Project Runway 20 - EPISODE 14: "The Finale"

 Date for Entry: (Thursday 31 August 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Monday 18 December 2023)

** The Finale **

THE EPISODE

    The finale was indeed a long and tiring event to watch. There was a feeling as if all of the work was given to us to do. This particular chapter of the book was extremely tiring, including the finale sketch and the important works section.

    The Top 3 designers were given 3 and a half hours to go shopping in any store around the city that they wanted with a budget of ten thousand dollars. The difference from the other season was that the designers were asked to create eight looks instead of ten and the duration of the working time was eight days instead of three full months.

    The designers were given one of the eliminated contestants from this season as an assistant. Bishme worked with Prajje, Laurance worked with Kara Saun, and Brittany worked with Fabio. It was nice of Prajje to comfort Bishme in the final moments of the final presentation. Bishme was announced the winner of the season. I liked the lovely tribute made to her sister in the end.

    The judging was done by Nina Garcia, Elain Welteroth, and Zac Posen in place of Brandon Maxwell, and the guest judge was Billy Porter in a beautiful blue outfit. Many of the comments came from the judges and also from earlier on the show by a gentleman named Marc Karimzadeh. I decided to keep the section for the designers’ recorded comments during their runway presentation.

MY DESIGN

    This design did not seem easy to create. I understood the feeling of pride that the designers got when they had a reflection on the season’s work as I laid all of the work that I did for the season on my couch. I was very proud of some of the work that I did. I could see that I tried in some of the sketches that did not look as if they would make it to the High category.

    The first vision I saw for this design was a pink fabric in the form of a dress. When I looked at the lady’s head, she had a hat on but it was a toy boat. I found that the boat would have been suitable since there was an avant-garde challenge using toys. The tenor pan handbag was recycled from my second avant-garde challenge from episode thirteen, “The Sky’s the Limit”.

    I took the earrings from the client Challenge episode nine, “Below Decked Out”. The short skirt to the front was wrapped with a similar pattern from episode six, “The 90s”.  

    I was not sure who the person in vision was but trying to measure her appearance on paper was not easy. However, I began to see how it related to Miss (Bernadette) Paul without even realising it. I learned on Saturday that her nickname is ‘Pinky’ and the dress is Pink and she is thinking of going on cruises and there is the ship on the model’s head. So, I thought it fit that the dedication would do to Miss Paul.

 

Link(s):

• Images from the Episode.**

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Project Runway 20 - EPISODE 13: "The Sky's the Limit"

Date for Entry: (Thursday 31 August 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Sunday 17 December 2023)

** The Age of Towers **

THE EPISODE

    The penultimate episode came and finished in a blink of an eye. One more challenge to go before and the winner will be announced. The episode was shown on the night of our Independence Day (Trinidad and Tobago). I had to do a second recording of the episode to get everything covered for my chapter.

    Tonight’s episode came with a trip to Summit: One Vanderbilt. The designers were sent to a floor with many windows through the ceiling and floor. I loved the silver balloons around the room. A surprise challenge was to make another avant-garde look based on architecture. There was a lot of fright for me with Rami and things didn’t look so bright for him coming down toward the end.

    Sadly, there had to be an elimination and he had to go. There was a very long first model fitting section. Some of us had a good laugh watching Christian try on Brittany’s jacket. The challenge also reminded me of Coral and this same challenge. I found that she should have been given that win in her season as a winner was announced tonight.

 

MY DESIGN

    The drawing for this challenge was not planned. At first, the finished sketch was not something I was proud of. I envisioned the model from season 19 who wore Zaden’s last outfit in a blue top with orange and blue straps woven together at the upper chest level. There would have been rec pockets with a very light and sheer pink mesh as the flaps to cover the pockets.

    The stomach area could not have been done properly but it was supposed to be fabric with circular stitched ‘beads’ that shone in the light, as the glass reflection of windows in the building towers. The skirt too would match the upper chest area.

