Project Runway's Final Show Before Bryant Park

Tonight we saw the designers working on their collections at their own homes and studios, starting with Tim Gunn's visit with Christian, the winner of the Fan Favorite award of $10,000.00. Christian, said he was working on a collection that had a "Romantic, Gothic Look." He is always technical and really interesting but he doesn't always take Tim Gunn's word on everything, so we had to wonder when Tim gave him some advice on his finished pieces whether he would take it.

The second stop was a visit to Jillian Lewis who is also very technical and detailed. Woman appear to love her clothes as Heidi Klum and Nina Garcia have commented and, if nothing else, she is excellent with jacket designs. Her mother said she was told by a clairvoyant that one of her children would be famous and she raised her with that in mind. That is so reminiscent of "The Secret" and the "law of attraction," because she was raised to believe she would succeed. Maybe that is a mother who knows how to raise winners!

Next Tim went to see Rami in California. I found it interesting that he was also given plenty of encouragement by his family, he is certainly a contender. We have all been waiting to see Rami and Chris' collections to see what they would do. Rami does have a great place to work compared to Christian's closet. Rami said he was inspired by Joan of Arc. Tim thought the pieces were too heavy and asked him to pull it back a bit. At that point I couldn't see enough of his collection to decide what I liked but what I did see confirmed to me that his best designs are the ones done by draping, something the judges have complained about.

Chris was last and he also had a great space to design. His inspiration was "beauty and costume." It was difficult not to be a little grossed out when he showed Tim fashions using human hair, I wondered if he would show that on the runway? Tim seemed to hate the hair. Chris had a great jacket with hair attached that would have been stunning without the hair. Then I wondered if he would edit the collection or not. What will they show the judges???? I waited to see how over the top Chris would end up being.

Finally we saw everyone arrive in New York to prepare for the show. This year everyone seemed to really like each other. Having seen real animosity on other Project Runway shows in the past three years, it was refreshing to see people actually get along this year. There were times when we saw some irritation, but it was never all out fighting (like before) and it was still interesting and really more fun. There can be drama without hateful fighting!

After Tim's visits to the designer's homes, we saw the designers arrive in New York and they immediately went to the runway show that was to decide who would be the third designer. Would it be Chris or Rami who would end up showing at Bryant Park? When we saw them arriving at Parsons, I noticed that Chris still had the jacket with the hair, and now he had a human hair skirt that he was combing. You could not say he wasn't innovative, but I am not sure we are ready for human hair clothing. What will the judges say? What is he thinking?

Finally, they went to Parsons to show their three best pieces before the judges. What would they look like on the runway? Last week Chris said his collection was "a little bit kooky," so we waited to see if it really was.

The show started with Rami Kashou's three best pieces. As you would expect they were impeccable. Then Chris showed his pieces including the hair skirt. We waited to hear what the judges would say. I feared they would not like the hair pieces. Chris said his inspiration was "dark and gothic." Michael Kors said they were overly designed and dark but he mentioned they had an incredible amount of work.

Heidi said they were "original." Then they turned to Rami. Nina seemed impressed by Rami's collection except for the coat and they commented that both of them had "dark" clothes, meaning not just color but the dark and gothic feeling of both collections. When the judges talked about what they liked they seemed to be more in favor of Rami's pieces, but they were very impressed with Chris' workmanship and originality.

Then they brought them out to announce the winner. Yes, it was Rami who was selected to show at Bryant Park. Although Chis was imaginative, it did not seem that they were ready for the hair. The show ended after Rami's selection. Now, we will wait to see the final collections at Fashion Week. Who will win this year's Project Runway, Jillian, Christian or Rami? What is your guess?