Project Runway 2, Episode 6: All Day And All Of The Night

At the Atlas apartments, Zulema and Marla inspect a foreign tank top. It must be Guadalupe’s. Marla says that it’s kind of weird when one of your roommates drops out of the challenge. Umm, Marla, she didn’t exactly “drop out.” Zulema doesn’t feel any different now than when she first started. She needs to do what has to be done to stay in this competition.

Over in the men’s quarters, Andrae is inspecting the refrigerator as Santino polishes his boots. Santino tells us his confidence has increased a lot since his win. Nicky Hilton couldn’t have said sweeter things to him. He tells his pals that he plans to design all the Hilton hotel merchandise and all the little gift stores. Daniel finds SantEGO to be arrogant and thinks it doesn’t matter how many you win - you have to be on your game at each challenge. The designers leave the Atlas to find their way to Parsons School of Design.

Heidi greets the contestants at the runway. She explains the next challenge, saying that they will be designing an outfit for Banana Republic, and the winning garment will be sold online and in select Banana Republic stores. The designers will be taken there to meet with head designer Deborah Lloyd and will be told exactly how this challenge will work.

First, Heidi wants to bring out last week’s winning and losing designers’ models. Heidi reminds us of the model competition; the model paired with the winner of Project Runway will also get her own fashion spread in Elle. As Santino was the winner of the last challenge, he can pick between his model Heather or Lupe’s model Eliza. If he decides that he doesn’t want either of them, Heidi will bring in all the remaining models for him to pick from. Santino says if there is one thing that he is, he’s a loyal person, and his loyalty is with Heather. He wants her forever. With cheek kisses, Heidi tells Eliza that she’s out. Heidi will meet all of the designers at the Banana Republic.

As promised, the designers go to Banana Republic, where Heidi introduces them to Deborah Lloyd. Deborah explains that they are to design an outfit that will take the Banana Republic woman from day into evening for their spring collection. They are to design a classy, sophisticated, modern outfit where a woman can feel comfortable at work, but also answers the questions, “What can she do to it to make it appropriate for the evening? How can she make it a little sexier and fun for going out?” Deborah doesn’t want the designers to lose their own personalities but she does want to remind them that they are designing for the Banana Republic customer. Heidi says that this challenge is about molding their creative vision to a national brand. She instructs the designers to select their fabrics, and then they will be returning to Parsons.

The designers sort through the bolts of material. I watch closely to see what Banana Republic has offered. This season’s selections seem to run mainly with blacks, browns, navy blues, and grays, with coordinating patterned fabrics. It looks to me like Banana Republic has helped greatly in letting the designers know what they want. The color palette seems very minimal, as compared to last year’s selection. Anyway, this shopping expedition is less than exciting due to the choices I see. The designers seem to gather their fabrics with time to spare.

Back at the Parsons workroom, Tim has the designers gather around him for a few announcements. First, the designers have until midnight to complete their design. The next item on Tim’s agenda is a bit more startling. The designers will be working in teams of two and each team will design one outfit. There will be no team leaders. Each is responsible for pairing with a partner, and they have one minute to complete this.

Andrae wants to work with Daniel because they have won before, while Diana doesn’t know what to do so she just stands there. Marla finally approaches her and another team is made. Santino stares at Nick, but Nick avoids his eye contact like the plague! Santino shares that he doesn’t want to team with a dead weight like Marla or Emmett, so if Nick is looking for someone else to be partners with, he is barking up the wrong tree. (Funny how Santego doesn’t notice that no one is running to stand by his side!) Nick, who is standing behind Chloe, admits he doesn’t want to team with Santino, but instead of tapping Chloe on the shoulder, his avoidance of Santino’s gaze allows Emmett to maneuver himself along side Chloe, scoring a win for Emmett, and a Santino for Nick! Pretty funny! Kara pairs with Zulema, who is still trying to absorb the fact that they will be designing as teams. She doesn’t want to team up with anyone; she just wants to do this by herself. Zulema admits that her designs are polar opposites to those at Banana Republic.

Teams completed, Tim further explains that the designers have very important decisions to make: whose design are they going to execute? Whose fabric will they use and whose model will be used for the runway judging? Tim wishes the designers luck and leaves the workroom.

Immediately, the teams start planning. Diana wants to design a pencil skirt, where the front will flip to the back and reveal a slit. Marla is willing to go along with it, though she doesn’t believe in it wholeheartedly. Daniel and Andrae hit the floor running. Daniel wants a sexier dress, with a cropped jacket. Andrae shares that they are pulling together, and are almost thinking like one person. It’s really exciting!

Emmett sketches out his and Chloe’s vision while she assures him that she can take care of a design problem he questions. Chloe is really happy to have Emmett as her partner because they get along well. Emmett shares that because both he and Chloe understand the Banana Republic client, so they won’t be designing in the dark.