Dueling designers are skilled, fierce
November 14, 2007
BY DOUG ELFMAN delfman@ suntimes.com
Like "The Apprentice," "Project Runway" gives us competitors who actually have skills. For three seasons, "Runway" rivals have been a welcome relief compared to people on redundant "Survivor" (those backstabbers with a high tolerance for pain) and the car drivers of dull "Amazing Race" (goal: who can make a plane reservation the fastest?!).
So in the fourth season (starting tonight), there's a designer from Ralph Lauren, another who already has released a jeans line for Victoria's Secret, and so on.
The Chicago contestant is free-lance designer Steve Rosengard, 29. He passes time by drawing an illustration of a naked man, then saying to the camera, "Damn, I wish I could remember this guy's phone number!"
Since Rosengard is from here, his first flourish isn't flashy. His creation has a classic, pared-down look. (That's his description. I had no idea.)
Rosengard is one of 15 designers vying to win a spread in Elle, a clothing line, a car and $100,000.
Tonight, everyone gets along. But later, there will be catfights.
"Don't these bitches know I'm better than them?" a sassy contestant says in an upcoming episode.
"Bitches" guy is the young and flamboyant Christian, 21. He considers himself fierce. "I'm kind of a celebrity -- in my head!" Christian says.
He's the mouthy one, and oddly, Christian and at least one other designer wear their hairdos like they're standing in line for a Flock of Seagulls concert in 1982. Swoop, there it is.
Hosts Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn are back. And once again, there's more meat to the competition than there is on the bones of the models.
It's compelling to see the talents of designers in action. Since I'm a layman whose closet begins and ends with sleek Kenneth Cole, I appreciate the prettier outfits more than the fancier couture. (I like the first dresses from Victorya and Marion.)
Since my layman's knowledge of good clothes ends with Kenneth Cole, I lose interest sometimes when designers sound a little too arts-and-craftsy for me: "Does anybody have a pinking shear with, like, a larger zigzag?"
But as Gunn says, they approach an empty canvas (for them, a design mannequin) with a ticking time constraint, and they "make it work."
The judges clearly pick the right loser to lose in week No. 1. How satisfying, except for the loser, although that's how competition-reality shows go, bitches. Someone tries, someone cries, and big dreams are ripped to shreds.
BY DOUG ELFMAN delfman@ suntimes.com
Like "The Apprentice," "Project Runway" gives us competitors who actually have skills. For three seasons, "Runway" rivals have been a welcome relief compared to people on redundant "Survivor" (those backstabbers with a high tolerance for pain) and the car drivers of dull "Amazing Race" (goal: who can make a plane reservation the fastest?!).
So in the fourth season (starting tonight), there's a designer from Ralph Lauren, another who already has released a jeans line for Victoria's Secret, and so on.
The Chicago contestant is free-lance designer Steve Rosengard, 29. He passes time by drawing an illustration of a naked man, then saying to the camera, "Damn, I wish I could remember this guy's phone number!"
Since Rosengard is from here, his first flourish isn't flashy. His creation has a classic, pared-down look. (That's his description. I had no idea.)
Rosengard is one of 15 designers vying to win a spread in Elle, a clothing line, a car and $100,000.
Tonight, everyone gets along. But later, there will be catfights.
"Don't these bitches know I'm better than them?" a sassy contestant says in an upcoming episode.
"Bitches" guy is the young and flamboyant Christian, 21. He considers himself fierce. "I'm kind of a celebrity -- in my head!" Christian says.
He's the mouthy one, and oddly, Christian and at least one other designer wear their hairdos like they're standing in line for a Flock of Seagulls concert in 1982. Swoop, there it is.
Hosts Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn are back. And once again, there's more meat to the competition than there is on the bones of the models.
It's compelling to see the talents of designers in action. Since I'm a layman whose closet begins and ends with sleek Kenneth Cole, I appreciate the prettier outfits more than the fancier couture. (I like the first dresses from Victorya and Marion.)
Since my layman's knowledge of good clothes ends with Kenneth Cole, I lose interest sometimes when designers sound a little too arts-and-craftsy for me: "Does anybody have a pinking shear with, like, a larger zigzag?"
But as Gunn says, they approach an empty canvas (for them, a design mannequin) with a ticking time constraint, and they "make it work."
The judges clearly pick the right loser to lose in week No. 1. How satisfying, except for the loser, although that's how competition-reality shows go, bitches. Someone tries, someone cries, and big dreams are ripped to shreds.
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