    I took the idea for the bag as a tenor pan that was supposed to mimic the silver balls in the silver ballroom. The same would be for the top but mimic the sun and the moon that moves over these building towers.

    I chose to have arm writings and they would be cut in un even rectangles just like one of the previous Miss Universe crowns to mimic the shapes of the towers. I spent some time thinking of Mr Kolb to get some ideas for this and hope that he enjoys it if he gets to see it.

 

Link(s):

Images from the Episode.**

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Project Runway 20 - EPISODE 12: "Let Me See You Peacock"

Date for Entry: (Thursday 24 August 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Sunday 17 August 2023)

** Mister Chairman **

THE EPISODE

This week Christian came out on the Runway with a giant fan resembling Peacock feathers. That would have been the style for the challenge. It was extraordinary to know that there was a style of clothing called Peacock. We are down to the Top 5 contestants of the season: Brittany, Rami, Bishme, Prajje and Laurance.

While at Mood, Laurance was given $200 extra to shop as a prize for winning the previous challenge. I liked Rami’s outfit tonight with Jeans and his jacket. It looked good. We also had nice laughs from Laurance but throughout the episode, I felt insecure for her. Male models were used for the challenge.

We got to see Prajje do more prints on his fabric. At first, I did not realise there would be symbols for voodoo. There was a last-minute catastrophe too where Bishme cut his hand and blood messed up the entire pants. It was interesting to see how he would have countered the obstacle. We also got to see Brittany chatting with her husband on the show.

The presentation was a success no matter who was in the high or low categories. I liked each one of them. The guest judge for this week was MR Coleman Domingo. I did not know him previous to the show but I was grateful that he was able to make a lot of contributions to the comments section. In the end, Prajje was eliminated.

These past few days I’ve been trying not to think about who would be eliminated and who would go on to the finale. Next week a new challenge and even tighter competition. Each of the next few challenges might become more and more work with the comments section as I suspect. I pray that God gives me the strength physically and mentally to do them. As school is about to begin closer, work on the books will have to come to a long pause until the Christmas holidays.

 

MY DESIGN

The top was an idea from Bishme, Laurance and Rami. I wanted something breezy and not too tight. I found that the right half of the upper chest was a big gamble for me. The belt was covered with the same glittery fabric from the pants. The zipper was supposed to be an easier way to get the jacket top to open out.

The inner fabric of the pants was the same as the top. The pants would stop at the bottom of the calf and some bottoms as Brittany would use. The model was supposed to be a particular actor but I was not sure of their name. I couldn’t get the particular curl in their hair so it remained flat.

 

SELECTIONS BY CATEGORIES

Designers with HIGH scores tonight were Brittany, Rami, and Bishme.

Designers placed in the LOW scoring category were Prajje and Laurance.

 

Link(s):

Images from the Episode.**

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Project Runway 20 - EPISODE 11: "Double Bind"

 Date for Entry: (Friday 25 August 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Saturday 26 August 2023)

** Mermaid Suit **

BISHME: Basic & Bold	KORTO: Formal & Casual	RAMI: Fitted & Oversized
PRAJJE: Elegant & Edgy	BRITTANY: Sexy & Modest	LAURANCE: Classic & Trendy

THE EPISODE

    A very silent and empty feeling occurred at the beginning of tonight. There was no Kara in the group anymore. Christian tried to cheer them up but dragged the remaining designers (Top 6) to the runway arena where Miss Elaine waited to give them the challenge. It was the same night after the elimination. They were given the idea of double minds and I appreciated the little definition that was provided on the screen.

    The next morning the designers were given breakfast and were allowed to sketch before going over to Mood. They were given four hundred and fifty dollars and thirty minutes to go shopping. During the working period, a lot of things occurred. We got to see hints of the designers getting very tired and stressed. Prajje tried to work out his edgy and Elegant. I loved the colour and origami. It was weird to see Brittany in spiral snake earrings. It reminded me of Shantall from last season and her prints.

