It’s the last episode of Project Runway All Stars before the finale. So of course we can expect Alyssa Milano and company to throw yet another curve ball in the final four’s direction. Let’s see which three will go on to make a final collection.
Guess Who’s Back?
Alyssa meets the final four on the runway with a light up dress and a guest to tell them about the next challenge. It’s Nina Garcia! And she tells them their challenge this week is to use technology to create their own print. Then they have to pick another print at Mood to create a print-on-print look. The winner will work with Otterbox to design their own phone case that will be manufactured and sold worldwide.
And there’s another surprise! The previous four winners of Project Runway All Stars are there to offer them some advice. Dmitry tells Ken that he needs to have a clean look but focus on volume. Seth Aaron encourages Dom to be herself and not do what she thinks the judges will like. Anthony Ryan tells Kini he needs to amp up the sex appeal to make his looks edgier. And Mondo tells Sam he thinks he has the talent and ideas to win this thing, but he needs to execute his looks to perfection.
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Ken doesn’t do prints at all so this challenge intimidates him a little bit. He said he’d rather be working with Prince not prints (RIP). Anyway, he’s good with textures so he creates a print that looks like a texture. He’s making a structural jacket with exaggerated sleeves. But the print he chose and the print he created aren’t working well together. He’s stressed out about time and about the strength of his design.
From the get-go, Dom knows that this is her challenge to lose. She creates a geometric white, red and pink print and she’s making a hand-painted leather jacket to go over her printed dress. The coat is taking up a lot of her time and Zanna thinks it just looks like white leather with some lines scribbled on it. Dom’s really feeling the pressure of finishing things on time as well as the mighty expectations the judges have for her.
Kini is not deterred by this challenge being in Dom’s wheelhouse. He thinks he can beat her at her own game. He designed a leaf print inspired by his Hawaiian home, but in black and white. He chooses a zebra print from mood to work with as well. The top of his dress is a tuxedo top reworked to look more feminine and the bottom is a long and flowing skirt. He’s the only one not struggling in terms of time management due to his fast sewing. Zanna is worried that the tuxedo silhouette might be a little too gimmicky.
Sam designs a pixelated blue floral print. And he’s feeling confident from the beginning, despite the fact that he’s making yet another jumpsuit with yet even more mesh. He tells Zanna he loves doing something different, but she points out that it’s not really different if it’s the same thing he’s been doing the entire competition.
Before the end of the first day, Ken pulls Sam aside to talk about the discussion they had the night before. Ken is big enough to apologize and tell Sam that he was really being hard on him because he cares about him as a fellow designer and a friend, it may have just come out a little rough. Sam says he appreciates the push in the right direction and he’s even more motivated now. He also appreciates the fact that Ken stepped up and cleared the air. Kini, on the other hand, is still bitter.
Prints on the Runway
Of course Nina is sticking around for the runway show. She’s joining our usuals, Alyssa, Georgina and Isaac.
Critiques
Kini: Georgina says he did an amazing job. She says it’s so flattering on his model and she looks ten feet tall. Isaac thinks he did a great job as well but he thinks the print he bought looked more exciting than the one he created. Nina says she recognized his design as his immediately because of the impeccable tailoring. But she says that it is a little too bogged down in the details.
Sam: Alyssa says that it’s interesting that the two looks that don’t really go well together do actually kind of work. But Georgina says her biggest problem is the print, but she respects his new and fresh ideas. Nina hasn’t seen his work before, but she likes the romantic print paired with the mesh. However she’s not crazy about the jumpsuit underneath. Isaac doesn’t love how he’s constantly going to the mesh but says the slouchy silhouette is really interesting.
Dom: Nina says the look is fresh and fabulous. She loves the stripe used as a neutral and she likes the print as well. While she doesn’t like the length of the dress, Alyssa likes the asymmetry of of it. Isaac likes the pieces together, but he says he would like them both better apart.
Ken: Georgina respects that Ken knows the woman he designs for, but this week there’s a lack of his usual polish. Isaac says it’s a valiant effort, but the print is not what he notices about the look. Nina thinks his print looks like the supporting role of the outfit. She says it’s too subdued in general. Alyssa says it’s a strong silhouette but it’s not a strong enough look for the final challenge.
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The Results
Backstage, Ken directs his disappointment at himself this week instead of at Sam. He’s nervous because he knows he’s going to be in the bottom and he’s worked so hard to get to this point to just lose it on the final challenge.
The winner of the challenge is Dom. The Queen of Prints remains on her throne. She and Kini both have earned their spots in the finale.
It’s between Ken and Sam for one spot in the finale. Except the judges haven’t been able to reach a decision. So they ask the guys to wait back stage for a few more minutes while they take more time to decide.
Since the only thing the judges can agree on is how much they hate each of their looks, they bring them back onto the runway.
They get back to the runway where there are two boxes and a mini workroom set-up complete with sewing machines and tables. They have to take the two looks in their boxes (a winning and a losing look) and re-work them to prove themselves worthy of going to the finale. They have one hour to complete their new looks.
Ken gets his own winning look from the Baroque challenge and Mitchell’s losing look. He couldn’t be more excited. The dress already fits his model to perfection. He’s keeping the silhouette but making it shorter and adding some more sophisticated details.
Sam gets the top and bottom looks from the Fairy Tale challenge. He wants to make something more athletic and modern. He makes Asha’s pants into sleeves for his model and he uses Alexander’s dress as a simple shift dress.
Who is Going to the Finale?
It’s clear that Ken’s garment is more polished. But Sam really used what he had to make a completely new silhouette.
Georgina likes Sam’s deconstructed look and how he threw caution to the wind. Isaac likes the jacket he made and that he used fabrics from both looks. Alyssa says it’s a cute look and he did a good job. Nina thinks it’s creative and likes the effortlessness of his clothes.
Georgina says Ken’s dress looks exactly like something he’d design for his typical client. Isaac thinks he’s made a gorgeous dress. Nina was very impressed with what he created in an hour.
So who is it?! Just tell us already!
The designer going to the finale is Ken. Sam has finally run out of chances, although he did put up a good fight with this impromptu challenge.
Next episode: The designers have just four days to whip up an eight piece collection.
Project Runway All Stars airs on Thursdays at 9pm on Lifetime.
(Image courtesy of Lifetime)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
