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What's your line?

With four designers remaining, this challenge determines the Final Three. Heidi announces that for this challenge they are to design an evening gown that represents the collection they will show at Olympus Fashion Week. Egads!

A highlight of this challenge was our trip to the offices of Seventh on Sixth, organizer of Olympus Fashion Week and Fashion Weeks world-wide, to visit Executive Director Fern Mallis. Fern is the "ne plus ultra" of fashion industry executives and knows everybody and everything. For our designers to have an audience with her is about as rare as presenting a first collection in the Bryant Park tents.

Back at Parsons, the designers are told that they have a budget of $300 and two days to complete their work. Stress and anxiety escalate.

Iman, supermodel of supermodels, is our guest judge. Furthermore, she will wear the winning dress to a red carpet affair, the Elle-hosted Project Runway premiere party in New York. Regarding our guest judge, it was critically important that each designer remain focused on the point of view of their collection rather than attempting to design for Iman. The dress isn't being designed for her. Rather, she will shop the runway.

DANIEL V
Daniel WINS and is on to the Final Three! This is a record-setting fifth win for Daniel, but it was a tough and close call. In some ways, I believe he won by process of elimination, literally. Santino was too over-the-top, Chloe's fit was a problem, and Kara was out, so who's left? For me, the issue was "The Daniel Effect"; that is, he fell short of his potential, as I've cited before. His outcome -- a classic silhouette in navy charmeuse -- was clean and sophisticated. It was beautifully made and it fit Rebecca perfectly. It was also d-u-l-l. Iman to the rescue: "I will help the dress be less boring." Frankly, Iman could wear endpapers from the Yellow Pages and look great!

KARA
Kara is OUT. It was self-declared: "Eveningwear isn't my thing." Indeed. Ever since the Sasha Cohen challenge, Kara has had major struggles with design decision-making, and it was never more apparent than in this challenge. Given her selection of a black charmeuse at MOOD, the fabric alone limited her options. Still, she almost collapsed in a heap of ambivalence. Once Eden walked the runway, there was no hiding the sloppy construction, the uneven hem, and the skimpiness of the length of the dress. (A sure-fire way to guarantee that a dress will look matronly is to have it stop at the ankles.) Her defeat was, sadly, a self-fulfilling prophesy.

CHLOE
Chloe seemed distracted through most of this challenge, and it showed in her work. She channeled her 1940's Hollywood glamour theme into a pearl gray, silk charmeuse "chanteuse" gown. I loved the elegant color and I loved the silhouette from the front. But the view from the back and sides was perplexing. Why-oh-why did she create a seam, and an entirely unnecessary seam at that, from the hips in front to down below the rear-end in the back? It was peculiar and highly unflattering. She disagreed. Fine. In the end, Chloe was IN, but not without Heidi asking, "What's happening with her [Grace's] butt?" Excellent question, Heidi!

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