Project Runway 3, Episode 3: Who’s In and Who’s Out

Who’s IN: Uli

For the second week in a row, Uli has climbed to the top of the ranks with an outstanding design. Many fans have heralded her as destined for the final three given her stellar performance thus far. Time will tell how far she can go, but in the meantime let’s look at what it was that she did with each of the design criteria this week to claim her first-place win.

1. Stand out! Be original, creative, and show a unique, strong point of view in your designs.

Uli has shown she has a strong point of view, and her garments reflected that perspective this week. She has a passion for working with vibrant colors and intricate patterns, but still manages to weave them together in an interesting play that is visually pleasing. Her dress this week perfectly captured this philosophy, as did her mini-garment for her dog, Einstein. The design was creative and unique in its style and its execution. The patterned fabric that at first seemed mismatched as she selected it worked extremely well. She did an excellent job with this guideline and the judges loved her work.

2. Demonstrate flexibility and versatility with each challenge.

As we are still fairly early in the show, there have been few opportunities for the designers to really make it or blow it with this tip, so we can move along. (Though we will find it is relevant when discussing both Angela and Katherine below.)

3. Be resourceful and utilize every opportunity at your disposal to make your designs successful.

Truly maximizing every resource in this challenge meant not only the choice of fabrics and the design of the dress, but also how the entire look for the model told the story of who she was, and how the design for the dog aligned with this story. Like the other designers who did an outstanding job, Uli carefully crafted all elements of the design challenge to be perfectly synchronous. The level of detail she emphasized in her model’s make-up, hair, accessories, and even the tiny outfit she made for little Einstein all thrust her work to the front of the pack. Finally, Uli also did an outstanding job using her time well – she was even able to create a jacket for her model to top off the impeccable dress.

4. Actively sell yourself, your vision, and your designs.

Uli was ready to explain to the judges who her model was, where she was going, and what she was doing. Uli also explained her design philosophy and how her point of view influenced the design decisions she made for this challenge. She did an excellent job with this rule by showcasing everything that was successful about her final product; the judges were wowed by her work, and with good reason.

5. Take your role as a designer seriously, and be professional both on and off the runway.

While it looks like next week we may have a major snafu that leads to the first elimination off the runway, professionalism did not play a major role in Uli’s victory.

6. Think carefully about each challenge and do what it requires.

For the most part we’ve already covered how Uli took the challenge seriously and thought carefully about each aspect of her design and what she needed to do. She told an excellent story, she made an impeccable garment, she was creative, and she utilized all of her resources to craft a total package that the judges loved.

7. Take risks – push yourself and your designs to new levels.

For the first time this season, this new rule finally plays a critical rule in discerning of the top two who was the winner, and of the bottom two which was the loser. Alison, who was also a very, very strong candidate for the win this week, surprisingly came in second. Were it not for this new rule, there would be little reason to explain why Uli was selected as the winner instead. (Did the judges flip a coin? Pick a name out of a hat?) All of the rules above that Uli followed closely were also followed by Alison, who also did an outstanding job. Both told excellent stories, both designed great garments for their models and their dogs, and both made elaborate designs and jackets. But Uli’s design involved far more risk. Her use of completely unrelated and even somewhat dissimilar patterns was a huge risk. The level of complexity and detail in her dress also surpassed Alison’s – a risk which was time-consuming and could have led her to the situation Bradley was in if she made critical errors or ran out of time. Uli’s risk-taking was what pulled her ahead of Alison and into her first-place position, winning immunity for the next challenge.

Who’s OUT: Katherine

Poor Katherine seemed like a very nice girl; eager to prove herself, youthful, and humble about her work and her aspirations to win Project Runway. However, as Tim Gunn noted in the prior week with Malan, personality is in most cases an irrelevant factor in the judge’s evaluation and critiques. Though she has received far more criticism (which is warranted), Angela was spared yet again. Looking at the guidelines for the designers will reveal that this was, in fact, the right choice.

1. Stand out! Be original, creative, and show a unique, strong point of view in your designs.

Katherine’s dress was unoriginal and lacked the creativity to pass the test for this challenge. It was simple, plain, and in the words of Heidi Klum, “Just… blah.” Katherine tried to let her background as an active-wear designer shine through, and she almost succeeded, but she was only able to muster a hoodie for Tallulah, which was just not enough. There really is not much more to say - Katherine’s design overall was simply inadequate.