Tablecloth choice brings yawns,but judges eat up tasty kimono
Posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Style/232074/
A rundown of Project Runway, Season Five, Episode One, which includes Arkansas’ own Korto Momolu-Briggs:
The contestants arrive at Atlas New York, the luxury apartment complex in which they’ve been situated. Each is introduced by a vignette. Korto’s self-introduction: “In Little Rock I’ve been in every magazine, but I want to make the real scene, which is in New York.” She says she wants to be the first black designer to win this competition.
When all 16 contestants are on the premises, they’re herded to the rooftop and greeted by host Heidi Klum, who introduces show mentor Tim Gunn. Gunn comments that this may be the most diverse group of contestants the show has had thus far. “The one thing that you all share is the talent to win this competition,” he tells them before they’re dismissed to sip champagne, mix and mingle.
The first challenge begins at 4 a. m. the next day. Gunn takes everyone by surprise by coming to their doors and waking them up. Once they’re ready, they all walk to Gristede’s Mega Store, a Manhattan grocery mart. There they meet Austin Scarlett, Season One winner. The challenge: Take $ 75 and spend a half-hour buying grocery-store materials to make an innovative outfit. The outfit must be ready by midnight. The designer whose garment gets the lowest scores will be eliminated... or “auf-ed” as they say for this show. (The Gristede’s challenge is a duplicate of the very first challenge the designers had on Season One. Scarlett won that challenge. )
“I’m a mommy, so I know a supermarket when I see one,” Korto says. She’s in the produce section buying tomatoes and fresh kale.
The group is then taken to Parsons the New School for Design to begin work on their outfits. Gunn walks around and comments on everyone’s work. Many bought tablecloths to be the basis for their designs. Not creative, Gunn opines.
One of those tablecloth-buyers was Korto. “You need big impact,” Gunn tells her, eyeing the dress she is making out of bright yellow tablecloth. She explains her plans to use live produce as an accent. Gunn shows some approval at that, but later tells the group he fears “the judges are going to say you all are a bunch of slackers.” Korto and the other tablecloth designers scramble to jazz up their creations.
Soon comes time to outfit the models. Korto is worried. “I just pray that the tomatoes would all stay in place because if [they don’t ], then I’m going home.”
During the finale, Klum lines up the contestants. She introduces judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia, and reintroduces Scarlett.
The models sashay down the runway. Korto’s model is radiant, literally, in the yellow kimonostyle dress. The produce has been artfully arranged, draped around the collar and down one side.
Afterward, six contestants, including Korto, are called forward. Klum tells the other 10 they have made it to the next round. The group of six received the best and worst scores. Each is told why their outfit does, or does not, work. Korto apparently is one of the high scorers. She tells the judges, “I just wanted to do something pretty” that could actually be worn out and about. She explains her intention was to make the produce look like an arrangement of brooches. All the judges’ comments are positive. Her outfit is chic, the right look done the right way, they say. The judges later have a discussion among themselves. “I give [Korto ] low marks for resorting to the tablecloth, but I give her high marks” for the overall visual of the dress, Kors says.
Judges and contestants reunite. “One of you will be named the [challenge ] winner and one of you will be out,” Heidi says. “Korto, you’re in.”
But Korto is not the winner of the challenge. That is 27-year-old Kelli of Columbus, Ohio, whose dress is cleverly fashioned of treated vacuum cleaner bags and coffee filters. The “auf-ed” designer is Jerry, 32, of Butte, Mont., who had no lack of confidence going into the show. His white shower-curtain rain jacket didn’t cut it. “Both Nina and I thought it looked suspiciously like something that Christian Bale would have worn in American Psycho,” Kors writes on his Web log later that evening.
What’s in store for Korto ? A preview that showed her bursting into tears is sure to have her fans tuning in.