Sure, the fifth season of the Bravo 24-hour fashion show hasn’t exactly been a fan favorite, but you wouldn’t know that from the crowd — 900 strong — elbowing to get into the tent at Bryant Park for the taping of the finale this morning. (And we’re talking 8:30-in-the-morning morning.) It was a fabulous mix of fashion elite, the Bravo Alumni Club (we counted contestants from every Runway past, Rachel Zoe, that Make Me a Supermodel cutie, and so many others) and a few random celebs to light up the front row (hellooo, Michelle Trachtenberg and, uh, Judith Light!).
Once the air kisses subsided, Runway’s own glamazon Heidi Klum took the stage to welcome the crowds, and bade a seemingly reluctant auf Wiedersehen to Bravo and the Magical Elves. She also announced the one surprise of the morning — all the whispers that Jennifer Lopez would be filling Victoria Posh Beckham’s size 00 sheath as the guest judge at the finale were true…until they weren’t. After a mysterious foot injury (perhaps somewhere between the Marc Jacobs and Oscar de la Renta shows she attended earlier this week?) La Lopez had canceled, leaving Tim Gunn to join the judging panel. For the First. Time. Ever.
After last week’s surprise ankling (that one’s for you, J.Lo!) of two contestants, all six remaining designers showed collections. But it wasn’t too hard to figure out who were the red herrings and who would be joining Jay McCarroll and Christian Siriano (both of whom were in attendance this morning) in the Runway hall of fame. But since it’s possible our crystal ball is a little fogged over this morning, check out the best and worst looks from each designer after the jump, and let us know who you think will be in and who will be out.
[In case that wasn't clear, there will be spoilers galore after the jump. So please don't yell at me when you click below and see spoilers. No, really.]
Now let’s start the show!
Jerell deserves his own cell in couture jail for hissequin-on-sequin crimes of fashion. Sequined jackets over sequinedpants? Maybe for Michael Jackson’s comeback tour. But he did have somelovely silhouettes, and his embroidery work was beautiful and intricateand the kind of thing that as the occasional accent would be stunning. Get this guy an editor and then we’re talking!
Suede introduced his show saying he drew his inspirationfrom the Bluefly.com challenge. But after seeing his collection, Idon’t know that the chic-on-the-cheap website will be returning thelove. It was candied pinks and blues and the kind of rustly shinethat’s better suited to Barbie’s Dreamhouse than Bryant Park.
Joe pronounced his collection to be all about "Americana."Meanwhile, I saw a lot of laces and leath-ah. (Any chance formerworkroom-mate Stella rubbed off on Ol’ Joe?) The jeans were quite nice,actually, but has there ever been such a large collection of bustiersoutside of a Nashville saloon? (Or maybe even inside of one?)
Kenley created what she called "her dream wardrobe," so whilethat, naturally, meant loads of puffed sleeves, bubble hems, and tooadorable dresses, I loved it. Her tailoring was superb and her liberaluse of color was fresh and fun. I know some people (cough, Tim Stack)found her ubiquitous headpieces as annoying as her inappropriate runwaylaughter, but I found myself hoping that one will come standard withevery Kenley original that will be sold at the Kenley-only dressesstore at which I will be customer No. 1.
Korto, who’s displayed a great design aesthetic all season, ever so slightly underwhelmed. (Don’t hate me!) Yes,her designs were lovely and some of them great, but all solids and noprints makes for a slightly forgettable show, no? I wish she borrowed alittle from the patterned, pailletted dress she herself wore to say herhellos to the crowd. So: Elegant shapes, tropical colors, love therandom crossing-guard strap across the open-back motif, but she (andher too cute daughter) aren’t taking home top honors.
Because that, my friends, hands down goes to…Leanne.Anyone who’s been watching since the first episode knows that thisstealth designer has been working on an entirely different level fromthe rest of the PR gang. In fact, the Leannimal received the one burstof spontaneous applause this morning when her first look floated downthe runway. Her drop-dead-gorgeous sea bisque color palette, herexquisite knife-sharp pleats in what appeared to be the softestsilks…J’adore, tu adores, nous adorons.
So, if you ask me, it was girls’ night this morning all the way. Buthey, what do I know? Do you think Suede-licious will be taking home theSaturn hybrid? Was Terri (who made for great company on our way intothe tent — thanks for the tee, T!) robbed? Let’s hear it!
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Leanne’s collection is stunning!
Leanne’s collection is stunning!
Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a top three girls? Leanne, Korto and Kenley (though I find the latter to be annoying)?
E online has pics of Leanne’s, Korto’s and Kenly’s collections. All wonderful, but Leanne’s takes your breathe away! I was in awe! And I could have cared less about her before seeing the collection. dreamy!
It looks like it will be the ladies all the way to the finale. All three looked fantastic!
leanne should win hands down she makes gorgeous designs!!!!! thanks so much for the info & pictures
Terri deserved to be kicked off. Anyone that rude does not deserve to be on the show. I am glad the judges are finally recognizing that some contestants are ignoring the challenges and booting them. Terri can not obviously work as a team.
URGHHH!!! I tripped upon this by mistake….MY EYES!!!
Suede is horrible and should have volunteered to go when Terri was dumped for her attitude instead of her outfit. When guys have attitude they are Santino, if women balk, they are eliminated. Tisk tisk judges.
