'Project Runway': Irina, in her own words

I briefly caught up with Irina Shabayeva, winner of "Project Runway's" Season 6, to ask her about the finale, the general attitude of the season and those T-shirts:

What's next for you?
I'm definitely going to focus on continuing to build my line — I want to be out there in the stores, hopefully Saks and Bergdorf's, even, with the right backing, to have my own shop in the city. My website is being updated; I haven't been allowed to update it recently. But my spring line is going to be on my site probably tomorrow, and I will have some items on sale from it.

Other than yourself, were the finalists your ideal final three?

Honestly, in the beginning I probably wouldn't have guessed that that would be the final three, but in the end it made sense. I thought maybe [Rodney] Epperson would make it a little further along than he did. I certainly thought he might be in the final three.

After having seen your line on television, was there anything about it you would have liked to change?
I was happy overall seeing it, but with anything, you learn something new — you figure out a new trick. You want to go back and change it, but that's the cool thing about learning and doing more — for the next time you know something that you didn't know then.

"Project Runway": A make-it-work moment

Based on the runway show, I had a definite pick to win the sixth season of "Project Runway," and just like when Chicago was painfully knocked out of the running for the 2016 Olympics, my choice to win was rudely elbowed aside first.

I had to admit that despite this disappointment, it was a strong show overall, probably because Tim Gunn freaked out and set everyone straight before the show (just kidding: what Lifetime billed as his OMG BIG MELTDOWN was more like a case of flustered consternation. He adjusted his glasses.)

Althea Harper led off the show with her sci-fi inspired collection. I agreed with the judges' comments: I couldn't  see a lot of futurism in her pieces, which worked best when she played with proportions and color and texture--even though I'd never wear them, the cropped/harem pants she made looked good, and, like Nina Garcia, I really liked the green dress with the black leather jacket. I also agreed with Heidi Klum that the silvery metallic top was a winner. I did think one of Althea's models received an unfortunate makeup job that made her look a bit like a drag queen, however. But while the judges loved the everydayness of Althea's separates, I wanted a bit more pop from her line, especially in terms of color. I also thought the big grey sweater that kicked off the show was just past the line of dramatic and entered costumetown.

Poor Carrol Hannah Whitfield still looked sick when she introduced her collection but I thought she put a great line down the runway. I especially loved the leadoff beige and black halter dress (and so did the judges), the purple pieces in the collection, the detailing on the black dress, the 13th-look blue gown, and the flouncy party dress made of a pretty beige/brown iridescent material. The judges didn't see enough of a "story" throughout the pieces but I couldn't see how there was more of a story in Althea's line than Carol Hannah's. There were a lot of pieces that she showed that I would like to see again, either in photos or in my closet.

Times fashion critic on the 'Project Runway' final runway

Jeffrey over Uli? Santino over Chloe? Kenley over Leanne? With every "Project Runway" finale comes a conflicted decision: root for the designer with the best runway or the designer with the more interesting attitude? Honestly, it's enough to make even Tim Gunn have a breakdown.

But this season is a bit different. See, one of the best things about the whole "Is 'Runway' moving to Lifetime or isn't it?" holdup that delayed this season's airing for several months is that that finalists Carol Hannah Whitfield, Irina Shabayeva and Althea Harper already peddled their wares during the Fall 2009 New York Fashion Week. While hiding off camera so as not to spoil the surprise must have been brutally stressful for the three ladies, it did give Times fashion critic Adam Tschorn an unbiased, honest review of their runways:

'Project Runway': Tim Gunn carries on (to Season 7)

If you caught Part 1 of the "Project Runway" finale, you may have seen a teaser for Part 2, promising, of all things, a Tim Gunn meltdown. I couldn't envision the designers' mentor losing his cool, so I got the whole story over the phone as the former Parsons School of Design chair and Chief Creative Officer at Liz Claiborne Inc. spoke with me from New York about all things "Runway," fashion and TV.

Tell us about your "meltdown" that Lifetime has promised us for the finale.
It was looney kajooney land, let me tell you. The backstage at Bryant Park is always crowded —you've filled the space to capacity, so we have a ton of hair people, makeup people, models, dressers and, because we couldn't have any of the designers revealed to the public at large, we had all 16 designers backstage. Thankfully we only had three people showing, and that's a record for us: It's always been at least four. That was the good news: There were no red herrings. Owing to the fact that we couldn't reveal to the audience who the finalists were, we wanted to tape their introduction before the audience came in. We had to do a pre-fashion show, and we taped the whole thing. Through the miracles of editing, it's going to look as though the designers are speaking to the audience, but there isn't one. We did the whole show; it was great. Then a volunteer at Bryant Park declared that the models should get out of their looks — it takes forever to get them into them, up over the head with the hair and makeup. I was distracted by something, then I'm paying full attention backstage and the models are getting undressed. I said, "Halt! What is happening here?" The head dresser said, "I'm getting them out of their clothes." "Why?" "Well, they're going to steam them." That's when I said, "I am about to lose it, and everyone's going to stay in her clothes! PERIOD." 

