Episode Report Card Jeff Long: B+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT If You Can Make It Work Here...
By Jeff Long | Season 7 | Episode 1 | Aired on 01.14.2010
The designers mill around and introduce themselves to each other. Janeane has to be told which building in the skyline is the Empire State Building. Clue: the tallest. Emilio tells us that he works in costuming because he needs a job. He loves creating costumes for shows, but he wants to clothe his fellow straphangers on the subway. Ben tells Heidi and Tim that his background is in comic book illustration, so he is interested in armor. He interviews that his designs are not always very feminine, but they look pretty feminine to me. Frankly, they're not terribly interesting. Christiane says to Heidi and Tim that she likes to use a lot of layers and a lot of color. She tells us that she comes from the Ivory Coast where everyone wears color. She informs us that she has won awards and had her designs represented on the red carpet -- she's just good. OK, thank you. Anna explains to Tim and Heidi that she considers herself an artist. She studied printmaking at RISD where she learned to scrutinize her own work. Her stuff looks good too. Feminine shapes with muted colors and intricate construction. I love her vibe. Tim tells everyone that the details for the first challenge will be revealed the next day at Central Park.
Cut to the next day. The designers arrive in the park and see tons of fabrics lying on benches. Anthony jokes that Mood must have hung their fabric out to dry. Oh Anthony! Tim greets them and tells them that the designers will need to design a look that embodies who they are as a designer. Mila is thrilled that they get to do their own thing. Tim tells them that they will have three minutes to grab as much fabric as they can. Everyone seems stunned. At "go," Emilio describes the scene as a bunch of fat people at an open buffet in Vegas. Classy. Truth be told, you don't have to be fat to be excited about a good Vegas buffet. Hey, Riviera. Christiane says that she went for the colorful fabrics. After the three minutes is up, Tim asks them to gather round. He tells them that he's giving them their first opportunity to edit. They can only have five of the fabrics that they grabbed. Pamela says that giving up the fabric felt like giving up a limb. Ping notes that she apparently picked the ugliest of the fabrics. She also has problems unfurling her fabric from the ream. When everyone is done, Tim sends them to the workroom. Seth Aaron says that, if you don't take the first challenge as an opportunity to shove your vision in the judges' faces, you might have trouble.