Project Runway to become a video game

You know you’ve really hit the big time when your television show. Next year fans of the reality competition show Project Runway will be able to play it as a video game on the Nintendo Wii, according to Variety.com.

Although the details of the show are still being stitched together, the plan is for the game to stick to the show’s format. Players will compete with challengers as fashion designers, creating designs for models. After they create the the outfit they can chose to become a model within the game and walk the runway using the Wii’s virtual accessories. Or, they can become a fashion photographer and take pictures of models in their designs.

The game is scheduled to be released in the spring of 2010.

Project Runway Season 5: the Final Finale

Season Finale Part 2: The actual finale

Last week Jerell was sent home for being too embellish-y. This week is the final three: Korto, Leanne, and Kenley.

Tim goes around and helps the girls critique their collections. Kenley, as usually, attacks Tim’s advice to toss off her Alexander McQueen knock off. He also says she uses rope arbitrarily, to which she got even angrier. Korto “Big Sleeves” has decided to whip up two new dresses for the collection instead of her bridal suite. Leanne seems to have everything together.

Everyone’s in tears, but luckily not enough to make an all-female Final 3 look like Lifetime. No for reals, it’s totally not even as bad as previous years. Disasters abound—one of Kenley’s tops went droopy, and Kenley had to practically shove her model into a dress.

By the way, how much am I loving the commercials for the new season of Top Chef? Padma Lakshmi is like the hottest woman on the planet who’s slept with a literary star. Ever!

When J. Lo doesn’t show up, Tim Gunn pinch hits, to which Kenley gives the priceless line, “wow. Maybe I should have had a better attitude.”

Kenley goes first with her “dream wardrobe.” Her music was some kind of weird ersatz drum n’ bass style that didn’t fit in with the bright colorful tone of her collection. Kenley was all about the forties—emerald green, hot pink, Miami lawn chair prints. Pencil skirts with structured shoulders. Occasionally there were structural elements like exaggerated hips or voluminous skirts, but it mostly looked like a thrift shop on parade.

Korto debuts her “nature inspired” line. Her music was much more appropriate—rock African fusion. She had a couple of America’s next top model contestants in there, which I thought was fun. But Korto’s collection was also a lot of green, a lot of khaki, a lot of rustles. Pleating and crazy collars and deep-v’s. I was disappointed, because Korto’s stuff has, before this, been quite strong.

Leanne looks like a mess as she debuts her collection of sea-inspired dresses. Her collection debuted to the clicks and clutters of some post-rock band. Pleated minis, ruffles, all in whites, beiges, and aquas. Everyone knows I’m bias towards Leanne, but when I saw the collection all laid out like that, I was a bit bored. I wanted her to take it to the next level, but she seemed too afraid.

Michael Kors thought that Kenley’s collection was fantastic and had spirit. But everyone agreed one of her dresses look like a Balenciaga silhouette. Just as with the Alexandre McQueen dress, Kenley pleaded ignorance.

Korto’s collection was also loved, though a bit overworked. She needed to edit, which I agree with. Leanne’s collection was considered the most versatile in the amount of separates, but a little one note, which I also agree with.

And the winner is…LEANNE! Poor Korto, so close, and yet so far. I’m hoping Korto gets a ridiculously big contract making ridiculously big sleeves for someone.

Project Runway: Finale, part 1

Last week, Jerell wins the botanical garden challenge, and all the designers are sent home to create collections for Fashion Week.

This week is Part 1 of the finale. Whoever has the losing collection this week will “not” show in Bryant Park, though Bravo usually lets the last 6 contestants create collections and show them in order to keep the suspense of the “final 3,” so it’s not that dire.

Before sending them home, Heidi gives the designers $8,000 and one final challenge: their collections must feature a wedding dress that “represents them as a designer.” I’m betting a million bucks Kenley goes with something A-line and a petticoat. I’m praying for the petticoat.

Tim Gunn stops by Little Rock, AK to visit our dear sweet Korto, who opens the door looking like a Black Panther circa 1972. I’m not hating though—I dig her style, and her workspace is very French colonial. Korto uses her own beading to adorn the collection, and has several dresses with beautiful folds and pleating. Though Tim had to bring the sophistication down a notch by referring to one brown skirt panel as resembling a “snatch shot.” Korto’s wedding dress is an absolutely stunning champagne color with some of the best detailing I’ve ever seen.