Why didn't the designers say something?
The designers were so worn out, they'd been up all night, and we'd been there since 4:30 in the morning, by then it was a quarter of nine. I don't even know how aware they were that it was happening. There's a fashion show that follows us, and we had the advantage of being the first show, but the people following us had a noon show and we weren't out until 10:30. The more protracted our show was, the less time they had to get ready, and I believe in being a good citizen about those type of things.

How did Los Angeles differ from New York as a backdrop for show?
It was completely different. We had opportunities that we wouldn't have in New York: The Emmy red carpet, that's not going to happen here. We had our beach challenge.

And you wore flip-flops!
That's not going to happen here either! We had access to people like Bob Mackie, plus his archive was in L.A. It was just easier to facilitate having access to those incredible costumes that he shared with the designers. We had the Getty. There's wonderful museums here in New York, but the Getty Center is a whole environment, plus there's just a more casual lifestyle in L.A. and the incredible weather. I had to stop walking around in suit and tie all the time because I looked ridiculous. 

'Project Runway': Tim checks in

Last week I was disappointed by the final challenge looks and thought, "Oh well, even if the clothes are bad, at least I'll have Tim Gunn in the finale." I just love watching him visit the contestants' homes and families, I think because he maintains his Gunn-like style and graciousness, plus he just seems to enjoy meeting the people who support the designers, which is charming.

Fortunately, based on the peeks of the designs we saw, I think it'll be an interesting show at Bryant Park. Carol Hannah camped out at a lovely country New York house and showed Tim a Duke-University-at-night-inspired line that included a very pretty-looking eggplant silk tank with knotting -- the details in her work looked great. Then, she and her family made a Southern-style meal for Tim, as long as he helped: "I love a kitchen!" he said, splaying his hands in a comical way. I loved their sweet little hand-holding and embrace out in the snow as he departed. 

Next, Tim visited Irina in Manhattan. I have to say Irina's attitude this season has soured me on her in general but I am looking forward to seeing how she incorporates silk-screened New York T-shirts under her Coney-Island-inspired collection. Also, her Georgian family is beautiful. 

'Project Runway': Bit of a messfest

I look forward to one of the best parts of "Project Runway" next week: seeing Tim Gunn visit the designers' homes and meet their families (he's always so gracious, even when he couldn't be more different than the folks he's greeting).  So that's something to be excited about, because tonight's final challenge episode was otherwise anticlimactic. Last week I predicted the final three and did so with (not so) amazing accuracy. But more than the lack of tension in the competition, none of the last designs lived up to an end-of-season show.

The challenge was for the designers to gain inspiration from the Getty Center: Carol Hannah Whitfield was inspired by an opulent French bed, Irina Shabayeva by a Godward painting, Althea Harper by the center's architecture, Christopher Straub by an algae-covered fountain and Gordana Gehlhausen by a Monet painting that reminded her of her roots in Europe. 

The one thing that's remarkable about this season is how much ill will the designers seem to have for one another -- each seemed to have something bad to say about the other (so it wasn't a lone bad guy like Kenley Collins).  It would be nice if they had the work to back up their mouths: Instead, I was more interested in what guest judges Cynthia Rowley and Cindy Crawford were wearing than what came down the runway. 

'Project Runway': Everyone looks back in anger

I've been so busy getting upset over who hasn't gone home yet on "Project Runway" that I failed to even think about who should make the top three.  I think Althea Harper put it best when she said it should be her, Carol Hannah Whitfield and Irina Shabayeva, yes? Moving on. 

The challenge on tonight's episode was for the contestants to create a companion piece for a winning piece they designed earlier. Althea wanted to play with the proportions from her "What a Woman Wants" design and created a pair of bag-tied jodhpurs along with an oversized flowing sweater. Irina initially wanted to create a "work" version of her Aspen-inspired look but was drawn to a brocade-type fabric for a tight dress with another big sweater to go over it. Gordana Gehlhausen aimed to incorporate the technique she used in the divorcee challenge into a jacket.  Christopher Straub wanted to turn the cute little dress that won him the first challenge into a much bigger, similar-looking dress. Logan Neitzel hasn't won a challenge yet, so to be honest I don't even recall really the silver-and-black dress that he was to work from (I didn't care for it that much to begin with) and so his aim was to add more zippers to the new look. And finally, Carol Hannah needed to make a pared-down version of her Christina Aguilera dress. 

In the midst of this the designers all sniped at one another. Althea was convinced that Logan stole her zippered-collar idea. Irina was convinced that Althea was stealing her sweater idea (and just basically was a jerk to everyone in general). Althea called Carol Hannah a one-trick pony for her dresses and Logan said that his grandma had better taste than Gordana. I'd rather see out-and-out fighting than this behind-each-other's backs complaining.

