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Project Runway Recap: Episode 10 Driving Miss Unconventional

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Project Runway Recap, Season 16, Episode 10: Driving Miss Unconventional

photos courtesy of mylifetime.com.
 

PROJECT RUNWAY 102017

This week the designers had to use “safety” materials to create a look in the Lexus unconventional challenge. A collection of caution tape, bungee cords, fire hoses, traffic cones and the like were stuffed into three cars, and the designers had three minutes to grab as much or as little as they needed for their looks.

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Only six designers are left, so each one had to up their game to stay in the competition. From the get-go, Ayana looked like the front runner. She really focused and decided to go really big–tackling a lot of materials and a lot of pieces for her look.

Screen Shot 2017-10-20 at 10.00.48 AMEveryone in the room commented on their inadequacies during this challenge–except Ayana. She won the last unconventional challenge and she was confident she could do it again–she even got the same model, which helped with fitting challenges. The bodice of her dress was made of a blow-up boat and she broke reflectors and applied them to the bodice in a mosaic pattern. Wow.

Screen Shot 2017-10-20 at 9.52.17 AMI thought it was super cool. Although, I was a bit concerned when she had to hot glue her sleeves on seconds before the runway show. Gotta do what you gotta do!

Brandon’s look was pretty neat. He achieved a lot of volume by using fire hose as binding for his top. It acted almost like horsehair braid and made the top poof out. It was a cool look, and looked “signature Brandon,” and his model looked quite good in it. I liked how many materials he snuck into the look without it looking patchwork-ish.

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Margarita was also in the top with her “superwoman-esque” outfit. I thought it was a little trashy, to be honest. But she did do some cool things by sawing helmets in half to make shoulder pads. I thought it could have been more finished, if that makes sense. Though the judges really loved it.

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Kenya’s look was…weird. I actually couldn’t believe that the judges liked it as much as they did. The model looked like a penguin with super wide hips. The silhouette was off–unbalanced and bottom heavy. The zipper broke as soon as she put it on the model. There were so many issues–and they loved it! I did appreciate that she saw the seatbelts and went for it. That’s all she used in her design, and she placed the hardware very thoughtfully. However….it looks like a sloppy mess to me. And, again, for the second week in a row–her model couldn’t walk very well.

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Kentaro was in the bottom. Nina thought his look was a “Pocahontas costume.” And, I have to agree. He really went for it with the hair and shoes…but what a terrible look.

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Michael made a bungee-wrapped bustier and mini skirt with some mesh wrapped around it. I remember many designers trying this tying, weaving, knotting of straps in previous years and it never goes well. The guest judge (cannot remember who she even was or why she was qualified to be a judge) called the look “hookerish.” Welp, what do YOU think?

Screen Shot 2017-10-20 at 9.52.55 AMOh, em, gee. I’m just going to leave it here…Michael goes home for his lack of originality and for not challenging himself more. They did mention the “Tim Gunn save” numerous times during this episode, so I thought he might use it. But alas, Michael returned to the workroom to clean up his space.

Ayana comes out on top: a well-deserved win, IMO.

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It’s really getting good now! Even though those twins overstayed their welcome, I have to say the talent has risen to the top. I hope there’s an upcoming challenge where previous designers get to come back and help create a look–I just want to see Samantha come back!

Congrats, Ayana! She is so humble and talented. I’d love to see her take the win in the end (though I’ve thought it was going to be Brandon since episode 2 when Heidi fawned over him…time will tell).

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