Korto’s daughter is absolutely precious, as her family—she introduces Tim to her drumming partner, and they jam together. I’m not usually into African drumming, but this was really fresh and yet dark at the same time.

Tim then goes to Portland to visit Leanne. Her inspiration was the sea and water, specifically waves. Her collection seems very stripped down, and she’s only using two colors at the moment, which seems risky. Tim hates her meringue wedding dress, but unnecessarily so—the construction is monumental. There was also a brief bike trip to the park, where Tim deemed to sit down on the wet Portland ground.

From Portland, Tim flies down to Los Angeles to see Jerell’s collection. It is by far the most couture of the stuff we’ve seen so far—lots of jeweled gowns and netting and trim. The wedding dress had an odd “my top’s come off” feel, but the skirt is sensational, with tulle floating up like clouds. There’s a great picture of Jerell on his father’s shoulder, his father with a gigantic afro. Jerell cried as he mentioned his father, which really touched me. Not enough people thank their dads, and I think dads need some loving too.

The last stop is Kenely, who of course lives in Brooklyn, the heart of retro-hipsterdom. Kenley’s inspiration is “painting the roses red.” I don’t see anything that I couldn’t find in any New York thrift store, but unfortunately, her dress is probably one of the best I’ve seen. It is, of course, A-line with a petticoat.

The designers fly to New York. Kenley apologizes. Gratuitous product placement for the Westin Hotel with unnecessarily long episodes in the hotel. Blah Blah Blah.

So you think it’s time for the runway, but oooooooooooh no, you’re wrong. One more curveball! Oh those crazy producers! They’re mixin’ things up.

But yes, the sadists-that-be at Bravo give the designers $150, and they must design a bridesmaid dress. Then the bridesmaid dress and the wedding dress will march down the runway, and then the final cut will be made.

There’s a lot of ugly going on, except from the one girl who’s actually been married: Korto. Her problem, however, is that the color she chose in Mood was almost the same color as her wedding dress. Jerell’s dress looks lazy, and Kenley’s looks like everything she’s ever done. Poor Leanne’s hair is a wreck, her voice is dead—when she says “I’m utterly exhausted,” I not only see it, I totally feel it.

Now the runway!

1. Jerell

Wedding Dress: strapless champagne satin with tulle petticoat and beaded neckline

Bridesmaid Dress: Strapless blue-slate satin sheen dress with champagne sash and flower detail.

2. Kenley

Wedding Dress: Cream-feathered bodice and overskirt with below-the-knee tulle petticoat

Bridesmaid Dress: Sleeveless blue bubble dress with netted neck

3. Korto

Wedding Dress: Stiff khaki satin with ruffled, drop-waist bodice and pleated skirt

Bridesmaid Dress: deep-V halter dove-colored dress with short A-line skirt

4. Leanne

Wedding Dress: White strapless multi-tiered dress with two-level wave pleating

Bridesmaid Dress: Short, strapless sea-foam green organza dress with wave-patterned bodice detail

I was a bit disappointed in the changes Korto and Leanne made to their wedding dresses, so I was interested in what the judges had to say. I hate Leanne’s new dress, and the judges love it. Jerell’s “jeweled boobs” and the weird drooping bodice Tim warned him about were slain. Kenley’s “Alexander Mcqueen” dress was criticized, which was so annoying, because unlike bland Michael Kors’ upscale-Banana-Republic collections, Alexander Mcqueen is modern, cutting edge, and fabulous. Step off Kors, step off. But he loved the make of the dress and they all loved Kenley’s hideous wedding dress. And they hated everything about Korto’s dress. Man, I wish wish wish she’d stuck with her first design.

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Korto is in, and poor Jerell gets sent home. But you know, they gave him a bedazzler as a parting gift, so he’ll be happy

Project Runway Episode 12: Natural Instincts

Last week, the designers had to come up with musical genre inspirations. Suede was sent home, and Korto won.

This week was the designers’ final challenge before Bryant Park, so everyone was crackling with tension. I guess this season is sort of an homage to New York or something, because Tim leads Korto, Jerell, Leanne, and Kenley to the New York Botanical Garden. In another egregious display of product placement, we find out this challenge is sponsored by L’Oreal Paris. Collier Strong, consulting makeup artist for L’Oreal Paris, explains the challenge: use the Garden as the source of their inspiration for an evening gown design.

Back in the workroom, they have 30 minutes to choose the inspiration for their evening gown. Purple flowers and leaves were favored by Kenley, Leanne, and Jerell, with Korto as the wild card with pale pink flowers. With a budget of $250 the designers go to Mood. Kenley forgets her fabric, and has to get permission to go back.