On the runway, the judges loved Carol Hannah's light, youthful black dress, and Heidi Klum informed Althea that she wanted to wear her outfit, despite Irina calling Althea out for alleged copying. Nina told Logan his high-collared zipper-top and bubble skirt looked like a project from a student, and guest judge Nick Verreos called it "80's" and "Judy Jetson." Personally I agreed with Nina Garcia about the tight-fitting material on Irina's dress looking cheap, but the judges otherwise liked it. Then things went south really fast: The styling with Gordana's jacket (which would look nice in, say, a Garnet Hill catalog) was rather drab, but Nick took it a step further and called the model "an office worker in Warsaw" (no pirogies for you, Nick!). And Nick's dress, especially the white goopy underpart, looked like more like a low-rent costume than design: Heidi claimed that it looked like a bed skirt. 

It made me happy to see Irina look irritated with Althea's eventual win. Lucky for Christopher, who has been escaping elimination all season, the judges hated Gordana's piece more than his. Lucky for HER, they hated Logan's more than hers. Of course, Logan just rationalized that his clothing was not for 90% of the population anyway. So he just needs to figure out how to sell clothing to that 10% and he'll be golden.

-- Claire Zulkey

Related posts:
"Project Runway": Sequin party!
"Project Runway": Project "I-Didn't-Mind-It"
Catch all "Project Runway" coverage here.

Photo: Lifetime

'Project Runway': Project 'I-Didn't-Mind-It'

Ugh. Really, judges? There is a contestant on "Project Runway" who should have been eliminated weeks ago, but for some reason has managed to stick around again and again and now yet again. And that person is:

'Project Runway': Sequin party!

Thursday night's challenge was no "take something you found at the dump and turn it into a dress" challenge. It was the Bob Mackie/Christina Aguilera/sequin challenge! It was obvious that it would be a fun episode when Bob Mackie, diva designer to the stars, advised the crew to "take your designs to another level" when creating a stage costume, and to envision a "goddess from some mythological kingdom." Yay! 

Some of the designers knew what they were doing off the bat, but Tim Gunn destroyed the fragile egos of a few who were uncertain. "Here's my disappointment," is how he started his critique of Christopher Straub's look and he said Shirin Askari's dress looked like "student work" and compared it to "Guinevere meets Vampira" and a "16-year-old's really bad prom" dress. Nicolas Putvinski was in a happy place though with all the sparkles, and even bemoaned the fact that Irina Shabayeva's such a raging witch.

On the runway, I thought Althea Harper's long silver-sequined gown with the big black jacket was a definite showstopper. Logan Neitzel's black and green animal-striped sequined short dress was cute but not enough for a big show (plus Christina thought the jacket looked like something a "cavewoman" would wear. Shirin's long black gown with white panels looked not just like a witch's costume, as Heidi Klum said, but sort of like a witch crossed with a bar wench. Christopher's was just terrible, with short-shorts and a tacky garter. The judges and Christina liked Nicolas' short silver sequined feathered number, although to me it looked like something Britney Spears has already worn. Gordana Gehlhausen's long white gown was poorly made with odd pleating on the front of the bust and she basically took a mulligan since she won immunity last week. Irina made a cute little blue sequined dress with a jacket and I loved Carol Hannah Whitfield's the most: it was long and black with sequins and feathers sewn artfully on it to really emphasize an hourglass shape. I thought it was the best dress of the challenge since Christina would look amazing in it and it screamed "Bob Mackie." 

In the end, the judges agreed with me about the winner but I was bummed that Shirin got sent home instead of Christopher. Shirin's dress was a challenge failure but it seems like over the last few weeks Christopher has been churning out a lot of lackluster products and it was time for him to go home. Who knows though if Irina was happy to see Shirin go -- we saw a shot of her rolling her eyes as Tim sent Shrin packing, but perhaps it was just selective editing.

-- Claire Zulkey

Photo: Christina Aguilera, Nina Garcia, Bob Mackie and Heidi Klum. Credit: Lifetime

'Project Runway': Oktoberfest moments

Call it the "anti-bridal" challenge: Last night on "Project Runway" the contestants were faced with nine women all in wedding dresses.  The task? To turn the gowns of the women, who were recent divorcees, into "hip, cool" outfits for their new stage in life.  So the plum choices weren't the women with the best figures or the chic-est gowns but the women who had the fullest gowns, as the designers weren't able to buy more than two yards of fabric at Mood.  Shirin Askari was faced with the biggest obstacle: how to make something out of a minimalist gown while trying to please Charlie, her gregarious client, who wanted to look like "Half-Breed" Cher.

Tim Gunn to the rescue! He was in fine form last night, comforting a crying Shirin as she contemplated her task and advising her to work more for herself than her client, who wouldn't be sent home if the challenge went awry. I also like the way he said "I'm worried" about Christopher Straub's shiny bubble dress (which I actually thought went over a little bit better than the judges thought), his tone with Logan Neitzel: "Logan, just figure this out" (he didn't) and the look on Tim's face when Irina revealed that the gown she was working with was 100% acetate.