    Apart from Page, there were insecurities for Rami trying to figure out what he would do in the last moment running up to the runway presentations. The jacket he made somehow did not work. Bishme was in a larger crisis. He said that his garment was not working out the way he envisioned it and the fabric that he had from Mood was only enough for the rest of his idea.

    In more positive memories, it was surprising to see Rami whining and dancing with all the others in the workroom. I loved that Laurance brought another interesting way of working with a roller cutter. I’ve never seen something like it before but I love the way it cut the fabric so neatly. Sadly, the television stuck four times during the recording of the show. This recording was done downstairs at Old Government Road of Scarborough in Tobago. I had another laugh when Brittany was hiding under Korto’s table and asking for extra fabric.

    Christian had to chase Rami and Prajje out of the workroom to get to their models outside. This was not a runway I was most excited to see. The feeling of regret and insecurity was too high. Tonight’s guest judge was Batsheva Hay. She too I did not know so well. I’m glad that she was able to contribute to the important words section. Not many guests have been doing so. All of the designers were asked to stay as the judges wasted to speak to the Top 6.

    The designer to be eliminated tonight was Korto after Laurance was announced as the winner. I too agreed with Korto about the mixed messages from the judges. Elaine at that point of the conversation looked shocked but it happens a lot. Instantly I could recall Delvin and so many others in these three seasons that it occurred. I await the comments in the Facebook groups to see what others might discuss. I’m not sure how many more episodes there will be to the finale. There are not many of the older seasons’ designers remaining in the competition. Not sure what’s going on there too.

MY DESIGN

    Right away, I knew two extra ideas would not have been given to me to do this challenge. While sitting and taking notes from the episode while recording it, I decided that the two ideas I would be working on would be from the designer that was eliminated. Korto was the eliminated designer and she was given Formal and Casual as her two ideas. I did not do a recreation of her work but chose to do something of my own.

    I decided to do a purple jacket that mimicked a vest with a short teal vest below. There be green leather pants below also with an elastic waistline and two pants chains to the front. A straw hat would rest gently on her head. This reminded me of Laurance this week when the idea in our mind was great but the output didn’t much so much.

    The inspiration for this idea came from the very tall Project Runway model Jessica Millin. It took me a long while to find out the spelling of her surname. The hand pulse was supposed to be dark blue but the colour was not found in my case. The name of the suit came from the pants.

SELECTIONS BY CATEGORIES

    The designers with HIGH scores tonight were Brittany and Laurance. Both Brittany and Laurance were awarded hearts. Brittany’s piece was chosen for both Personal and Challenge Selections. I placed Laurance’s design as a Challenge Selection.

    Designers with SAVED scores were Prajje and Rami. Prajje was awarded a heart and he was chosen for both Challenge Selection and Personal Selection. Rami was given a tick and placed as a Challenge Selection.

    Designers placed in the LOW scoring category were Bishme and Korto. Korto was given a heart and Bishme was awarded a tick. They had both tied for the Personal Selection and Challenge Selection.

Link(s):

• Images from the Episode.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Project Runway 20 - EPISODE 10: "Freedom"

 Date for Entry: (Sunday 20 August 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Sunday 20 August 2023)

** Identity Unlocked **

THE EPISODE

    This week the designers were met by the Christian in the backstage lounge of the runway venue to receive the new challenge which was a first. They were informed that the runway would be held at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedom State Park. Bishme was given the model cards from Christian to pick the first one. The challenge was to create anything they wanted with two days that comprised fifteen hours (ten the first day and six the second day.) He took a long time to pick one and gave a very beautiful speech about his choice.

    The next morning, they were taken to Mood. I was a bit shocked when Laurance took the purple fabric. It was a beautiful colour but we still didn’t see what she was going to do. I felt insecure for her. Prajje gave us another topic to research from his practice of Voodoo on the deity called Vambala (half snake and half person entity). There was a very weird occurrence of Brittany doing a similar top that he did in the last challenge. This gave him some concern. In addition, I did love Prajje’s screaming reaction and Brittany’s whine and dance reaction about the challenge for this week too.

