Project Runway Season 10: "Welcome Back (Or Not) To the Runway"

Ven Budhu, left to right, Fabio Costa, Season 5 designer Kenley Collins, and Tim Gunn. Ven and Fabio had to design a dress for Kenley to wear to the Emmys.

Season 5 designer Kenley Collins models Ven Budhu and Fabio Costas final design for the third challenge.

Season 3 designer Laura Bennett models Buffi Jashanmal and Elena Slivnyaks final design.

Ven Budhu, left to right, Fabio Costa, Season 5 designer Kenley Collins, and Tim Gunn. Ven and Fabio had to design a dress for Kenley to wear to the Emmys.

Photo: MyLifetime.com

Designing for a designer? That's a challenge in itself, like cooking for a chef, or trimming a hairstylist's hair. In the third episode of "Project Runway: Season 10," the designers were divided into two-person teams. Each team had to create a red-carpet look for a past "Project Runway" designer to wear to the Emmys. The 2012 primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is on Sunday, Sept. 23. "Project Runway" is nominated in the Reality Competition category.

The guest judge for the episode was actress Krysten Ritter, who's appeared on AMC's "Breaking Bad," and now stars in a new ABC show, "Don't Trust the B. in Apt 23."

On to the judging!

The winner

Fabio and Ven created a fit-and-flare dress for Kenley Collins from Season 5 and the All-Stars season. Ven was declared the single winner.

The loser

Alicia and Raul made a maxi dress for Mila Hermanovski from Season 7 and the All-Stars season. Taking responsibility for the lackluster and unflattering design, Raul was auf'd.

The top three

Fabio, of course, made it into the top three as Ven's teammate.

Gunnar and Kooan were in the top three for the white gown they designed for Irina Shabayeva, the Season 6 winner.

The bottom three

Andrea and Christopher designed a gown for Anya Ayoung-Chee, "Project Runway" Season 9 designer. One unfortunate comment from judge Michael Kors was that it resembled a Hershey bar.

Everyone else

Buffi and Elena created a dress for Laura Bennett from Season 3.

Dmitry and Melissa designed a look for April Johnston from Season 8 and the All-Stars season.

And Nathan and Sonjia designed a sequined dress for Valerie Mayen from Season 8.

So what did you think?

Did you agree with the judges' choice for the winning design?

What did you think of the losing design? Did you think it was fair for Raul to go home?

I've seen some negative comments online about Gunnar and Kooan's dress and its faults. How did you feel about their white dress?

And what did you think of Dmitry and Melissa's dress? It was far from perfect, but didn't it reflect their designer/model April's style?

Do you think the designer/models' attitudes had an influence on the judges' perceptions of the designs? For example, Mila didn't smile at all, while Kenley really sold the dress designed for her. Or maybe their attitudes reflected the quality of the designs!

Sarah McFarland, contributor
Posted on Aug 3rd, 2012 in sewing, design, garment construction, fabric, Project Runway, designers, getting the look

Comments (9)

FineTexan writes: Too many group challenges going on...just to create drama??
Posted: 9:01 pm on September 1st

psfws1963 writes: psfws1963 writes: loved Nathan & Sonjia's gown very ellegant and easy to wear. ''lovely''!. You now i don't watch project runway all the time but some of the desingers can realy create wonderfully once they put there minds to it. posted: 6:20 am 8/23/12
Posted: 7:21 am on August 23rd

allthatjazzercize writes: I definitely don’t think it was fair that Raul got sent home, especially because Andrea left in the middle of the night anyways! I was just talking about this with a few gals around the office at Dish, and we think there has to be something else going on here. Why else would she have not just voluntarily eliminated herself in his place? All I know is I am dying to find out! Thankfully, we just upgraded to Hopper DVR, which lets us watch or record up six things at once, since usually Thursdays are a controversial issue with my husband now that preseason football has started. There’s no way he can bully me out of watching this episode now!
Posted: 1:41 pm on August 8th

user-1118825 writes: Ven does awesome work. I hope he will create some patterns for Vogue. I'd love to wear someting created by him. He has fantastic taste and his garments look like a million. Wow.
Posted: 7:04 pm on August 6th

Serral writes: I agree with the prior post, none of the garments presented were spectacular or innovative. Fabio and Ven justly won for creating what their client asked for, beautifully executed, there was no doubt that dress was for Kenley. Had irina not looked good in white I am no sure the dress would have garnered so much attention. I am surprised and bored with the amount of self inflicted angst and melodrama. These designers have the opportunity to be exposed to, coached by, and critiqued by some of the best in the business, STOP whining and create!
Posted: 4:31 pm on August 4th

