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Breasts are a big plus or a huge problem, depending on who you ask on this week’s “Project Runway” challenge. If you’re Olivier, they’re as in the way of his design as real-women models with opinions.
The contestants must work with nine Joe Six Packs on an outfit for their wives and girlfriends. Ask Joe Six Pack, and boobs are the key to a good fashion look, not to mention a richer life. The female contestants of course take it in stride, some of the gay designers like Bert roll with it, but poor Olivier is flustered.
What does Olivier think happens to designs after a coat hanger of a human being walks it down the runway? Sure, fashion can be art, but it won’t be hanging in a gallery. If he’s lucky, it will hang in stores, where women with breasts and voices will have the final say on his success. His immaturity about the business and bluster about the design dilemma go on for so long, they start to feel like he just doesn’t like to think about boobs. The implied sexism isn’t a cute look on anyone, gay or straight.
The male clients go easy on the designers, mainly because other than their expertise on breasts, they have no idea what they’re doing. When their wives and girlfriends show up to gauge the progress, many of the designs change and the real work begins. In Olivier’s defense, his female client is over-saturated in nitpicky opinions, but we have to laugh that her breasts aren’t the obstructive Dolly dirigibles that he portends.
Josh has announced he’s all better now after last week’s meltdown. If by “all better” he means that he keeps his wild-eyed crazy mostly to himself, he’s right. To his credit, he listens and simplifies his work when the client is turned off by his bedazzle-as-design aesthetic.
On the runway, the judges are so proud of Josh for editing himself that they ignore the fact that his look (top photo) is a little funereal. The giant turquoise pumps help, but we think the look is under-accessorized. With the opposite problem of over-accessorizing, Viktor’s pitch-perfect separates (second photo) kick so much ass that he should take the day. Josh gets the win and deserves to be in the top, but Viktor is robbed.
The other person in the Top 3 is Anya, and we disagree totally with the judges. She makes an attractive woman look like an extra in “Valley of the Dolls” (third photo). Fusions, mash-ups and ’70s flair are all the rage in many creative industries right now, but this African kimono mash-up just looks all mashed up.
We would replace Anya with Laura at the top of this week’s pile, but the looks by everyone else are judged pretty accurately. They fall where they belong in the middle and bottom three, so the results are no shocker. At least four of the seven already-eliminated designers were better than Bryce. This week isn’t the worst he’s done, but with no epic mistakes by others to save him, it’s past time for him to go. We breathe a sigh of relief when he does.
Next week, two of a “Runway” designer’s worst nightmares mark the halfway point in the season: Menswear and a team challenge. Cue dramatic overture, and let the games begin.
Click any image for a larger view, and check out the all of this week’s looks on the show’s “Rate the Runway” page.
