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‘Project Runway’ finale: The party report

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West Hollywood’s nightclub row is no stranger to celebrity. Over the years, countless wrap parties and management-company Christmas parties have flooded its valet stands. But on Wednesday night, West Hollywood got a taste of true glamour as ‘Project Runway’ decamped from New York’s Bryant Park to throw its finale party at STK on La Cienega Boulevard.

Inside the club, waitresses circulated with Martell cognac -– the party’s sponsor –- as reality stars past and present drifted in. Season 4 also-ran Sweet Pea held court at the bar. Nearby “Runway” executive producer Jane Lipsitz celebrated her final episode at the helm before passing the torch to focus on her other Bravo tentpoles, including ‘Top Chef.’ Asked if there had been any surprises for her in her final ‘Runway’ outing, Lipsitz said with a sigh, ‘I’ve learned at this point not to be surprised.’ When pressed, however, she admitted, ‘Kenley definitely was a surprise.’

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The biggest challenge, she said, was coming up with challenges that would keep the contest interesting. She was particularly pleased with how the unconventional-materials competition turned out -– suggesting that repeating that Season 1 classic was a bit of a trip to her ‘Runway’ youth. She said the earlier go-round was one of the first moments she saw the show’s potential -- how competitions such as these could spur designers to unexpected heights.

Up in the lounge area where episodes from this season were projected 15 feet tall on a white wall over the crowd’s heads, I enjoyed a lengthy and far-ranging conversation with Joe Faris, this year’s fifth-place finisher or, as he described himself, ‘the straight guy from Season 5.’ (‘In gay bars, I’m now known as Hetero Joe,’ he said.)

Looking back, Faris –- who radiates truly-nice-guy-ness even more than he did on the show –- seems at peace and even gleeful about how the season turned out for him. ‘I told my daughter that I would make it five weeks,’ he said. He recalled of the opening days, being thrown into the deep end when he had to design a dress out of car parts in 30 minutes, ‘The first two weeks, I was passed by, and then I was determined: I’ve got to step it up.’ The formula for doing that, he explained, was to ‘take every element of your design and amp it up times 10.’

The real hidden enemy for ‘Runway’ contestants, Faris said, was sleep deprivation. ‘You have no idea what that feels like, going weeks on three to four hours sleep a night. You’d come back to Atlas after midnight, you’d still have the adrenaline flowing from the day’s work, so Jerell and I would sit up talking about it, going over the day. So it ends up being 2 o’clock by the time you fall asleep. Then every day at 5:30, 6 a.m., one of the camera guys would kick the bed, and there would be a camera right in your face, and it would be time to go.’

As his comrades of the season drifted into the club (Daniel, Blayne, Emily and Jerell were all spotted), we addressed the season’s elephant in the room –- the Kenley question. ‘What you saw was the way she was,’ Joe said. ‘She didn’t have such great social skills.’

Asked where a designer goes after his stint on ‘Runway,’ Faris was incredibly upbeat. He described not just his work for his current employer, fashion company Schott NYC, but also his plans to start his own line of sportswear. One could knock out a line for as little as $10,000, he says, but the key is raising enough capital and getting the right backing to cover proper distribution and sales. Thanks to the exposure he’s received on ‘Runway,’ Faris feels confident he is on track to raising enough to launch his line properly. ‘I won’t claim my phone is ringing off the hook,’ he says, ‘but people are definitely returning my calls.’

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Passing through the crowd, I chatted with comedian and actress Laura Silverman, who claims to be a huge fan of the show, as well as a bit of a designer herself. Taking a stand on the Kenley question, Silverman said, ‘Kenley is really talented. I think she might need her medication balanced, but I get that. It’s OK. I need my medication balanced too. But I’m afraid she doesn’t react in a way that is growth positive.’

Before the show started, I briefly chatted with Season 5’s tan-orexic superstar, Blayne, who said he was considering relocating to Los Angeles from his Seattle home. ‘I think I fit in here more,’ he said. Asked what it was like watching himself on the show, Blaine said, ‘It’s like watching a character. Watching a show about a character, but that character is me.’ Asked about the public reaction he got when he went out in public, Blayne rolled his eyes. ‘It’s crazy. Some woman asked me to sign her baby’s diapers. I wrote, ‘Stay babylicious.’ ‘

Rejoined by Joe, I asked both designers about some of the negative things the contestants said about one another during their private interviews, which were spliced into the episodes. Faris admitted he became more cutting than he originally wanted to be. ‘Again,’ he said, ‘it was the sleep deprivation. You go that many days on three or four hours of sleep, all kinds of things will come out of your mouth.’

Blayne nodded. ‘It was like we were all family, but that makes it feel sometimes like you’re all my brothers and sisters, but if I have to see you for one more second I might kill you.’

As Korto slipped in -– setting off speculation in the crowd (Does that mean she won? Does that mean she lost?) -- the final episode started, projected above the crowd. Some crowded around to watch, but for most of the contestants reuniting with their fellow ‘Runway’ survivors, it was time to celebrate at last.

-- Richard Rushfield

(Photos by Richard Rushfield)

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