    There was no Christian for the first model fitting segment. Korto made a quotation from Opera Winfrey about who gets a model. That was a nice surprise. Another funny surprise was when I saw Laurance hammering something into her garment. That was interesting to see. Usually on the show, you might see people sew something but I will keep that one in mind.

    The designers were sent home and brought back at 5o’ clock in the morning. Somehow that felt fake. I’m not sure anyone might ever be able to tell me if the designers walked out and then they filmed them walking right back in to make it look like designers came back from the hotel to the workroom. I loved Bishme and his trick on Christian about having nothing else for the runway. I also loved getting to see Ms Lacey Ready back in the show. I hope Mr “Quendy” too come back to do the models’ hair and make-up. I missed them both.

    Just as the make-up artists and hair stylers were doing the final bits they could before the presentation (at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedom State Park), the rain came down. Everyone ran under tents and models, judges and designers were all given plastic transparent umbrellas to sit out in the open. I wonder what some of the things were in their plan for in case rain fell? It was nice to see Christian join the judges. Since Season Eighteen that was a wish of mind to have the mentor and the other guests that were in the episode be invited to the final presentation that they would have contributed to aiding the designers.

 

MY DESIGN

    This design was done the evening after episode eleven in Scarborough of Tobago (Old Government Road). The challenge was the freedom to create anything we wanted. Everyone focussed on the word freedom and the garment that I saw was a top and skirt in green that mimicked the ‘Suhari’ leaves.

    The model I saw was Mimi and she was a plantation slave being given their emancipation. If this was to go down the runway, firstly, the ankle bands would be removed as a symbol of chains being removed. The slave would be set free. Secondly, the face mask would be removed to show the identity of the slave revealed and removal of the green skirt would be the removal of the slave clothing.

    This design made me feel like Rami at the end of episode eleven, where he was running out of time and some things were not working. I too decided that I would draw this the best I could and try hard to not make it look costumy.

 

SELECTIONS BY CATEGORIES

    Designers with HIGH scores tonight were Rami, Laurance & Bishme. These three designers’ designs were the last to appear on the runway. Rami and Bishme’s designers were given hearts and Laurance’s Design was given a tick. Rami’s design was chosen for Personal Selection. Laurane and Bishme’s designs were awarded the Challenge Selection.

    Designers with SAVED scores were Brittany & Korto. Brittany was given a tick and her piece was taken as the Personal Selection. Korto’s design was given a heart and she was awarded the Challenge Selection.

    Designers placed in the LOW scoring category were Prajje & Kara. Prajje’s piece was given a heart and it was awarded the Challenge Selection along with Kara but she was given a tick. Kara’s piece was also given the Personal Selection.

 

LINK(S):

• Images of the Challenge's Designs.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Project Runway 20 - EPISODE 09: "Below Decked Out"

Date for Entry: (Thursday 03 August 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Tuesday 22 August 2023)

** The Chief Stu **

THE EPISODE

Tonight, the designers were liming in the living room of the Indigo Hotel and a message from Christian asked them to come down to the Greenpoint Piers. Soon after he greeted them a ship came floating to them and we were surprised to members of the Below Deck cast. There were Captains (Lee, Jason & Sandy), Chief Stewards (Aesha, Daisy, & Courtney), Deckhands (Mzi & Gary), and Boat Engineer Collin (“Chen”).

Kara got MZI	Rami got COURTNEY	Prajje for CAP. SANDY	Anna got CAP. JASON
Bishme got AESHA	Korto got DAISEY	Brittany got COLLIN	Laurance got GARY

    Captain Lee and Captain Jason greeted the designers and gave us some useful tips for creating the uniforms. Everyone except for Christian was taken back to the workroom to collaborate and for the designers to have an idea of what their client was (Below Deck cast member). They met back Christian at Mood where each designer was given thirty minutes and four hundred dollars to shop for their materials.

