Previously on Project Runway: Season 11, Episode 13

Tuesday, April 23, 2013
A.K.A. The finale part 1


Previously on Project Runway, the final four designers (Stanley, Michelle, Patricia and Daniel) were given $10,000 and sent home to create fall 2013 collections for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. While the designers were home Tim Gunn visited each designer in their hometowns to give a critique. After several weeks had past, the designers returned to New York City where they were each paired off with a cast-away designer to finish up their collections and decide on 3 looks to present to the judges. In the end, the judges narrowed down the final 4 designers into the final 3 designers to present at fashion week. Let's take a look at their designs.

Michelle arguably had the most distinct point-of-view of the bunch and after returning home to Portland, Oregon after having been surrounded by other designers she became fascinated with the idea of the "lone wolf" which became the inspiration for her collection. During her visit with Tim Gunn she didn't have much finished, but she was ready by the time she returned to New York. Her collection included many versatile  pieces such as a "warrior woman" coat with detachable bags, an ombre wolf sweater and some more leather chest pieces. The judges criticized her hair and make-up styling and asked her to remove some of her "bells and whistles" come runway time, but Michelle will be presenting at Fashion Week.


I was surprised to see that Patricia resides in Taos Pueblo in Taos, New Mexico so I kept shouting at my TV screen "I've been there"! Anyways, Patricia aimed to make a collection that would embrace Native American culture in modern fashion. And as always her clothes ranged from neat and innovative to crazy- coo coo- craft fair. But everyone except Nina was impressed with her horse-hair cape. Despite Nina's reservations, Patricia will be presenting at Fashion Week.


Stanley didn't seem to have a clear inspiration during Tim's home visit, but he appeared to have more than enough garments ready for the runway. So, I'm not sure what happened between the home visit and Stanley's return to New York City, but Stanley had a lot of work left to do when he returned to New York and he was damn lucky that the judges didn't decide to throw in another mandatory outfit challenge at the last minute. Somehow Stanley managed to pull it all together. Although his clothes were rather retro looking with long hemlines and his gold dress was unflattering, his clothes were impeccably made and THAT'S what saved him. Stanley will be presenting at Fashion Week.

You could tell Daniel had lost his marbles during the home visit because his hair had gone from groomed and coifed to crazy 80's Jerry curl. During Tim Gunn's visit to his hometown in Austin, Daniel said that he was inspired by his favorite artists such as Salvador Dali, nebulas and space, but he also used sting ray leather throughout his collection. Despite the non-linear inspiration, Tim Gunn seemed impressed by the collection and only advised Daniel to eliminate the "house coat". However, when it came time for Daniel to select 3 looks to present on the runway, Daniel selected 3 all black looks despite Tim's hesitation for Daniel to send a look with color rather than his black sting ray gown or sweater. The judges found his looks to be boring and unoriginal and Daniel was sent home.



This episode was a shocker to me. I thought this would be the episode that the judges would either send Patricia home on or let all of the designers present at Fashion Week. However, after seeing glimpses of the designers collections, I agree that Daniel's 3 presented looks were boring and unoriginal. It seemed like Daniel lost his mojo while making the final collection. If only he'd just taken one of his inspirations and ran with it (like Salvador Dali- I wouldn't have minded seeing a lobster red dress).

What did you think of this week's episode? Did you agree with the judges decisions? Let me know in the comments below.

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