Project Runway Review: Fashion Memories Collide

I want to cry a meadow of tears, siphon them into a jar and send it overnight delivery to Mondo. And I know this sounds totally psycho, but, trust me, I’m going somewhere with this. This week on Project Runway the designers find inspiration in childhood memories, Andy falls off his game, and Valerie starts repeating herself.

There are seven left on the road to fashion week, and all of the designers are really feeling the sting of competition. Mondo, coming down off back-to-back challenge wins, seems to be the competitor to beat. Valerie, on the other hand, is uncertain after last week’s near elimination, but she is determined to do well for Ivy’s (last week’s eliminated) sake.

For the challenge this week, Project Runway brings back the HP technology suite so the designers can design their own fabrics. This fabric will be the base of their design and must be influenced by a profound moment in the designers’ lives. Valerie’s memory is of her father who built her childhood home; her design is inspired by his blueprints and is just a series of straight lines. Andy says his design is a reflection of memory bubbles, but it actually is just a series of circles. Gretchen takes her inspiration from the Southwest where she is from; she makes this graphic Aztec-like sign for that. April’s fabric represents her parents’ divorce. April describes this as a very dark time for her, and that is evident in her design. It’s black and white and seems to be this abstract image that looks like a woman dancing. It’s very striking. In fact, this challenge is bringing out a lot of personal turmoil to the front, for Mondo most of all. Mondo’s design represents his HIV positive status; this, along with the fact that he’s gay, is something that he has been hiding from his family. He says that his father wouldn’t know how to deal with it, and so he is forced to harbor this secret in “guilt” and “shame.” In fact he continues to hide the personal meaning of his design to the others. My heart cries for Mondo; he’s in so much personal torment that it’s heartbreaking to watch. He goes on to say that he feels he can’t open up to anyone but maybe that will change with Tim’s guests.

Tim surprises the designers by bringing their mothers, and Chris’ partner JJ, in. The designers are all amped up to spend the day with their families but for Andy this gift turns bad. As soon as his mother leaves, so does Andy’s will to stay; he just completely checks out of the game. As a result, his design suffers; he doesn’t even care what he’s making anymore. He’s not excited by his design so he decides to change it, but the problem is his print doesn’t inspire him. At this point, Andy’s just working so that he won’t go home.

The guest judge this week is designer Rachel Roy.

The judges are kind of mixed about the designers’ looks and keep them all on the Runway for evaluation. Andy’s look was boring, his black vest/short combo was bland, and his fabric didn’t really stand out. Rachel and Michael liked the print but thought that Andy’s use of it in the design was disturbing. Nina and Heidi found both the print and design “sad” and “disturbing.”

April had an off the shoulder black/white mini dress. Her skirt was a little odd with a high-waist and fabric poofing out at the top. The judges all saw the friction in April’s design, and commended her for being consistent with her view. Nina found the print charming, and said it had a unique voice.

Christopher’s design was blah-boring. His pattern was bland, and so is his gray color palate. The judges thought the design looked like an afterthought. Nina thought his clothes were fine but agreed with Heidi that they were safe and boring.

Gretchen’s Aztec-like print scored well with the judges. And while I think her black pants looked weird, the judges liked them. Although they did agree that her design was too simple. Rachel said the design was “almost” but not enough.

Michael’s design was cute and sophisticated though a bit mature. The judges weren’t wowed by Michael’s print and thought his design looked like menswear.

Mondo’s design totally rocked. It was the judges’ favorite and I have to agree with them. It was pure Mondo, his pants (and fabric) were colorful and fun. Nina called it phenomenal and Michael commented that it had sheer joy. On learning the inspiration behind Mondo’s print, the judges and contestants were shaken and proud of Mondo’s courage. The judges commented that they did not see any sadness in his print, that the pants showed him looking at his status in a positive way. He’s spinning the bad and making from it something good and remarkable. He takes the win for the third week in a row.

In spite of all her eagerness, Valerie did not succeed with this challenge. Her dress was ugly and disjointed, and her fabric was poorly displayed. Heidi pointed out the similarity of this dress to the party store challenge one. And put together side to side, they are identical (same cut of top, same shape in bottom) but with different colors. Nina called the dress heavy, and Michael said it was unappealing. Unfortunately for Valerie, this wasn’t her week and she was sent home.

Really, this was Mondo’s episode. And what an episode it was. I’m just really glad that Mondo finally got the chance to let go of the secret that was eating him alive. He took a moment of sadness in his life (tears) and spun it into gold. {Hint opening statement.} See I told you I’m not crazy. He takes tears and he spins them into something fabulous. Mondo has made huge personal strides during the competition. Not too long ago he was forcing himself into seclusion and finally he has allowed the world, and his competitors, to see who he is. And that is a significant moment of growth that takes such strength. Bravo!

Season 8, Episode 10: There’s a Pattern Here (originally aired September 30, 2010)

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Photographs courtesy of Lifetime.