    The designers were treated to drinks with the same cast members the night before the runway presentations the cast members were used as the models for this challenge. We also see Jack get close up to Anna. Brittany and Anna were both not in secure positions during the working period. It was nice to see that Brittany was able to do something nice for the challenge while mentioning her difficulty making men’s wear. Anna on the other hand was eliminated.

    A lot of points for Bishme being a helpful friend. The working period was over faster than expected. I loved Elaine’s hair work tonight. We were also happy to see that Nina was back after missing the past two episodes. There was a lot of black fabric used. We were also given a demonstration of the “twerk test” from Courtney. I couldn’t believe I actually saw that one. I hope that the new uniform made by the designers would be helpful to the crew.

 

MY DESIGN

    This week I was grateful that an Idea came swiftly after the second portion of the commercial of the episode. I saw Chief Steward Ms Aesha Scott in a different uniform. I realised that this was the idea for tonight’s design. I took the rest of the night after recording the episode to the drawing which took me one hour and forty-five minutes. The next evening after waking, it was coloured before house cleaning.

    The top was a green jacket with nothing below. I still incorporated the anchor on the right of it with a blue name tag to the top left and a middle levelled square pocket. Along the slanted centre were five buttons. Space ran out and I could not remember the colour of them that I saw. I thought that red would have been a good substitute since it matched the skirt. The shoulder area was left only for the epilates as requested by Captain Jason and Captain Lee.

    The skirt was the colour of the ocean. I chose both dark blue and turquoise. I chose to make large pockets in the shape of ships that would fit the radio/Walkie-talkies. Somehow, I ended up playing with buttons on the skirt too like Brittany. I loved that addition a lot. I thought that a belt might be nice but after completion, I thought that maybe suspenders below the jacket would be an easier way to hold the weight in the skirt.

    Green represented the land and the blue represented the land. I did not choose to change anything with the hair since that’s how I knew she kept her hair hanging. However, I changed her hair colour. I wondered what kind of accessories for the uniform would have been appropriate. I added starfish earrings and a purple dolphin necklace. I recall Captain Lee mentioning that the uniforms had to be white only or black only. I hope that this amazingly huge risk worked, lolz.

 

SELECTIONS BY CATEGORIES

Designers with HIGH scores tonight were Bishme, Rami & Brittany. Bishme and Rami were awarded hearts. Only Brittany was awarded a tick. There was a tie in the Personal Selections between Rami and Brittany. Bishme’s piece was chosen as the Challenge Selection.

Designers with SAVED scores were Laurance and Korto. Korto’s piece was awarded a heart and was chosen for the Challenge Selection. Laurance’s piece was awarded a tick and was chosen for the Personal Selection.

    Designers placed in the LOW scoring category were Kara, Anna & Prajje. Both Kara and Prajje were awarded hearts. Anna’s piece was awarded a tick. For the Personal Selection, only Anna’s piece was taken. Prajje and Kara’s pieces were tied for the Challenge Selection.

 

LINK(S):

• Images of the Challenge's Designs.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Project Runway 20 - EPISODE 08: "Uncut Hems"

 Date for Entry: (Sunday 20 August 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Sunday 20 August 2023)

** Biker Chic **

THE EPISODE

    As the episode commenced, Mr Maxwell joined the remaining designers in the backstage lounge for a short conversation and light drink. I too appreciated this part a lot. As he left, we saw Christian on the television screen. He mentioned a road trip in the morning that sent the designer out of the lounge and to their beds in the hotel. They were taken to Christian’s store. It was cool but when they got into the room with all the denim was a huge, surprise.

    The designers were split up into head-to-head teams of two. In each of the four teams, one would be a winner and the other would be subject to elimination by the judges. Kara being the winner of the previous challenge chose Anna who did not have any previous experience using Denim before. Anna was also given an apology from Korto before getting to Christian’s store and was given advice to use bleach on the denim but did not heed it. She had to start over from scratch.

