Season 4: Bryant Park Collections

17 March, 19:04 - be the first to leave a comment

I’ll just start off and say that I was REALLY impressed with the final collections. I love that they all have their own style and point of view. Each one was so unique that I could have easily figured out who designed each collection without ever seeing the designer.

For each collection (including Chris and Sweet P’s shows) I’ve recapped what I thought overall and I’ve picked 3 designs to specifically talk about; my favorite that I LOVED, one that I really liked and my least favorite of the whole bunch.

On with the show!

Christian’s Collection
Christian’s collection wasn’t my favorite, but I completely understood and supported the judges’ decision on the win. It’s obvious that Christian is a natural at design and I’m jealous at the level of his talent (especially being so young!). I thought his collection was a little repetitive and I would have loved to see some color, but designers tend to get in phases, so maybe this is his puffy-sleeved, black and neutral phase. I would be willing to bet that in a season or two, he is on a completely different track and will have a new obsession and I can’t wait to see what it is!

Love! : It’s very dramatic, a bit over-done, and completely un-wearable 99% of the time, but I absolutely love this dress! It was so gorgeous and breath taking on the runway and it moved beautifully. I really liked the ombre-esq transition from cream to brown and I can’t even being to comprehend the amount of work that went into all the detailing. I thought he used the feathers in a unique way and really combined a lot of the techniques he introduced throughout the collection. Also, I’m really happy it didn’t have puffy sleeves!

Like: I also really liked this dress and I think it has a lot to do again with the ombre coloring. It’s a little derivative of the technique he used on the couture dress, but I found it very interesting that he rotated the ruffles vertically. I also like that it’s over-the-top, but I can imagine a lot of women wearing this dress to a gala or other fashion event since it’s not as overwhelming as the long-sleeved, full-length gown above.

Dislike: Out of all his large-sleeved (I don’t want to say the “P” word again!) jacket and top combos, this was the least interesting to me. I thought the overall look was way too close to a pirate costume and I’m not a fan of the color combination. I also wasn’t big on the large, exposed zippers that he used on many of the pants and thought it cheapened the look.

Rami’s Collection
Rami’s was my favorite collection on the runway at Bryant Park. The collection was a little disjointed in places, but I didn’t have a problem with most of the colors like the judges did (the turquoise was my favorite) and it was nice to see some color when most of the other collections were very dark. There was a lot of detailing I loved that didn’t come across very well in the photos or on TV, but at times it was a bit heavy and overdone. Also, I know the judges picked on his draping and so it makes sense he was purposely showing them other aspects of his design, but I would have loved to see some amazing red carpet draped gowns!

Love! : I couldn’t decide between this gown and the turquoise dress as my favorite, but in the end this design won out. The layering of the lace (it’s lace right?) is so intricate and fits his model perfectly. I love the way he angled the lace to really fit and mold around her body, it’s very flattering and moved beautifully. I also liked the detailing at the top and thought that was a unique way to start the dress (rather than it just being strapless or a basic shape).

Like: I’ve heard a lot of criticism about this dress, but I loved it and thought it was really unique, yet still marketable and wearable. I’m not sure why the judges had a problem with the color? I thought it was beautiful and looked great on his model (and would look good on most skin tones). I also really liked how he integrated tailoring and draping into one garment and thought it worked really well with his Joan of Arc/armor inspiration. I don’t know if you can see it at all, but there was some amazing stitching detail on the waist of this dress. The only thing I don’t really like is the half collar and think that’s one element he could have dropped.

Dislike: If I cover this photo from the waist down, I really like the top and could picture it on some gorgeous Grecian “Rami” dress. Unfortunately he paired it with those weird, not very flattering pants and it really kills the whole look. Once again, I didn’t have a problem with the color, but I thought it was a bit overused and the color of the pants clashed with the top. I actually like the idea of using olive green in an evening dress (like he did with that woven dress), it just didn’t work in this outfit.

Jillian’s Collection
While it wasn’t my favorite, I thought Jillian did a great job with her collection and I was really impressed to find out that this was her first runway show! Out of the finalists, she is definitely the best at sportswear and her tailoring is amazing. I think they will all be successful, but ultimately I think Jillian will produce the most wearable, accessible collection out of all 3 designers.

