Project Runway 2, Episode 5: We’re Having A Party!

Back at the Atlas apartments Chloe tells us that she is sorry that Daniel Franco left; she was sad to see him go. She thought it would be Santino. Nick thinks the right designer left (hmm, is that because Santino is your roommate and because you were on his team?). “SantEGO” shares that the judges can come after him time after time but he will never apologize for what he’s done.

At the runway, Heidi greets the designers and explains their next challenge. They will be designing a party dress for one of America’s hottest young socialites to wear for a night on the town. Tim will give them the details later, as first she wants to bring out the winning and losing models, Rebecca and Claudia respectively, to join them. The two models take their places alongside Heidi as Heidi reminds us that they are competing for a fashion spread in Elle. Challenge winner Daniel V. can remain with his model Rebecca, choose Claudia, or Heidi will gather up the remaining models for him to pick from. This is a hard decision for Daniel (yeah, right) and with zero surprise he selects Rebecca once again. With an air kiss and goodbye, Heidi deems Claudia “out.” Before departing, Heidi reminds the designers that she’ll see them back at the runway.

At the workroom, Tim has the designers gather around him. He acknowledges that Heidi gave them part of their challenge, designing a party dress for a socialite, and further explains how socialites are very important to their careers and future. Tim calls Daniel up to join him and explains how each designer will get a dossier profiling the socialite, which he wants Daniel to read. Daniel opens it and with an “oh, my gosh,” turns it towards his fellow designers. They will be designing a dress for Nicky Hilton!

Daniel reads, “Dear designers, You have quite a challenge in front of you making me a party dress. To make it fun, tomorrow evening I am hosting a party for you and your models and I will be checking out your dresses to determine the winner of this challenge. My standards are high and my taste is exquisite, so bring your best work and a good attitude. See you then. Nicky.”

The designers are excited. Tim tells them that they have until midnight tonight and an undetermined amount of time tomorrow to complete their design. They’ll be going shopping and have a budget of $150. Tim is giving them 30 minutes to sketch out their ideas before they leave. Chloe says the dossier only showed two pictures of Nicky wearing flashy, sophisticated dresses. Marla can’t say she’s made many party dresses; in fact, her ideas were originally more like something she would have worn herself. Kara’s sketch is fresh and girly. This is about Nicky and she wants to make her client happy. Tim returns to the workroom to gather up the designers for their 30-minute shopping expedition.

At Mood, Nick looks at blue charmeuse while Zulema wants to work with black and white. Diana seems to be checking out a black fabric, as is Emmett. Daniel says going into a fabric store without a clear idea of what you’re going to design is instant death. He looks at a hot pink patterned fabric and I’m dying! “Santego” brags that he has been designing for rich girls all his life and can make $150 look like $150,000. Shut up, Santino. Their 30 minutes of shopping time is up.

Back at Parsons, Santino pulls out his rich dove gray fabric, while Andrae continues with his sketching. Andrae wants to design a dress that will allow Nicky herself to shine through, without people paying attention to the dress. Hmm, strange concept! He bought jersey material that could be rolled in a ball and thrown in a suitcase. Nick wants his design to have the glamour of the 1930s Hollywood screen goddesses. He’s done this before and he feels confident. Zulema wants to set herself apart from the other designers, so her dress will be in cream georgette and black leather. Daniel purchased a geometric pink silk, and what he thought was black fabric. Unfortunately, this black turned out to be brown. He is hoping to scrounge up his needed black fabric from Marla and Kara’s remains.

Meanwhile, the dress forms seem to be moving around and Zulema wants hers back. Marla’s was sitting at her desk and that vanished, too! There’s mayhem in the workroom and the designers are stressed. Oh no! Now there’s chiffon missing, too! Marla thinks everything is getting more competitive, not only with the designers but with themselves. She wants to prove to herself that she is creative and talented. Lupe’s dress is Japanese inspired, and she wants it to look clean and fun. She’s adding some technical parts to draw the eyes around the body. “Santego” shares that the judges raked him over the coals at the last challenge, so if this one calls for him to make something beautiful, he is going to make it the MOST beautiful. Nick tells us that Santino was very, very defensive with the judges. “If he keeps it up, he’s gone!”

Three hours before the day’s deadline, Tim visits the designers. Checking out Diana’s black pieces and form, he finds it looks like an octopus. She shares how the fabric will drape, as Tim looks over her sketch. He’s anxious to see how it will develop. Zulema assures Tim that she’s doing fine and has learned to manage her time. Lupe defends the flowers she is adding to her design, but Tim isn’t getting it. Tim thinks she is taking her embellishments too far and warns her to be careful. Lupe just wants to test boundaries. Tim’s first impression of Marla’s design is that it looks like the dress in Nicky’s dossier. She agrees that could be true. Tim wants Marla to be Marla. Unfortunately, Marla doesn’t trust her own creative voice. Meanwhile, Daniel is stressed out due to his construction issues. He’s still hoping for his black fabric but there is none to spare. Oh, well, it’s midnight and time to go home.