    Brittany chose Laurance as an opponent and several soft things occurred. There was no violence in the working periods of this challenge but they displayed themselves. Korto was chosen as an ‘opponent’ by Rami and Prajje and Bishme were both teamed up as the remaining two designers. They didn’t like the idea. This was also the first time that I saw Bishme without his cap on. It made me realise I didn’t know if he had tall or short hair, lol.

    Ms Garcia was not present for the presentation and judging segment of the show and she was replaced by a gentleman named Willy Chavaria. The guest judge was Julia Fox whom I also did not know. It was hurting to hear and see that Rami was the one eliminated. We waited for a while and then Christian came into the room.

    I have been waiting for the past three episodes to see when the SIRIANO SAVE would be used and boy, tonight was that night. I was shocked but happy at the same time. I couldn’t dance like everyone else in the living room or my video recording of the show would have been spoiled. I hope he gets far.

    I was very proud of Laurance who won the challenge tonight and she was also given a five thousand dollar reward from Gloria Vanderbilt. I never thought you could take denim pants and make a couture evening wear as she did.

 

MY DESIGN

    This design was shown to me in my mind at seven in the night before episode eleven. I was in Scarborough Tobago (Old Government Road) at the time. Seeking ideas for this design was not easy. I was able to see the model Shanae this time. The model appeared in a short jacket with a green shirt below and a short skirt. She is supposed to be a biker girl. Also, ideas for the jacket came from thinking of Brittany and Laurance.

    The slits by the arms and in the gloves are supposed to be silver buttons that shined from the light’s reflection. The same for the white circles in the upper portion of the skirt. Somehow, I decided to play with triangular shapes again as in the uniform challenge for this season. Maybe it might make it costumy as triangle pieces that flapped gently when the model walked around?

    The lower/chest part of the jacket are cutouts that showed the green top below with a small strap going around the body and connecting the front and back pieces. Somehow it made me remember Marquise’s Avante-Garde garment from Season Eighteen. The most difficult piece of the drawing was the hairstyle that could not be traced on paper. I liked what I saw the model had in my mind still. I also did not have the right colour for the bow that I saw.

 

SELECTIONS BY CATEGORIES

    Designers with HIGH scores tonight were Bishme, Korto & Laurance. All three designers tonight were awarded hearts. For the Personal Selection, there was a tie between Bishme and Korto. There was another tie for the Challenge Selection between Bishme and Laurance.

    Designers with SAVED scores were Prajje, Rami & Anna. Only Anna in this category was given a dislike. Prajje was given a tick and Rami was given a heart. Both gentlemen are tied for the Personal Selection and Challenge Selection.

    Designers placed in the LOW scoring category were Karra & Brittany. Kara was given a tick and she was given the Personal Selection. Brittany was awarded a heart and was selected for the Challenge Selection.

 

LINK(S):

• Images of the Challenge's Designs.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Project Runway 20 - EPISODE 07: "Fashion, Inside Out"

Date for Entry: (Wednesday 09 August 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 09 August 2023)

** Covered & Seen **

THE EPISODE

    A really beautiful This week the designers were gathered in the backstage lounge before walking over to the runway area. Christian came out in a fabulous shirt. It looked breezy but the pants were regular jeans. Not sure if he left it to Bishme during one of the working days. Behind him were some models giving an example of the expected outcome.

    Since Laurance won the previous challenge, she was treated to an extra hundred dollars at Mood. During the working period, we were given a short mention of a story about Black Wall Street from Kara. We got some culture and home pictures from Fabio and Korto.

    I was surprised by Bishme for pulling a move that Kayne did with having nothing for his model. That was a panic for me. However, it was a good thing to see that Kara finally had a sketch for once and she won. I feel she should maybe keep on doing those sketches and she might win some more challenges. The night before the runway presentations looked very stressful for Fabio. I could see that he was struggling and it was beginning to get painful thinking that he might be on his way out of the competition by elimination.

