the color purple for my design but somehow it looked pink. 

In my mind, the model and inspirator for this creation came from Sabrina Spanta. She is one of the sixteen designers for the season.

EPISODE 2: "Streetwear"   *Pan Boy in Town*

Thursday 21st October 2021

Guest Judge: Wisdom Kaye

Prajje Jean Baptiste was the winner. Meagan Ferguson withdrew.

The new challenge came in less than half an hour for the designers. We had to come up with a streetwear look containing 3 pieces. 

I wanted to do something representing Trinidad and Tobago so I used our Red, White, and Black on the T-shirt. This was supposed to be a pan-man dressed up and ready for a performance with the Steelband. There is Starlift's motto to the right on the pants.

My inspirator came from Zayden Skipper who is also another of the sixteen designers this night. 

EPISODE 3: "If You Got It, Haunt It"   *La Diablesse*

Thursday 28th October 2021

Guest Judge: Taraji P. Henson

Chasity Sereal was the winner. Kenneth Barlis was eliminated.

The designers were taken to Bartow-Pell Mansion for a sleepover and to gather inspiration for their Halloween-themed challenge.

For this design, I used the "La Diablesse" folklore character as inspiration and idea. The blue signifies the water or river that the man would be thrown in to drown. It was Christian's suggestion as he was prancing about in Mood. 

I did not know what to do with the hat that hid the demonic face of the 'devil woman'. We have also required the use of a mask so that's why I chose half of the face to be shown.

EPISODE 4: "Flower Power"   *Easy Lovely Flower Girl*

Thursday 28th October 2021

Guest Judge: Gigi Hadid   Guest: Lewis Miller

Shantall Lacoya was the winner. Darren Apolonio was Eliminated.

The idea for this challenge was all about flowers. The designers had to create their own fabric print and work with a graphic designer to do so. The guest Mr. Lewis Miller was their mentor for the fabric design aspect before leaving.

Interestingly, my inspiration came from politicians this week from United National Congress' (UNC) Member of Parliament Michelle Benjamine and Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial, and People's National Movement's (PNM) Senator Donna Cox. I was very please with this sketch and design.

The idea of the design was to be a Japanese wrap but it ended up looking like some transformation into a dress.

EPISODE 5: "Go for the Gold Sequin"   *2022 Olympic Winter*

Thursday 11th November 2021

Guests & Guest Judges: Johnny Weir & Tara Lipinski

Ana Zhou was the Winner. Sabrina Spanta was Eliminated. I will miss her.

Two former Olympic skaters Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski came into the runway venue and gave the designers the challenge which was to make looks for them. It was supposed to be looks that they would use to be on television as commentators.

Designers were split into teams of two again to do an individual piece either for Johnny or Tara and based on a specific colour. I decided to do both looks. It took me a long time over the weekend to get the ideas for these looks. I stayed the weekend at Jordan. 

Since Aaron did not win this challenge I used him for this Johnny look and I decided to use Sabrina again for the Tara look. Still found it to be too costumy but I loved them anyway.

EPISODE 6: "Fashion is Back, Baby"   *Colourful Suzie*

Thursday 18th November 2021

Guest Judge: Steven Kolb

Kristina Kharlashkina was the winner. Katie Kortman was Eliminated.

This week the designers had to work with an accessory designer to make their individual designs. The winning look and designer together would split twenty-five thousand dollars from VISA. They were also taken to Hai Trim & Feathers store after shopping at Mood.

The accessory for my design was taken from my sister, which was the hat that he wore. I took a mental copy of the design Katie made and stripped it to pieces and created this look. 

Not sure who the model is but that is the person I saw wearing the garment idea in my mind. I hope that Katie likes this.

EPISODE 7: "Are You Fur Real"   *Here Comes Covid-19*

Thursday 2nd December 2021

Guest Judge: Billy Porter

Chasity Sereal was the winner. 

Shantall Lacoya was Eliminated and then given the Siriano Save.

The challenge was to make an avant-guard look using Faux-fur from Soronic in teams of two. My idea came a long time after the episode, not knowing what concept to focus on.

I decided to use Covid-19 since it was the only topic happening either nationally or worldwide. This is my take on what Covid-19 would look like as a person. 

I used several images from Goggle to compile a single look together. It really does look like some cartoon villain but it would have been a first attempt since my childhood did not have anything of this sort.

EPISODE 8: "Couch Couture"   *Comfy Carla*

Thursday 9th December 2021

Guest Judge: Maria Cornejo

Kristina Kharlashkina was the winner. 

Octavio Aguillar and Zayden Skipper were both eliminated.

A series of designs were presented but the main judges tonight did not find that any looked like sitting on a couch at home. Prajje commented that the looks from designers were going different places and I agreed.

I had to use Carla from my novel "Magical Creatures" in order to get something done for the challenge. In my mind, I was literally shown Carla sitting on a couch and from there, she was dressed in orange-coloured clothing and then a magenta jacket hanging from her shoulders that looked like a super long cape or train.

EPISODE 9: "The Last Straw"   *Madam Barista*

Thursday 16th December 2021

Guest Judge: Christopher John Rogers   Guest: Brandon Maxwell

Shantall Lacoya was the Winner. Prajje Jean-Baptiste was Eliminated. 

The designers were taken to a place that was made to look like a bar for the unconventional materials challenge. I took a look at the things that were being used throughout the show to see what I could use for the sketch.