With two days to finish this challenge, you would think the pressure would be lessened, but it isn’t. Everyone’s falling apart like high school junior’s during the SATs. Leanne looks like a mess—she’s crying and her hair’s a wreck. Jerell and Korto are tear stained. Only Kenley remains impassive.

The guest judge is Georgina Chapman from Marchesa, a smallish but impeccable evening dress label, so I’m guessing the comments are going to be wicked. Let’s see how the runway goes.

1. Designer: Korto
Inspiration: Orange/yellow flower
Dress: Pink Orange dress with antique lace trim and deep v neck

2. Designer: Leanne
Inspiration: Lavandar
Dress: Purple dress with ruffle doublet-like pleating wrapping around the bodice

3. Designer: Jerell
Inspiration: purple and pink marigold-like flowers
Dress: Purple strapless dress with jeweled bodice detail and multicolored fabric layers

4. Designer: Kenley
Inspiration: Purple leaves
Dress: purple reptile-textured fabric with high neck and petal-like mermaid skirt

The judges were very gentle. Poor Korto took things the hardest—she was seen as being pagenty, and was sobbing. It was devastating to watch. Kenley argues with the judges again—she really hates Heidi, and the eye rolling was called out.

Jerell wins, and no one is out. They will all create collections, and then they will all compete for three spots at fashion week.

Project Runway’s Future is Up in the Air

In an unexpected turn of events NBC Universal has won an injunction against the producers of the reality show, Project Runway, preventing the show’s move from Bravo to Lifetime.

Project Runway’s producer, the Weinstein Co. announced last winter that it would be moving the show to Lifetime, starting with its sixth season this winter. Bravo’s parent company NBC Universal filed a breach of contract lawsuit against the production company. Today, the results of the preliminary injunction were revealed.

“NBC Universal is pleased that the court granted our motion for a preliminary injunction against the Weinstein Co.,” NBC Uni said in a statement. “The overwhelming evidence demonstrated that the Weinstein Co. violated NBC Universal’s right of first refusal to future cycles of ‘Project Runway.’ After hearing all of the evidence, the court issued an order prohibiting the Weinstein Co. from taking the show or any spinoff to Lifetime.”

It is doubtful that Lifetime will let the court’s decision stand without putting up a fight. More on this story as it develops.

Project Runway Episode 11: Rock the Vote

This week:

Suede has lost his charm. The models get all mixed up and I can’t deal with the way he takes things personally. The designers are all designing for each other in this week’s challenge. Their inspiration is supposed to be a musical genre. Kenley’s genre is pop, Suede’s genre is punk, Korto is country, Jerell is rock n’ roll, and Leanne is hip hop,. Korto is designing for Suede, Kenley is designing for Leanne, Suede is designing for Jerell, Jerell is designing for Kenley, and Leanne is designing for Korto. Confused? Yeah, me too. But everyone seems stressed and tired and annoyed with everyone else, so I’m pretty sure this is going to be a good challenge. The black contestants are getting a huge kick out of watching Kenley attempt to do a hip hop look. Richard from Gawker managed to sum up Kenley in a way so brilliant I had to use it here:

Do you remember that girl you knew in college who was fashionable in this timid, darting way. Who things never seemed to go quite right for until they really did and there was something so smug and self-satisfied about her success. And then you’d see her at parties or in the dining hall and she was always talking to boys, only boys, perhaps one out-of-her-league fellow in particular, in this cloying and sad and infuriating way. She would get a little too sloppy at parties and quietly profess her sad love for this boy—who probably played club lacrosse or rowed crew and had some family money and was kind but aloof to her—and she would glare at any girl in a shrill passive aggressive way if she felt encroached upon. That girl was someone you felt bad for, sure, but mostly you couldn’t stand her. Because she was a poor representative of Women, the kind of deliberately damaged goods (I don’t mean mental imbalance—I mean put-on modesty wrapped in over-confidence swathed in self-righteous anger) who made boys thinks that “chicks are crazy, man.” That is Kenley. And that’s all I’ll say about her.

Kenley’s lack of respect freaked out Tim, who called her out on it. I kind of wish Stella was still in the mix, cause she would have turned this challenge out. Poor Kenley keeps piling on accessories, asking Jerell if it’s hip hop, and he keeps nodding like an idiot, trying to sabotage it. I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes home for it.

