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Project Runway All Stars Recap: Mizrahi Madness

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Project Runway All Stars Recap

Season 6, Episode 8: Mizrahi Madness

photos courtesy of mylifetime.com.

This episode was all about color. The designers took a trip to an Isaac Mizrahi exhibit to view the evolution of his designs and his use of color.

Helen Castillo at Isaac Mizrahi exhibit

Isaac gave each designer a color swatch and they were challenged to create a party look for spring using ONLY that color, plus ONE complementary color. We finally got to hear a tiny bit about the designers’ thought processes, as many of them were outside of their all-black comfort zones.

No one went with a print and, for many, choosing the complementary color seemed to be more daunting than the design itself.

From the start, I could see that Helen was going to make something beautiful. After creating a structured corset-style bodice, she started moving her fabric around and it just looked like a winner even before it was sewn. She was in the top, but didn’t win. No one liked her purple shade of eggplant. I didn’t mind it, but the blue was too bright.

Helen Castillo

 

Fabio’s color was green. He went with such an Easter-egg shade that I was sure no one would like it. The judges thought it was just ok and he was safe and back in the lounge.

 

Edmond had orange, which was really exciting to me because I LOVE orange! But he turned out a boring dress that looked like a simple slip. The back was more interesting than the front. I did, however, like his pink accent color. He was in the bottom.

 

Joshua was really proud of his number, per usual. I thought it looked like a sloppy mess. Your thoughts? He was safe and went into the workroom without a critique.

Joshua McKinley

 

Ken really struggled toward the end. He claimed to be so tired that he didn’t even want to finish his dress, despite having no accent color on it yet. Anthony kicked him in the rear, and he finally ended up finishing it seconds before the runway by adding the pink at the lower edge. The judges liked the look but hated the zipper color. He was safe and went to go nap in the lounge.

Ken Project Runway All Stars

 

Speaking of Anthony, his color was yellow. The dress had potential but he just didn’t have time to make sure his finishing touches were flawless. The center front has all kinds of sewing issues and the rest of the dress just didn’t come together. The accent color was so boring, too–he should have gone with an orange or even teal shade, amirite? He was in the bottom.

AnthonyAlso in the bottom was Merlene. This dress was horrendous. The architecture-origami-structure was just lost and she tried way too hard to make it work with the wrong fabrics.

Merlene LabissiereUGH. Thankfully Merlene went home this week!

And the winner was, once again, Stanley. I thought his design was neat, but I truly couldn’t remember if his color was pink or green. Making the entire bodice out of the accent color….I guess it’s a choice but I was underwhelmed by its impact. And I also thought the color combo was too Easter-egg-ish. He built this structure piece out of boning to go under the skirt to puff out her hips, too. Why would any woman want to puff out her hips? Plus, we see all the lines of it through the fabric. I would have gone with Helen this week, guys. Just sayin.

Stanley

 

With Merlene out, it will be tough competition moving forward. Obviously Stanley is the front-runner now, with back-to-back wins. But I’d like to see Anthony redeem himself (for true comic relief alone), and Helen get back on top. She’s growing on me.

 

 

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