Project Runway Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: There is No “Lovemaking” in Fashion

Apologies for being late on this week’s Project Runway fashion recap, damn holidays. Luckily, Bravo has given us all a week to catch up by running reruns of the first four episodes rather than a new episode last night (I’m sure there will be more chances to catch them this weekend as well).

The challenge this week was a team challenge, an interesting dynamic considering the very individualistic and personal nature of their design item: lingerie. Each designer had to pitch a lingerie concept to Heidi (whose expressions during the interviews were priceless, god we love the Klum), who then based on the sketches (and producer input, I’m sure) chose the team leaders: Daniel V (enigmatic so far), Daniel F (season one reject trying to redeem himself), Diana (um, wild card?) and Santino (arrogant- but with good reason-and control freak).

Two teams seemed completely stacked: Santino’s team with fabulous talent (Santino and Nick, the two best designers, making up for Emmett’s lack of talent), and Diana’s team with the absolute bottom three (Diana, Marla and Guadalupe). Santino made the overtly bitchy but nonetheless astute comment that no one in Diana’s team had probably ever been laid. That’s what we like about Santino - he isn’t afraid to just say what we are all thinking, even if we cringe a bit. But since reality TV is as moralistically predictable as classical Greek drama, we already know, however, that Santino’s arrogance will be his downfall. And they certainly put his ego in check this week when he was nearly “out” (and by out, I mean in the Heidi Klum definition as “out of the fashion industry”, not “out of the closet”, as Santino and every other male contestant most certainly is).

The designs were, overall, unimpressive to downright tragic. Lingerie has so much potential for creative invention, and a lot of the ideas pitched to Heidi seemed intriguing or even promising, but when it came time to deliver, no one really pulled through.

Daniel V’s Team (Dan V, Zulema and Andrae) won the challenge, and while the concept-revenge lingerie made from an ex-boyfriend’s wardrobe-was by far the most edgy and innovative, the execution of the concept was far less impressive. It was, however, the best of a sorry bunch, and deserved the win. The designs didn’t exude sensuality, but looked almost like “business lingerie”. The first two designs could have shown more skin, and the third was just a bra and panties, nothing more.

Santino’s Team’s (Santino, Nick and Emmett) designs were another example of concept gone amuck. The concept was lingerie inspired by Heidi’s homeland, sort of a “Bavaria meets sex” if you will. Perhaps Santino was confusing Bavaria’s fame for sausage with some kind of sex appeal, but the land of bratwurst and yodelers doesn’t seem to naturally lend itself to sensuality. Nina’s comments, while met with hostility from Santino, were dead-on: lingerie is supposed to be delicate and ephemeral, while Santino’s designs were much too bulky. Lingerie must be counterintuitive to Santino, because lingerie is meant to emphasize and highlight the body underneath it, and being a bit of a megalomaniac, Santino is most likely incapable of making his designs subservient to the body on which they are presented.

Daniel F’s Team (Dan F, Kara and Chloe) struggled to get everything together on time, in true-to-form Daniel Franco style. The collection’s concept was “Lovemaking”, supposedly something someone would wear on their wedding night. But if anyone saved their virginity to wear one of these garments on their wedding night, she might remain a virgin, because these designs would remind anyone of their grandmother. The fabric is what ruined these designs, which would look completely different with a solid chiffon or lace pattern that isn’t so old-fashioned.

Diana’s team (Diana, Guadalupe and Marla) had neither the technical skill nor aesthetic vision required of fashion designers. The design concept was described by Diana as dominatrix combined with flowing fabric, a description that underwrites the lack of a unified, coherent vision. The black strappy randomness might seem more original if we hadn’t already seen it in past Diana designs, and the flowing fabric didn’t seem integrated into the outfit but rather some kind of last minute addition tied and tucked onto the design. Overall it looked very amateur, unsurprising given its design team.

Personally, I was sad to see Daniel Franco go, although relieved that they did not eliminate an entire team (although Diana’s are all destined to be “out”) and that we get to see Santino’s genius work its magic for some more runway designs. Daniel really is a great designer (and with unlimited time, would probably turn out much better runway material), and his departure is especially frustrating when Marla, the bane of my Project Runway watching existence, continues to be given fabric to butcher.

What did you think about last week’s episode? Who do you think will be the next to go?

Related:
Project Runway Season 2 Fashion Recaps:
Episode 1,
Episode 2,
Episode 3

Posted by Ali @ 7:32 am

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