The runway! With special guest judge LL Cool J

1. Leanne- (model Korto, look country) purple vest with black ankle length skirt with fringe detail and checkered cravat

2. Jerell- (model Kenley, look pop) black minidress with cutouts and webbing, sequined bra, shrunken fur vest

3. Kenley- (model Leanne, look hip hop) high-waisted jeans with shrunken black jacket and floral shirt

4. Korto- (model Suede, look punk) bleach-splattered jeans and shoes, black tank, chain accessories

5. Suede- (model Jerell, look rock) black leather vest, black shrunken jeans, torn ad painted tank

Kenley is blaming Leanne right off the bat for making her hip hop look poserish. Suede’s outfit for Jerell looked too understated. LL said she didn’t look like part of the culture, and Kenley got super defensive and shouted that she didn’t want to make her look like a fool, and poor LL was tripping over himself to apologize. Gosh, I love him so much. And speaking of sexy, why don’t we just award Korto the “Best Ass in Television” award? Cause it’s OUTSTANDING.

The winner is Korto, for her punk-inspired outfit, and the loser was Suede. I figured it was Kenley and her mouth. Guess I was way off.

Project Runway Episode 10: College Daze

Last Week:

The inexplicably weird Zodiac challenge ended with Blayne aka Sgt. Pepper and Terri-the highly talented black female designer-getting auffed, while the inexplicably Suede remains. I’m still a little touchy about this.

This Week:

I know already this is going to be one of those challenges that’s going to make me mad for no other reason than how everyone behaved when Heidi brought out 7 middle age women to the stage. Everyone gets mean and passive aggressive because eww, gross, who would want to dress these women! Everyone knows women need to be put in a barn at 40 because they have no use once their looks go. How disgusting! If that attitude wasn’t bad enough, the relief everyone displayed when they were told these were not in fact the models was equally as disgusting. No, these women are the mothers of college women. The girls are looking for professional makeovers as they start their professional, totally grown up lives. And I guess the mother/daughter dynamic is meant to cause even more drama and friction.

I feel bad for Leanne, who has the most boring, average mother/daughter client group ever. Everyone else has a creative client, with the exception of poor Korto, who has a grad student. With a budget of $100 everyone goes to Mood. As they structure their dresses, Bravo! provides us with fabulous old-school photos of the designers as chubby faced graduates. It makes me wonder where they get off making fun of the mothers—they were nooooooo prize.

Everyone seems to be having a rough week—everyone’s picking on Joe’s business suit, and it’s generally acknowledged that there is no reason why Suede is still there other than Bravo! needs a self-absorbed possibly schizophrenic gay man for that targeted self-absorbed possibly schizophrenic gay man demographic. Or something. Jerell is right to call out his outfit as “so 1992”

The runway bloodbath begins!

1. Joe-blue pinstrip suit with striped top

2. Leanne-Navy knee-length dress with dove-grey cropped jacket

3. Jerell-High wasited chocolate pencil skirt with shiny brown blouse and slouchy chocolate cardigan

4. Korto-green and white graphic pattern dress with oatmeal-brown jacket

5. Suede- Purple graphic print knee length dress, brown jacket with fluttery sleeves and purple ribbon detail

6. Kenley- pink floral print 50-s style dress with tulle trim and brown vest

The judges deliberate. Kenley’s work was dismissed as being adequate. It was cute, but no one loved it. Michael Kors looked at Joe’s design and said it reminded him of a 60-year-old’s idea of what it meant to be professional, causing Kenley and her model to burst out laughing. Korto’s outfit was adored as being young and professional, and Leanne’s dress was considered a bit formal for an elementary school teacher, but was overall ok, if a bit frumpy. Jerell’s outfit was praised for its body consciousness. Suede’s combination was slammed by Nina, who could only dismiss her criticisms as being “the tip of the iceberg. I will say no more.”

Jerell won for his beautiful, sophisticated design. That left, deservedly, Joe and Suede in the bottom 2. Though I wish they both could go. I was glad when Joe left, but I wish it could be Suede already. I really, really do.

Project Runway Episode 9: Star Crossed Haters

Last week:

Leanne won for her Diane von Furstenberg dress, and I’m-into-leatha-Stella was sent home for a sagging crotch. Not hers. Get your mind out of the gutter.

This week:

The eliminated designers have all been brought back to be paired with the remaining contestants (who, cruelly, don’t get a chance to come back). The challenge is to create an avant-garde look based on the astrological sign of a member of the team. How convoluted is that? I hope the designs are less troublesome.

