NEW YORK — Among the most anticipated shows each Fashion Week isn’t one presented by an established designer, but by a group of upstarts who have scraped, sewn and battled their way to Bryant Park via the popular cable TV show “Project Runway.”
The show, now in its fifth season, is down to six contestants — Jerell, Suede, Joe, Kenley, Korto and Leanne — and each showed 10-piece collections on Friday morning to a packed house. (In keeping with Project Runway parlance, the designers are known by their first names only.)
From what we saw, the ladies did a better job than the guys. We think the top prize is going to either Leanne or Korto. Leanne artfully layered fabrics like petals on a flower in making a turquoise skirt teamed with draped off-shoulder top. She carried the petal theme through each piece in her line.
Saying she was inspired by nature and the native dress of Liberia, where she was born, Korto used grass green raw silk for short sexy dresses, a sweet printed sundress and a puffy-sleeved evening dress. Some looks incorporated chunky stone jewelry into the designs. It was fresh, young and fun, and she used a variety of materials but made a cohesive statement.
Kenley showed a feminine group of dresses (and one skirt and top combo), a couple of which she embellished with hand painted flowers. She went a little overboard on the ruffles and with exaggerated shoulders, but she gets props for taking some risks.
Jerrell went all-out evening with short, sexy dresses like the silver and red strapless number that opened his line. But he veered into dangerous territory with too many layers and too much gold embroidery. It looked gaudy rather than rich.
Suede’s line disappointed. Party dresses included such atrocious combinations as a silver sequined top and a full skirt made of pink and blue fabric. A dress with a “carwash” panel skirt just looked tired. It looked like junior-prom wear, not sophisticated American design.
We felt the same way about Joe’s collection. He said it was inspired by his love of Americana, western wear, rock and roll and motorcycle chic. The tough croc bustiers, too-tight jeans and Ralph Lauren knockoff concho belts were more suited to dancing on the bar than heading for a sophisticated night on the town.
“Project Runway’s” regular judges Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia and Michael Kors were supposed to be joined by Jennifer Lopez on Friday, but Klum told the audience that a foot injury sidelined the star. Filling in was Tim Gunn, the show’s design mentor.
While Gunn initially balked at the idea of being a judge, he said in a statement released by Bravo that he was happy to do it because “I am always giving them critical feedback. What is very important in this enhanced role that I have is that I put aside everything that I know that the designers have gone through to bring these collections to Bryant Park. It really is about the work only.”
Project Runway’s two-part finale will air Oct. 8 and 15 on Bravo. Next season, the show moves to Lifetime.
Suzanne S. Brown: 303-954-1697 or sbrown@denverpost.com