The materials in mind for this sketch were black garbage bags, metal cork caps, tablecloth coverings, plastic spoons, plastic forks, and net wire. The black garbage bag was used as a cover and attached with red straws stitched together around the shoulders, and more were used as a waistband separating the top and the bottom. The blue straws worked as the straps around the arms for the actual top.

The top and bottom of the design used single coloured tablecloth coverings. The top carried a particular style but I did not know its name. A light layering of net wire was used around the skirt to avoid having the pink look too plain. I just wish it was a bit longer to meet the red straws at the waist height. In terms of accessories, I used green and blue metal cork caps as a necklace. I’m not sure if you can hand sew these but would a glue gun work? I thought that the model would look fine with some bracelets and took the same net wire to hold them together. 

EPISODE 10: "The Housewives"   *Amanda at Reunion*

Thursday 6th January 2022

Guest Judge: Andy Cohen   Guest: The Housewives

Shantall Lacoya was the winner. Ana Zhou was eliminated.

The Housewives from Bravo was brought on the show for the designers to make them a reunion look. This for sure was one episode that I was not looking forward to.

I had to listen to the Housewife Shannon on the show because she was the only one that gave information about what is expected for an event such as the reunion.

The model in my mind for the garment was Amanda Batula from Bravo's "Summer House". She was also the inspiration for the design. 

EPISODE 11: "Haute Hair"   *She's Well Tuh Rock*

Thursday 13th January 2022

Guest Judge: Precious Lee   Guest: 7 Hairstylists

Chasity Sereal was the winner. Aaron Steach was eliminated.

This week the designers were asked to work with a hairstylist to create their design. It was an interesting task but it took me some time to get an idea. 

Only after the final presentation, I get one from a television series I saw some years ago. The person in the show had made a birdcage out of the hair and then called a bird through bird language to go sit in the 'cage'.

The outfit part made me think of a girl walking along the pavement in New York. She was in a suit that she wore for her office job. The model used was Ana Zhou who was eliminated in the last episode and Miss Elaine's name was used for the name of the design. 

EPISODE 12: "The Model as Muse"   *Purple Butterfly*

Thursday 20th January 2022

Guest & Guest Judge: Coco Rocha

Shantall Lacoya was the winner. Brian "Bones" Jones was eliminated.

The designers were asked to make an editorial look for the model Coco Rocha. They were taken to a warehouse to be a part of the photoshoot and their chosen photo was used for judging. Designers were asked to pick a prop for the shoot.

In my mind, I saw Coco on a tall dance pole and swinging round and round downward. I knew right away that the dance pole would have been the chosen prop. To her sides from the arms and around her legs were long pieces of fabric that looked like a butterfly. 

It felt magically working this out. I tried my best to sketch the set for the photoshoot in the back to make the design as the other designers' submissions.

EPISODE 13: "The Sky is the Limit"   *Anton's Got the Point*

Thursday 27th January 2022

Guest Judge: Karlie Kloss   Guests: Sarah Kozlowski & Tinique Bernard

No one was declared the winner. 

No one was eliminated and all were sent to the finale.

The designers were invited to the top of the Rockerfeller Center to meet Christian and Nina Garcia where the challenge was given.

My ideas came mostly from the church (St. Patrick's) to one side of the building. To my mind, I saw my Music Degree friend Anton wearing the idea for the garment I had. Seems as though he too was used as the model for the sketch. 

I'm glad that the idea for this challenge came immediately. The church had helped me out quickly. I hope this one was not costumy but good enough. It was nice to finally do a men's wear piece too. Still disappointed that they did not give Coral the win. She deserved the win for this challenge.

EPISODE 14: "Finale"   *The Show of a Season: 19*

Thursday 3rd February 2022

Guest Judge: Tommy Hilfiger   Guests: Christian Siriano

Shantall Lacoya was the winner of the Season.

This was the last of the Project Runway series for season nineteen. To the left is my compilation look where I took part of my collection for the entire season and create this final look. 

As the top four designers, being the first all-female top designers in Project Runway’s history, they were given five months as working time for the final runway. I decided that I would grant myself five weeks to come up with something as my final look. It would be a compilation look or a summary look of the entire season. I liked this idea done from season eighteen and I’m surprised that Kristina chose to do the same thing as in episode thirteen.

In the drawing process of my sketch, it felt as if I did not use all the drawings that I did for the season. There was difficulty incorporating aspects of several episodes into this finale sketch. I decided to take a few of the things that highlighted themselves to me after laying out all the season’s sketches in order of episodes on the couch and sketch the finale look. I was extremely proud of the sketch when it was completed.

In this compilation (finale) look, I used a hairstyle from the hair challenge, a new hat to symbolize the accessory challenge, the red and orange shirt to represent the pattern of the shirt in the unconventional materials challenge, and the skirt for the flower power and graphic design challenge.

The circular neckpiece was taken from my accessory challenge’s pattern from the dress and the same thing that Katie did for the neckpiece in her garment. I did not know why I was doing that exact thing but I liked the patterns and the idea of the colour that Katie might have used. Also, a blue pair of hand gloves were added from Prajje’s flower power design. When it was coloured, I felt very satisfied. I continued to wonder if people would call it a clown costume like they called Katie’s designs from some of her presentations but I loved it anyway. 

Daryl Zion M. Ali