    The next morning Prajje was without pants as his model was partly naked too in the workroom. He had a nice, coloured nail polish on. Everyone saw that Anna was topless too and busy stitching up her garment, while the modes sat around her. The guest judge was Paulina Porizkova. I did not know her too. Another person I did not know too was Sergio Hudson who filled in for Ms Garcia in her absence. Christian too was not there. Mr Maxwell filled in for Christian to send Fabio off to clean his workspace. I again will miss Fabio.

 

MY DESIGN

    In my mind, I saw the full garment on the Sunday evening after the episode. Only on Monday I got up and drew it out in the morning before the long and tiring day of house cleaning. The face and hair were the hardest parts to draw. Luckily, I had the correct shade to match the hair colour the lady in my mind had. I believe it was the model named Yuen from the show that was the lady wearing this garment in my mind.

    Another difficulty was trying to get colour overlapping with the sheer ‘shirt’ and the bralette still seen. The belly part was exposed and the skirt was opened to the front. I saw very small flower prints used, which reminded me of my design for the Ashley Longshore challenge in Season Eighteen. Not sure why there was a red belt but I ‘obeyed’ in a way by transferring the vision I saw in my mind to the sketch board.

 

SELECTIONS BY CATEGORIES

    Designers with HIGH scores tonight were Prajje, Kara & Rami. There were ties between Personal Selection and Challenge Selection. Rami and Prajje were chosen for Personal Selection. Rami again and Kara were chosen for Challenge Selection.

    Designers with SAVED scores were Bishme, Anna & Brittany. Only Anna was eliminated with her design being given a dislike. Bishme and Brittany’s designs were chosen for both Personal Selection and Challenge Selection.

    Designers placed in the LOW scoring category were Korto, Fabio & Laurance. The Personal Selection was a three-way tie by all three designers. Only Fabio and Korto’s designs were chosen for the Challenge Selection.

 

LINK(S):

• Images of the Challenge's Designs.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Project Runway 20 - EPISODE 06: "Like Totally '90s"

Date for Entry: (Wednesday 19 July 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 09 August 2023)

** Student Cheer **

THE EPISODE

RED TEAM	BLUE TEAM
Anna, Brittany, Kayne, Fabio, Kara	Bishme, Rami, Laurance, Korto, Prajje

    This week the designers were set into two teams of five. One was called the red team and the blue team. A lot of challenges occurred with the red team trying to have their designs cohesive. I loved the background that the editors made for the designers’ sketches. We were given some insight into fashion in China by Anna in her younger years.

    During the working period, the red team seemed to look behind. Strange how they followed the advice from Brittany’s recall from season eighteen and it ended up being backfired by those same judges. I was happy for Bishme and the blue team. Go, Blue team!

    Christian had to sit and wait for Kayne like in previous episodes. I did not bother to think that he would be eliminated earlier because he did the same and got high or he would have won. Sadly, that was not the case tonight. He actually was eliminated and that was quite a shock for me. I thought he would have made it to the final and won with the strength that he showed from the start of the competition. I suppose I  will have to regroup the designers during the week.

 

MY DESIGN

    My design for this week was a cheerleader outfit. I thought that it was too plain and maybe too simple for the judges. To Celebrate Grant’s house (in Hillview) and Mitchell’s house (in St George's), I placed the first letters on the top of a blue vest coat-like top. I could not draw a coat that is tied around the waist so I used fabric and played with shapes instead. To try and make the colours work, I decided to use complementary colours with blue and orange, and red and green.

    The hands were already drawn so a pom-pom probably would not have been able to insert by the left hand. I used a blue flag instead. The choice of colour for the hair came from thinking about Hester who was eliminated some episodes ago.

SELECTIONS BY CATEGORIES

    Designers with HIGH scores tonight were Bishme, Prajje & Laurance. Since Bishme and Prajje’s designs were given hearts, they were easily taken for Personal Selection. I decided that Laurance’s design would go for the Challenge Selection.

    Designers with SAVED scores were Rami, Korto, Anna & Kara. Both Korto & Anna’s pieces were chosen for Personal Selection. There was not an easy choice picking one between these two designs. I placed Rami and Kara’s designs as Challenge selections.

