Project Runway: The Winner is….

Last night was the runway finally of the 11th season of Project Runway.  The three finalists who competed last night were Michelle, Stanley and Patricia Michael.  Sorry that I don’t remember the last names of Michelle and Stanley but last week I posted information about Patricia Michael, the first Native American to become a finalist.  And the winner is…

Michelle.

Judges were: Michael Corrs, Nina Garcia, Zak Posan and Heidie Klum.  They are looking for fashion-forward cohesiveness in the 12 designs presented by each designer.  They ask the designer to identify the woman he or she is designing for and judge on how well the designer fulfilled that esthetic and whether they were true to their own point of view.   Because the prize includes a bunch of money to start their own line, they also consider marketability of the designs.

During the season Stanley had been a real contender, winning many challenges but he fell apart.  He came to NY for the final with 8 of his 12 looks incomplete.  He and a large team of seamstresses were still sewing his garments while Michelle and Patricia’s models were on the runway.

So the deliberations were between Michelle and Patricia and it was close.  Michael, Zak and Heidie loved her creativity.  Nina pointed out that it was not cohesive and less marketable since it was hard to identify the woman she was designing for.

So they chose Michelle.  Her theme was the Lone Wolf and she was designing for the future career woman whose success depended on the next kill.  One of her outstanding pieces was a brown sweater with a bleeding heart knitted in the left side of the sweater.  The bottom of each sleeve was red.  Tim Gunn had advised her to lose that sweater but she didn’t and Nina and Heidie wanted to have it.

Michelle’s line was cohesive, fashion-forward, true to her “customer” and her point of view, and marketable.  She also demonstrated her maturity and organization which would indicate she is ready for the next step, her own business.

I was sorry to see Patricia Michael take second place but don’t disagree with the judges’ decision.