Standing outside of Lincoln Center 2 Fridays ago, I saw a stream of Project Runway alums (Kooan! Dmitry! Oliver! Elena! and more) pour out of the building. They must have just watched this year’s finale show.
It was hard to get a lot of photos because I was on the phone with my sister, but afterwards I spotted Nathan Paul. I approached him, and we had a nice chat. The first thing I said was that I loved his voice! And he said he gets that a lot.
Seeing the Project Runway alums got me thinking, I wonder which of this season’s collections were decoys, and which were the real thing…
As of last week’s episode, Jeremy Brandrick is out, BUT he has a decoy collection. Interestingly, Ken Laurence is still in as of last week’s episode, but he did not present at Lincoln Center. The teasers for next week’s episode imply that he had a major breakdown, so maybe Ken went the way of Sandro? ALSO it bears saying that obviously the invisible producers are rooting for Dom. Why else would they have Heidi give her a second chance? They did the same thing with Anya a couple of seasons ago. Your collection is weak and you might lose? Everyone goes back to Mood!
Here are each designer’s best look and my prediction for them. For all the runway photos, head to Blogging Project Runway or click on the designer’s name.
Alexander Pope, Jeremy Brandrick, Alexandria von Bromssen
- Alexander’s collection looked like a HOT mess and it was hard to pick a good one, so I’m going to guess that he is NOT top 3.
- Jeremy has an “old” problem. Or not “old” per se, but whatever the opposite of “youthful” is. Jeremy most certainly is NOT top 3.
- I give Alexandria props for being from San Mateo and not San Francisco. Since nobody outside of California has heard of San Mateo it would be easier to claim SF, so I respect her for sticking with her San Mateo roots. Unfortunately her collection was all over the place, so I predict NOT top 3.
Kate Pankoke, Bradon McDonald
- Kate’s collection was so-so. Typical Kate, which isn’t bad, but which is usually not exciting. I thought this was her most interesting piece. She had some other nice stuff too. Maybe top 3?
- Bradon’s collection was beautiful and interesting, but not super cohesive. I can just see him planning all the great techniques he’s going to use (!), instead of thinking about what garments he wants to make. Maybe top 3?
Helen Castillo, Dom Streater, Justin LeBlanc
- Helen is all over the place emotionally – and materially, with her work. But when she pulls it off she really pulls it off! Her line has a cohesion that is usually characteristic of a potential winner. It was also super creative and fashion forward. I predict that Nina will love it, and I predict that she IS top 3.
- Dom is awesome, we know the producers love her. We know she IS top 3.
- Justin is one of my all-time favorite Project Runway contestants, second only to Mondo. His “Tim Gunn Save” was one of the most emotional moments in Project Runway history, second only to Mondo revealing his HIV positive status. Justin made an excellent collection, and I predict he IS top 3, or at least the best decoy collection.
Based off of the final collections, here’s who should be top 3: Helen, Justin, Dom. We know, however, that there are usually at least one or two great decoy collections, and somebody in the top 3 who just couldn’t get it together for the finale. I predict that might be Kate or Bradon. Dom’s final collection wasn’t actually that great, so I predict Helen Castillo takes it all!
Who made your favorite finale collection, and who do you think will win? We still have a few more weeks to find out!
What's your opinion?