PROJECT RUNWAY All Star Challenge – The Best of the Runway? Really?

It was de’ja vu this week when eight former PROJECT RUNWAY stars came back to the runway for the first ever PROJECT RUNWAY All Star Challenge.  The best of the best and fan favorites came together for a one night only episode that gave the designers the opportunity to show off how far they’ve come since their PR days. Each designer had to create a cohesive collection based on four looks (one look made entirely of materials they found by tearing apart (literally) the restaurant they were eating in). The last designer standing took home $100,000.

Meet the PROJECT RUNWAY All Stars….

Although this wasn’t my dream team of PR alums (Andre…where’s Andre?), I thought these designers represented the diversity of style present in every season of the show. Unfortunately, not all of them represented themselves well.  For me, the egos and attitudes of some of the designers really took away from my enjoyment of the show. Talk about getting caught up in your own false sense of fame…geesh.

Santino – I just don’t know how he’s going to look back at this episode and not cringe at his behavior.  He tried to be funny, but he tried too hard.  He was so lame.  Jeffrey wasn’t nearly as obnoxious as I expected, but he certainly wasn’t dolling out the humble pie – that was all Chris March. The costume designer slept his way through the competition but still managed to be more entertaining than most of these cats.  The Uli vs. Sweet P showdown wasn’t all that interesting, despite how hard the editors tried to force it down our throats. It didn’t take much editing to make Mychael Knight come off as clueless.  A talented guy but he was a complete snoozefest – not something you want in a two hour special. And when did he change his name from “Michael” to “Mychael”? Ha?!  Korto‘s behavior at the outcome of the competition was embarrassing. Let’s hope she doesn’t let her daughter see what a sore loser her mother is (whoops…spoiler alert). And finally, Daniel Vosovic. I thought he came off as one of the more professional (and sane) designers.  He’s been a good friend to the show since his season first aired.  I think everyone involved behind the scenes really likes him…I’m just sayin’.

Attitude and ego asides, this competition was all about the clothes, so let’s see what the designers came up with in just a few days with slightly over $1,000 in their pockets.

(The GMMR runway show will go in order of judges’ favorites. And to be clear, these are the judges favorites – definitely not mine.)

Kicking things off is the winner of the PROJECT RUNWAY All Star Challenge – Daniel Vosovic. (Cue sound effect mimicking a screeching halt).

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Clearly I have no eye for fashion, because Daniel’s collection was one of my least favorites.  I didn’t get it.  I guess if you are a woman who likes to jog to a cocktail party then you might want to buy Daniel’s line, other than that? Yeah, no clue. Although I do suspect that his “restaurant” look might be very popular with female suicide bombers all over the world.  I didn’t like his red carpet look at first, but it absolutely grew on me and by the end I was really digging it.  It was the dress that won him the competition. But for me, it didn’t save the collection.

Korto‘s clothing was beautiful. Like the judges, I thought her black “restaurant” dress was fascinating.  It was one of my favorite looks and to think it came from raw materials found in a restaurant.  Damn.  I thought it showed true innovation.  Although her black and white patterned dress was my favorite, there wasn’t a look I didn’t love.  Unfortunately, all her clothes were tainted by Korto’s unfortunate, sore loser behavior.

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The biggest surprise to me during this All Star Challenge was how much I j’adored everything that Sweet P did.  She definitely wasn’t my favorite during her season, and I scratched my head as to why she of all people was chosen for this special episode.  But I’m glad she was there.  He choices of fabrics and colors were not only interesting but they were accessible. Her leather cocktail dress was made special by her choice of color.  Her “restaurant” look was humorous, innovative and adorable (If only someone could have warn that on an episode of Pushing Daisies). Her other two pieces were flirty, whimsical and romantic.  I loved the entire collection and I’m glad she made it to the final four.

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Chris was a big surprise – to everyone – but mostly himself I think.  Although his first two pieces were very similar (I actually had to rewind to see that they were in fact different), I thought the silhouette was awesome. His choice of fabric really helped to set him apart from the other contestants.  Had he reigned himself in on his red carpet look I think I wouldn’t have liked his collection just a bit more.  There was so much fabric that it didn’t seem wearable.  But if he took the same design and made it a bit more fitted I think it would be stunning!

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Personally, I would have given the $100,000 to Uli. I loved, loved, loved her collection.  I thought it was breathtaking.  Her use of color and fabric was exquisite. Given my lack of knowledge of high fashion, I think I appreciate designers who make clothes that are actually wearable in public. I wanted to grab her entire collection and bring it over to Serena van der Woodsen’s place.  Wouldn’t she look fabulous in these clothes?

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Other than the blue mini dress, I didn’t find anything appealing about Michael, oops, Mychael‘s collection.  He was praised for his red carpet look, but we’ve seen it before.  How was that special and innovative.  It was a long, unforgiving dress with a tiny belt.  Huh?

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Next up was Jeffrey.  I didn’t get Jeffrey as a designer when he won and I don’t get him now. I know he’s all about the fashion forward rocker chick, but I still can’t imagine walking into a room and seeing anyone wearing his clothes.  Of his four looks I guess I liked the red carpet dress the best, but I still thought it looked like it was trying too hard. The issue here is me since obviously the judges loved him enough to anoint him the winner of his season. But the problem with this challenge was clearly Jeffrey since the judges auf’d him in the first round.

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Ugh, Santino. I guess my question here is taste.  I’m glad Diane von Furstenburg thought it was vulgar – so did I.  Has he ever met a woman?  It’s not only that very few women on this planet could pull off this collection, it’s that I’m not sure that a single one would even want to.  The designers were asked to be innovative, but I see forced innovation by the overuse of the metallics. Ironically, his “restaurant” look was the only piece that caught my attention in a good way.

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The judges really saw something in Daniel’s collection.  What that was, I’m still not sure.  But he walked away with the $100,000 and the pride of being the last person standing among these talented designers.

You’ve seen the collections.  Who was your favorite All Star designer?  Who do YOU think should have won? Do you think PROJECT RUNWAY should have future All Star installments?  Sound off in the comments.