The teams are divided: Korto and Kelli, Kenley and Wesley, Joe and Daniel, Leanne and Emily, Blayne and Stella, Terri and Keith, Jerell and Jennifer, Suede and Jerry. They’re given a dossier which describes the characteristics of the different star signs. They head to Mood with a budget of $250, then back to the studio.

Clearly some of the teams are more compatible than others: Emily and Leanne are adorable, Kenley and Wesley are working well, and Terri and Keith are at each other’s throats. The teams are also interfighting—Leanne can’t stand Kenley’s mouth (“overconfident” was the word she used), which Kenley plays off as girls “not wanting other girls to have fun.” Yeah, not so much. Kenley’s exaggerated sleeves are certainly interesting. I feel like it would work if her prints didn’t clash so much.

It’s announced the day of that the looks are being shown at 8pm at the American Museum of Natural History, and that two designers will be going home. The winner gets no immunity. Stella shows an enormous amount of loyalty to Blayne, which is endearing. Terri keeps sending Keith out, hating his mopey attitude.

Everyone heads over with their dresses to the planetarium, where some of the old contestants from Project Runway (seasons 1-4) meet to have a party. They will be the guest judges on the runway challenge tomorrow. Kenley alienates Heidi when Heidi tries to criticize her garments bodice. I usually appreciate Heidi getting smacked down, but Kenley just seems edited to be super annoying. I suspect she might be the one going home. After scraping Keith off the couch (where he was sleeping), it’s…

On to the Runway!

1. Team Libra (Blayne and Stella)

Off-white ruffled dress with black straps and gauze pink-and-blue fabric winding up the right side

2. Team Aquarius (Kenley and Wesley)

Party dress with black leather bodice, floral bubble skirt, and exaggerated plaid mutton sleeves

3.Team Leo (Terri and Keith)

Tan knit dress with gold bodice and red/gold cape

4. Team Aquarius (Korto and Kelly)

Blue and purple maxi dress with purple ruffles and asymmetrical neckline

5. Team Aries (Joe and Daniel)

Red and russet strapless dress with tiered ruffles and dramatic flame-colored neckline

6. Team Sagittarius (Jerell and Jennifer)

Brown houndstooth-ish high-waisted skirt with ruffle details, gold bodice, multicolored jacked with various trims

7. Team Scorpio (Leanne and Emily)

Black swirling overcoat with dramatic asymmetrical color over simple red dress

8. Team Libra (Suede and Jerry)

Blue pantsuit with flowing, gauzy shirt with pseudo cape

The teams remaining on the runway have the lowest scores: Suede’s team, Kenley’s team, Terri’s team, and Blayne’s team. Blayne is first under the hammer: Nina says it’s haphazard, Michael Kors: “She’s pooping fabric!” Terri and Keith get into a fight in front of the judges, who say she has lost her taste on the project. Kenley starts fighting with the judges, saying she doesn’t look at collections. Suede’s look was criticized for being boring, which I totally agree with. It’s funny how angry all the designers got during this challenge. Michael Kors says it quite accurately when he says there is a lot of self-delusion going on today.

The winner (as voted by the old Project Runway contestants) was Jerell’s, and Blayne and Terri are out. Though I think we all know it should have been Suede. Why is he still here? She’s a much more talented designer.

Jennifer Lopez to Judge Project Runway Finale

Word is that Jennifer Lopez will be a guest judge on the season finale of Bravo’s Project Runway. Last year, her new BFF Posh was a finale judge. Now they’ll have one more thing in common, aside from both being chummy with designer Marc Jacobs.

The finale will be filmed this Friday at Bryant Park, in wrap up Fashion Week, so if you want to loiter around the tents in the area maybe you can catch a glimpse of someone before you get yelled at for stalking. The finale will air in October.

Christian Siriano and Jay McCarroll On Tonight’s Project Runway

From Bravo:

This week’s Project Runway is full of surprises as the designer’s team up to create a garment around the astrological sign of their partner on Wednesday, September 10 at 9:00 PM ET/PT. The designers are taken off-site to receive inspiration from the stars, but the help they receive does not come from the cosmos. The eight remaining contestants are paid a surprise visit by fab designers including Jay McCarroll, Daniel Vosovic, and Christian Siriano. Calvin Klein designer Francisco Costa guest judges.

Check out a video preview here and here. Don’t forget to read Mary Jones’ recap on RealityRollCall.com.

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