The Story

Season 4 of "Project Runway" Has Ingredients for Success

Nov. 17, 2007 | By Katie Moscony, DSJ Staff Reporter

Project Runaway hosts Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum. Courtesy of Bravo TV.

If you are a �"Project Runway” devotee like me, then the long-awaited season four premiere, which showed at 10 p.m. on Bravo this Wednesday, had the irresistible lure of that fourth cookie: you know you’ve had it before, you know the recipe is the same, but you just can’t seem to resist. And like that fourth cookie, this one-hour television segment managed to satisfy as it disappeared all too quickly. Following the tried-and-true recipe that garnered this sleeper hit four seasons and a massive fan following, the show was a mixture of old ingredients and new.

15 parts interesting cast: check In the space of an hour, viewers found themselves presented with diva Christian Siriano’s flippant attitude, costume designer Chris March’s bizarre salad costume and Victorya Hong’s striking resemblance to Vera Wang. And that’s just a taste of this season’s diverse and entertaining cast, which includes a one-time model, a dancer-turned-lingerie-designer, a former member of an all-girl’s motorcycle club, a marionette maker, a celebrity stylist, a flower shop owner and an illustrator.

1 part memorable first challenge: check In the past, first challenges have included materials found at a supermarket and objects found in an apartment. Yet while this season’s material was fabric and not food or furnishings, there was nothing ordinary about it: the total cost of the materials was a whopping $50,000. The sight of 14 semi-professional designers fighting it out for fabric definitely conveyed the same sense of aggressive desperation as watching them try to fashion a garment out of upholstery.

1 part weird designer that everyone will be talking about: check Former marionette designer Elisa Jimenez assured her status on the Project Runway blogs when she announced she wanted to �"create a mythical gown, with a cascade falling like a waterfall” and then proceeded to fashion what I like to call �"the mullet dress” (business in the front, party in the back). Though seemingly innocent enough in its sleek turquoise silhouette, when viewed from behind, the dress appeared to be dragging a hideous tail of violently mismatching fabrics. Of course she somehow made it through to the next round, assuredly to create monstrosities and drama that will arouse viewer ire for weeks to come.

1 part funny quote that will become the catchphrase of this season: Who could forget �"Make it work, designers,” �"Where the hell is my chiffon?” and my personal favorite, �"It’s a motherf*ckin’ walkoff!”? This season Christian Siriano coined the sure-to-be-repeated comment �"Don’t go into the fear box people!” as the clock approached the 1:00 am deadline.

4 parts �"What were they thinking?”: There’s one of these in every good reality competition, and �"Project Runway” stayed true to its nature. Christian’s giant plaid jacket ensemble looked like a Catholic school girl on steroids, yet Nina Garcia, fashion editor of Elle magazine, told him it had a �"fantastic silhouette and design,” and Michael Kors added that it was �"edgy and well-made.” The other two judges seemed to agree. Looks like we have another spicy Jay McCarroll, Santino Rice or Jeffrey Sebelia on our hands…

1 part future fan favorite: Like his predecessors Daniel Vosovic and Mychael Knight, challenge winner Rami Kashou displayed that irresistible combination of humility and raw talent that is sure to win over viewers’ hearts. His olive-green, toga inspired dress was pronounced �"sophisticated” (Nina Garcia) and �"chic” (Michael Kors), and looked good enough to eat.

1 part dramatic �"auf”-ing of a contestant: check Poor Simone LeBlanc. The judges came down hard on her dress with jacket number, calling it �"poorly constructed,” (Heidi Klum), �"boring” (Nina Garcia) and looking �"as if [the model] got dressed in the dark” (Michael Kors).

Stir all the above ingredients until frothy. Add equal parts dramatic previews, website plugs and sponsor name-dropping before placing in the oven. Sprinkle with Tim Gunn and enjoy.