Project Runway: Print it to Win It

Mood? They don’t need no stinkin’ Mood.

Not when last night’s challenge had the remaining designers creating their own unique fabric for their weekly outfit.

I really liked this challenge because, for better or worse, it gave each competitor COMPLETE creative autonomy over their creations. Most weeks (when they’re not trying to make a dress out of materials found in a dumpster or something), the designers simply come up with a concept and seem to hope Mood has something that matches their vision. This week, there really was absolutely no excuse if your outfit was fugly.

I actually can’t believe it took this long for the show to come up with this challenge. I suppose we had to wait for technology to catch up and make it possible. Though the easel-like canvas was cool, I’m afraid I must refrain from mentioning a certain electronics company by name – the got plenty of pub last night, so I’m sure they won’t mind.

All of the designers seemed excited about the prospect of creating their own fabric (even Mila was excited to play with some colors). Well, everyone except Maya, who isn’t really about the bold prints. Fortunately for her, she found a way to marry her structural aesthetic with the challenge at hand and ended up producing what Michael Kors called his favorite print. (Imagine what she could’ve done if she actually liked prints!)

I think it was pretty clear which print ended up being Michael Kors’ least favorite print (someone please give Jonathan a hug), but we’ll get to that later. First, I want to talk about Emilio who, despite a considerable amount of talent, seems hell-bent on coming off as an arrogant, off-putting jackass.

First, there was his idea to put his name on his fabric as a form of branding. Is it incredibly presumptuous for a guy to consider himself a brand name when he probably should’ve finished in 10th place after his disastrous metal bikini? Probably, but I’m not going to take away his right to sell himself. I have more of an issue with the fabric design itself, which read ES♥SA over and over again.

I’m glad Emilio was on hand to explain that it was supposed to mean E. Sosa (the heart was on “O”) because I had no idea what that thing said. I was actually with Tim, who thought the “ES” stood for Emilio Sosa and the “SA” stood for Seth Aaron, his partner last week. (Taking it one step further, I think it’s hilarious that, if that were the case, the fabric would read “Emilio Sosa hearts Seth Aaron.) Most egregiously, Emilio got all huffy and said that he doesn’t listen to Tim, whether he likes it or not.

Usually, disagreeing with Tim is a BIG mistake, but the judges ended up inexplicably flipping for Emilio’s fabric and gave him the win, his third this season. (Like his ego needed it.) Me, I’m with Tim. I actually think I’ve seen a similar pattern to Emilio’s on a purse at Target. Oh well, at least his French-inspired jacket was a nice touch.

Personally, I would’ve given Maya the win for having the best pattern (hello, that was a major part of the challenge!) and for combining it so well with her own tastes. I also wouldn’t have been mad if Seth Aaron had won yet again. It’s incredible how many pieces he can create in so little time. In fact, I wish he’d had a little less time because last night’s ensemble could’ve probably used one less piece.

Since Jay Nicolas and his newly revised pants skipped to safety, the bottom three was Mila, Anthony and Jonathan.

Maybe it’s just me, but I actually thought Mila’s white tee-pee with a rainbow flag was BY FAR the worst piece last night. Bonus points for making it so constricting that her model Brandise could barely walk in it. I’m actually a believer in past work, but this is at least the second time Mila has completely missed when going outside her color blocking mod comfort zone. I would’ve placed her in the bottom 2 to make her sweat.

Unfortunately, that spot was taken up this week by Jonathan, who got the worst of it from the judges. I actually didn’t hate his “stained tablecloth” fabric nearly as much as the judges did. It was a different way to go, yes, but it was consistent with Jonathan’s aesthetic. However, Michael Kors’ taunts were hilarious at first, but turned borderline cruel when Jonathan dared to chime in that Kors’ critique was preposterous. (Did you see the delight on Heidi’s face when she realized Michael was REALLY going to go after him?)

I was actually ok with Michael tearing into Jonathan’s “disco straight jacket.” (“Your husband helps you back into your straight jacket.”) I mean, that thing was just weird. What wasn’t cool was the rest of the judges jumping in and ganging up on Jonathan. Then again, I’d probably feel sorrier for Jonathan if he hadn’t dumped his model Cerry during the subsequent “Models of the Runway” episode, causing her to be eliminated. (But that’s another story.)

Still, Jonathan was safe, which meant Anthony was out.

Although Anthony did NOT have the worst dress last night, his continued aversion to taking chances did him in. He’ll be missed by his competitors (for a guy who talked all the time, it’s a testament to his charm that EVERYONE seemed to like him) and I’m sure he’ll be missed by many in the audience because the guy was a sound bite machine. Personally, I think the most impressive thing he did during his time on the show was the way he handled his ouster with unparalleled grace and good humor.

So what’d you think of this episode? Should Anthony have gone home? Did Emilio deserve to win? Who do you think the upcoming “opinionated celebrity” is? Finally, does Jay Nicolas own any men’s shorts?