JDNow writes: Not a fan of ANY of the gowns. I know it's easy to be a critic but, seriously NO ONE was daring, creative or memorable.
One of my favorite gowns from all the seasons was Jeffery's ( season 6? )plaid couture gown with zipper trim ( before everyone used zippers for trim ). The gown was beautiful, innovative and memorable.
Today is the third anniversary of my sewing blog WeSew if you are interested in my fashion aesthetic.
Posted: 10:54 pm on August 3rd

sews4fun writes: Honestly, none of them impresed me. Ven showed his usual expertise on Kenley's dress but of course Kenley had to put her "asthetic" on it and that took the drama out of what could have been a beautiful gown, talk about a missed opportunity! Valerie looked lovely but nothing I haven't seen a million times, ditto for Irena's gown, even WITH the awful tailoring.
The rest of them ranged from forgettable to just plain ugly.
I see that Andrea has jumped ship next week and it looks like Kooan plans on following suit, it's sad for the wannabe's who didn't get to be on the show but frankly, Andrea and Kooan are out of their league and wont last long anyway.
Ven reminds me of a guy I used to bowl with, he always made strikes and once, every so often, he had to make up a spare. The rest of us would wait till Rich made his strike and we would get on with the game. Rich was predictable, he always won, no matter what. Ven is that guy, they should just say, okay, Ven will be in the final three so lets just take him out right now till the end so we can see what the rest of you can come up with. I think the rest of the designers are out of their league compared to Ven. The only way I see Ven not in the final three is if every single one of his garments has a rose motif till it gets down to the last few and the judges finally say enough with the roses already.
Maybe drama trumps predictability after all? Um.....no.
Posted: 9:40 pm on August 3rd

Soli writes: I think that Ven and Fabio's dress was a reflection of Ven's skills, but isn't Kenley sick of that silhouette yet? The tucks in the bodice and skirt were executed beautifully. While I agree that it didn't quite look red carpet, maybe with some different accessories and a contrasting net and lace petticoat it might look more dressed up than Mad Men. I thought that what looked like pique for Gunner and Kooan's dress didn't work all that well. The dress itself was stiff, the hem stuck out, and if it hadn't been for the chiffon drape the half moon tuck would have been glaringly obvious. I kind of liked the ensemble that April wore, although it reminded me a lot of an old John Anthony Vogue pattern (late 70s), memorably modeled by Karen Bjornson (I still have it in my stash). The silver color looked amazing with April's lavender hair. Valerie's gold lace dress was kind of pretty, but I think it would have been more successful without the structured cap sleeves. Loved the solid bands of color that don't show up in this photo. Buffi and Elena's dress didn't suit Laura's impeccable style (or skills), and I was shocked she didn't give them the sort of grief that Irena gave Kooan. Or maybe Laura felt it was a sink or swim moment for the current batch, so she wasn't about to give them much guidance outside of the critique with Tim. I think that it must be difficult having to deal with Elena; her ambition in maintaining her aesthetic could have sunken this gown worse than the outcome. Her temper isn't going to win her any employment opportunities either. Watching the two lowest scoring teams trying to throw each other under the bus was reminiscent of Josh (again). Christopher acting as if he was the only one who sacrificed, or wanted the final win was just too much. Frankly I think that both the designers deserved to be sent home for that mess that Mila ended up wearing. I don't understand why the fussing and crying about how short the deadline is. They had a team, therefore, they should have split the work 50/50, and didn't those whiners like Elena actually watch the show in the previous seasons? The deadlines are often brutal, more so in the All Stars edition. If they start emphasizing the personal drama over the actual process, I'm going to be disappointed in the season.
Posted: 8:51 pm on August 3rd

Cherlyn writes: I loved the dress Fbio and Ven created for Kenley. I thought it flattered her very well. Not so sure it is what the stars wear for red carpet, but then the judges never seems to follow all the rules.

The dress Gunner and Kooan designed for Ia was stunning and I liked how the drapped piece down the back hid that hiddious seam they had to take on her rear! The dress was more red carpet looking and the choker really set it off. I still am not a big fan for either one of these two designers. This is probably the best piece we'll see attached to Kooan's name! (LOL)

Dimitry and Melissa's gown for April was very pretty as well. I don't care for April's new hair color!

Oh well, glad this challenge is over. Not one of my favorite ones. I don't care for collaboration pieces.
Posted: 8:37 pm on August 3rd

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