Love! : It wasn’t technically a part of her collection, but I’m picking the dress Jillian wore as my favorite (I’m assuming she designed it, but if she didn’t, please let me know!). I loved the cable knit dress and thought it was unique, young and fresh. It was able to cross the casual/dressy boarder and had a light feeling to it even though it was a heavier knit. I really wish she had brought some of this lighter feeling and color into the heavy, dark collection.

Like: Ultimately it was the hat in this outfit that won the look for me (I’m SO in love with it!). Originally I thought the skirt was cute, but a bit stiff, but the more I look at it, I like the structure of the skirt with the more basic top and fringy wrap. I also really like the slightly metallic herringbone (I think?) fabric that she used in the previous jacket and in this skirt. Like I said before, I think Jillian managed to create an outfit that can cross between casual and dressy and that was one of my favorite aspects of her collection.

Dislike: Overall I liked this outfit, except for 3 little issues that I can’t get over… I can’t get over the holes in the front and they were very unflattering in real life. I thought between the 3 holes and the shorter length of the sweater, it ended up feeling a bit tacky and that definitely doesn’t seem to be Jillian’s style! Without those holes, I really liked the shape of the sweater and thought it was unique, but wearable.

Chris’s Collection
I’m sorry to say, but I didn’t like Chris’s collection very much. I even had a hard time picking out a second garment to put in my “like” category. I know there are a lot of Chris fans out there, so please don’t get mad at me! I give him a lot of credit for using unique materials and staying away from anything too “costume-y” as the judges would say. I know he put a lot of work into the collection and it looked really well made, but I think it’s SO drastic from my style or anything I normally like that it’s hard for me look at it objectively.

Love! : I don’t normally like lace, or nude “illusion” fabric, or hair on garments (well, nothing “normal” there!), but put them all together and I absolutely love this dress! I like how he placed the lace on the bodice and thought it had a really interesting pattern. The overall shape was really flattering and the way the hair moved on the skirt was gorgeous! I have to say that I wasn’t fond of the hair for the most part (not because it was gross or anything, just didn’t like it as a trim), but I thought it was executed perfectly in this garment and really proved that it could be used in an elegant way.

Like: Although it’s not something I would ever want to wear, I really appreciate all the work and ingenuity Chris put into this outfit. I would have NEVER guessed the skirt was safety pins from where I was sitting (3rd row, so I had a pretty good view)! The collar is very dramatic, frames her face well and once again I think this was an elegant, interesting way to use the hair. I’m not as much a fan of the hair at the bottom of the jacket and think it was a little over done and takes away from the drama of the collar.

Dislike: I’m sorry, but I hated this outfit! It’s impossible to tell from the photo and even the runway video, but the front panel had all this heavy weaving that ended up giving the model a really weird, large silhouette from the side. The whole center panel stuck out and was very unflattering and heavy looking. That said, I really liked the shawl/scarf thing and think it would work a lot better with a casual outfit rather than an evening gown (with the dress it just made the whole look thick and heavy).

Sweet P’s Collection
I was really surprised and really happy that Sweet P. got the chance to show at Bryant Park! I think Sweet P. didn’t work very well in the time constraints of Project Runway, but there were a few designs that made me really want to see more (her RTW garment for the couture challenge), so I was really excited to see what she could do given a normal amount of time to put a collection together. I loved the first part of her collection and a few of the garments towards the end, but it seemed to get a bit muddy in the middle. I thought her first few outfits were very fresh and unique and I wish she had kept that momentum through the whole collection.

Love! : This was not only my favorite outfit of Sweet P’s collection, but was my favorite garment in all 5 runway shows! The colors worked perfectly together and were a surprising combination. I really liked the metallic purple fabric and loved the extra large buttons. I thought the silhouette was unique and interesting, but still flattering and wearable. Surprising to me, I even like the styling of the socks with the heels!

Like: I loved this brown and purple striped fabric and thought it was a great transition from the bright purple and gold in the beginning. I thought it was a bit overwhelming in the pantsuit outfit that she showed earlier, but it works great as a shirt-dress and gives a fairly basic shape an interesting texture. I’m not crazy about the ruffles on the sleeves, but I don’t hate them.

Dislike: This was definitely a bit of a clunker for me… It doesn’t do anything for the models figure and looks poorly made. I love the deep turquoise color, but it stuck out and didn’t work well into her collection. I have a feeling this might have been a last minute “needs to be done now” garment (I think every designer has been there at one point!).

photos pulled from nymag.com