Leanne’s collection was fabulous. I’d buy everything if I was young enough (and skinny enough). And Joe – would you let your daughters wear any of your collection? No, I didn’t think so.
Leanne’s collection was beautiful, original elegant, perfect.
Did anyone else notice that every designer had a long white-ish dress and two of them (Joe and Kenley) included veils…which leads me to believe that they had to all include a wedding dress look in their collection.
I agree with Thad. Terri has been awesome throughout the competition except for the last challenger where as suede has been middling at best (except for the first one). Terri would have put on a much stronger show than Suede!
Go Leanne! She has the personality and the talent of a great designer. Kenley is a good designer, but needs to learn how to take criticism and stop acting like a petulant child. Korto has a lot of potential, and will go far. My favorite male designer is Joe, and I think he’ll go far as well. Terri had talent, but that woman was mean! I’m glad she didn’t go to Bryant Park!
Who would have thunk that Leanne, so quiet and reserved, would be among the finalists. Just goes to show that talent will win out in the end. I like Kenley and Korto, too although Kenley can be unnerving and Korto expresses little emotion. Three great designers.
has the finale already aired? or when will it?
I saw the collections. It sure doesn’t look like Suede and Jerrell are the ones going to Bryant Park. I doubt Joe is either, although he was the best of the guys (and that’s saying something)! I liked Kenley’s collection but since it only had dresses and one skirt, I don’t think it was versatile enough. Korto’s was more versatile and I think it’ll beat Kenley’s collection (sorry, Meeta). But I agree — Leanne will be taking home the top prize. Congratulations, Leanne!
Belle Book
Thanks for the overall rundown, but I admit that you’ve left me scratching my head with the following critique of Korto:
“but all solids and no prints makes for a slightly forgettable show, no?”
When you then go on to lavish praise on Leanne, whose collection, while absolutely gorgeous, was pretty much … all solids and no prints. I absolutely understand if Leanne’s silhouettes, tailoring and garment structure was more your speed than Korto’s (and I’ll admit that I’d also give Leanne’s collection the overall edge, even though I do also love Korto’s), but I think it’s inconsistent to dismiss Korto’s use of only solids and no prints when Leanne did the same thing (and, frankly, when Korto’s color palette was the more daring and vivid of the two).
Bravo has pics from each collection. Korto has one print halter dress that is quite pretty. Maybe Meeta’s issue with Korto’s solids vs Leanne’s solids is that Korto did all one color solids while Leanne mixed 2 solid colors??? I dunno. I did prefer Leanne’s collection-her pieces just looked better constructed than Korto’s. And Leanne’s looked more like a real collection. Kenley had a couple of pretty dresses and some butt-ugly dresses too, and it was not a cohesive collection.
Does anyone else think that there is a wedding dress element to the challenge?
I think it’s going to be close between Korto and Leanne, and don’t know who will win.
Kenley has a gorgeous collection, but her attitude could hurt her in the end.
Joe’s is neat and fits “Americana” but I don’t think he’s one of the finalists.
The least said about Jerrell’s and Suede’s collection the better. That said, I do like a couple of Jerrell’s pieces from earlier in the season (car parts and zodiac).
I think this challenge will be between
the ladies this year. Leanne, Korto and Kenley are wonderful designers, but I think Leanne’s designs are a bit more creative. Good Luck to them all !!!
I agree- Some have white gowns, or gowns, that don’t seem to fit in with the rest of their collection. It could be coincidence but who knows
wooho for Leanne.. she the best of all them,, no one thought tht she has any talent ..i liked kenely when the show frst strted but lately shes been so full of herself.Leanne wins hands down
Normally, I am quite a fan of PR (it’s some kind of weird fascination of fraudualent-reality inter-sected with diva-esque snappiness that draws me in!); however, this year it is rather a dud. That being said, I think that no one’s collection is worth consideration, for artistic merit or otherwise. The personalities of the contestants weren’t even any fun!
why are there six designers showing? seems like the number to get to bryant park goes up every season. the more contestants they allow to show, the less exclusive it is! and can i say i hate this season? i’ve loved PR for years, but this season has just been ridiculous.
I believe six designers “had” to show as to not give up the final three. It’s happened before but is never aired (ie: her name just fell out of my head, but the year Chole won the gal who came in 4th showed at BP anyway as to not give away the final three…Kara?). Top three had to be Leanne, Kenley, and Korto. No idea who wins, especially with Tim in the mix (that’s not right-couldn’t they have plucked a celeb out of the audience?) he knows them too well.
Bravo seems to think it’s a big deal who wins the winner but for me, it’s seeing the show. I don’t know what they did the first two years but it was a much more enjoyable experience seeing shows that I hadn’t seen on the internet. Now we have to go through weeks of shows to see something we know how it’s going to conclude. They really need to think this out. There’s no way to time the beginning of the show so we can pretty much have the finale show the same week (or day) as the finale? THAT would be special.
Another thing – they really need to ask themselves how somebody like Suede can get to the final six when – Terri, Daniel and Kelli were so much better designers. His designs were amateurish. It makes the show look bad. EVERYONE’S show should be professional. Funny, as I wrote the above designers’ names, I notice that they all had major attitude. I also noticed in the show where they were kicked out, there were other designers who were worse and who had a history of designing bad clothing.
Come on, how could it not be Leanne?