On The Scene: 'Project Runway' finale party
Mar 7, 2008, 11:50 AM | by Lindsay Soll
Categories: 'Project Runway', Fa-fa-fa-fa-fashion, On the Scene, Reality TV
So let's get straight to business, people. The Project Runway finale party was held Wednesday night at the swanky Tribeca Grand Hotel. Though I might add that event itself wasn't all that, well, swanky (maybe that's because after two hours on the red carpet I was starving, and all I could scrounge up before the episode aired was a teeny lamb chop!).
The media was gathered in a lounge-type area on the hotel's basement floor for the red carpet arrivals, and afterward we were shuffled into a large screening room to watch the finale. All three judges were unfortunately MIA from the party, so I can't give you any deets on Heidi's hair, Michael's attitude, or Nina's outfit — but I can tell you all about Tim Gunn and the season four cast. Plus, a few oldie but goodie past Project Runway-ers showed up, like Kara Janx, Alison Kelly, and Kayne Gillaspie.
- The first finalist to arrive at the event was none other than Christian looking — dare I say it? — fierce... and very, very tiny. Seriously, Christian is so small, I think he could fit in my pocket. (How funny would that be to carry around a little Christian all day? I could definitely use the fashion advice and the constant pick-me-ups, like, "You look fabulous!")
- Because the red carpet took place before the finale aired, it was supposed to a secret as to who the winner was — only Christian was suspiciously toting his model, Lisa, along the carpet, in a dress he had designed only days ago. If that didn't scream, "I'M THE WINNER" than I don't know what would.
- Chris March, who was adorned in leopard as usual, was as sweet as he appears on TV. He told me he does not regret his decision to use human hair in his final collection.
- As you can see from the video below, Tim Gunn was almost more excited to be at the finale party than the cast members were. But I guess that's expected of the Gunn, who is always chipper and eager to shell out advice. (My prediction that Christian was the winner was again cemented by the huge hug Tim exchanged with the little guy.)
- I was excited to meet Kathleen “Sweet P” Vaughn because not only am I a fan of her's, I'm also a fan of her collection. (In case you didn't already know, it was actually shown at Bryant Park
as a decoy to throw the audience off as to who the three finalists
were.) She told me she was rooting for Jillian because she now
considers Jillian as a member of her family. [Insert "awww" here.]
- There were a few random celeb sightings (like Queer Eye For The Straight Guy's food and wine guru Ted Allen) before Rami showed up. As much as I was sure Christian was the winner by this point, I still couldn't help but secretly wish it was Rami. He's just so put together and well spoken (and I adore all of the gowns in his collection so much!). I asked him what his favorite challenge was and surprisingly his answer was one unrelated to draping: the Hershey's candy challenge. "Not because I won," he said, laughing, but because of the creativity that it brought out of him.
- Season 1 winner Jay McCarroll was a total treat on carpet as he was in a somewhat (typically?) crass mood. When I asked him what he thought about this season's challenges, he said he thought they were getting so ridiculous, he wouldn't be surprised if Heidi asked the designers to make something out of diarrhea — his words, not mine! Nonetheless, it was nice of him to show up and support the finalists.
- What felt like hours after the event had started, Jillian finally arrived. I asked her about the chic dress she was wearing (one of designs that she just had "lying around in her closet") and her experience on the show. But I'd have to say the most important thing I learned about her is, man, is she a talker! I think she could go on and on about something as boring as butter if you asked her to. Literally.
- After eating the aforementioned lamb chop, it was finally time to watch the show. I found the last empty seat in the theater — in the back row, right behind a slew of season 4 contestants (though Christian, Jillian, and Rami were all sitting in the front next to Tim). I thought, oh this will be cool to hear their comments throughout the screening of the finale. I should've known better. Between Jack screaming "WORK!" every five minutes, Victorya snickering every time Jack said "work," and Carmen yelling for Christian, it got a little out of hand (I'm just going to go ahead and blame that on the open bar). I did, however, laugh when they all said things during the commercial breaks like "I hope Rami wins," when it was quite obvious they all knew who the real winner was.
- Which brings me to... Christian. After the show was over, he posed for a massive amount of photos, and then headed back to the red carpet to do another round of interviews. Of course, this time the smile on his face was huge — especially when he was holding that giant check. I asked him if he was going to design a dress for Victoria Beckham (since she did say on the show that she would be happy to wear anything he would make for her) and you might be happy to know that he is in the process of doing so. I can only imagine what kind of concoction it will turn out to be.
After a long night of schmoozing with these budding designers, I was happy to go home and get some sleep. So P-Dubs, tell me, were you happy with the finale episode and the winner? And who would you want to design an outfit for you?
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