    Designers placed in the LOW scoring category were Brittany, Kayne & Fabio. A heart was given to Brittany’s design and a tick was given to Kayne and Fabio. I favoured Kayne’s look for both Personal Selection and Challenge Selection.

 

LINK(S):

• Images of the Challenge's Designs.

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Project Runway 20 - EPISODE 05: "Seeing Red"

Date for Entry: (Tuesday 11 July 2023)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 09 August 2023)

** Runway Ready **

THE EPISODE

    Tonight, the designers were taken into the runway arena for their challenge. At first, the lights were turned off. When they came on Christina was hiding behind a large bold of red fabric. We were told that the roll contained one hundred and ten yards of fabric. Christian said, “Create an outfit to stand out from the rest [of designers.]” Since Korto was the winner of the last challenge she was given the first pick for a model.

    The designers were asked to use only that fabric to create a look that is distinctively them and must be able to stand out. We were told that it was one hundred and ten yards in the bolt. I felt like I think I would have not liked this challenge. It took me some time after typing out the important words section for this chapter to see an idea coming to mind.

    Worries came from Kara when she had nothing to work with. She showed everyone her sketch on paper and it looked like a scary alien, lolz. She also had a short crisis when her model ended up being taller than expected and the skirt was too short. We were also told by Brittany and a challenge she faced sometime after her season eighteen experience. I hope she’s okay.

    During the working period too, I became a bit distant from liking some of Anna’s pieces from the past two episodes. I see that what she was doing was almost the exact dress. Many of the designers backstage commented their anger on that decision as the judges tried to elect a winning designer and the eliminated designer. I loved seeing Hester with her mannequin lying on the table as she tried to work on her garment. She had a big struggle to finish her piece in the last hurry to the end of time. Sadly, I felt heartbroken that she was the eliminated designer and Victor too was gone.

    The designers were also told about the ten thousand dollar prize for the winner at the end of the show. This prize was given to from Wells Fargo Cash Card. They were also treated to a special shopping gift sponsored by Christian the night before the runway presentations. There was also a new person I did not know named Lena Waithe. Very wonderful person. Ms. Garcia was shocked and mentioned the poor quality of the designs minimalist and drapes.

 

MY DESIGN

    For my design, I was very tempted to put a shade of orange. I had to hold back and try to stay true to the rules. The model’s hair was the first idea in my mind. Everything else came in part by part downwards. I decided that cutting patterns and shapes into the fabric would be a quick attraction and make the model feel comfortable in a way that the holes made the outfit breezy and not too heated.

    I had another idea to put a dark purple vest below the dress but I remained true to the rules. The eyes instead were coloured blue and the lips coloured dark purple for small variety. It makes me wonder what Bishme did to make the dark colour in the two faces he made on his design’s top.

    Brittany was the winner and she got ten thousand dollars from Wells Fargo Cash Card. The eliminated designer was Hester. I was sad to see her go too. This week a lot of people disagreed with the judges. I too shared the same feeling choices were very difficult to select.

 

SELECTIONS BY CATEGORIES

    The Designers in the HIGH scores category were Brittany, Anna, and Kara. Unfortunately,  all three designers in this category were given dislikes from me. For the Challenge Selection Brittany was selected. A winner for the Personal Selection had to come from the SAVED category. That winning designer’s place was a tie between Prajje & Korto.

    The Designers in the SAVED scores category were Prajje, Korto, Laurance, Kayne, and Bishme. All five designers in this category were awarded hearts. Challenge Selection was a tie between Korto and ‘Kayne’. The Personal Selection was also a tie between Laurance and Prajje.

    The Designers in the LOW scores category were Fabio, Hester, and Rami. Only Hester’s design was given a dislike. Fabio and Rami were both given hearts. Fabio was my winner of the Challenge Selection. Rami’s look was the winner of the Personal Selection.

 

LINK(S):

• Images of the Challenge's Designs.

Daryl Zion M. Ali