TV is the New Reading

‘Project Runway’ a great

showcase for creativity

The countdown to fashion has begun once again on Bravo with the fourth season premiere of “Project Runway,” and already there are some standouts and some tears.

Structurally, I need to point out that the initial episodes in a “Project Runway”-type show are never as fun, it seems, as the initial episodes of, say, “American Idol,” which is mostly fun because there are people involved who never should be. In “Project Runway,” especially this year, everyone involved is there because not only can they design their way out of a paper bag, they can come up with something pret-a-porter in the process.

So these initial episodes are overwhelming. There are so many designs to see and so many contestants to meet and form some kind of connection with that it’s actually a little irritating. The editing team does a good job – you can connect the designers with the designs with few problems – but there are just so many to cram into that one little screen that the flash edits get a little tedious.

And then the judges are the same odd birds as they always have. I always feel that “Project Runway” judges could take some tips from the “Top Chef” judges, who are occasionally downright mean. One would hardly dare serve some of them a bowl of cold cereal for fear of the venom spatter. “You call this a crunchberry?!”

They also had some problems when they approved of the addition of a fabric flower to one designer’s garment and disapproved of another’s. You could almost hear the backpedalling.

I get the sense that they selected the artist who designs clothes for marionettes so as to make fun of her and see what wacky thing she’ll do next. From infusing her fabrics with grass stains to give them a natural element to marking her hemlines with spittle, she’s absolutely defined herself as an oddball.

And even though her model got tangled in the first dress she designed, the judges dismissed a different designer. And really, the winning design from that first competition – which was to design the ultimate garment, the look that defined their vision as a designer – was not the best design by a long shot. The most striking piece in my opinion was a slate gray gown with a red accent through the bodice.

But that’s really part of the fun of these shows. Everyone sees something different, everyone reacts differently. When the outrageous emo Goth-boy Christian talked about Marionette Girl as being “out there” – just before turning in this depressing retro piece for Sarah Jessica Parker’s “bitten” collection – well, that was saying something.

Most of the fun of these shows is the fact that people do manage to create the most interesting pieces under a lot of pressure with cameras on them the whole time and fashion gadfly Tim Gunn flapping about challenging them throughout the design process.

And in a week or so, the designers will be culled to more manageable numbers and we can sit back and have a much better perspective on their creative process.

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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