In episode 7, the

Project Runway

designers were presented with an exciting collaboration with retailer

Lord & Taylor

. They were challenged to design a dress that will "fit in" with a collection of dresses designed by past Project Runway winners. The winning look will be manufactured and sold in Lord & Taylor stores. Not too shabby! The designers skipped a visit to

Mood

this time since they were provided textiles specific to the challenge.

[caption id="attachment_16761" align="aligncenter" width="440" caption="Ven Budhu & Sonjia Williams"]

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I never cared for

Ven

and now, after his insensitivity towards plus-size women and his offensive remarks, I can't even stand to look at him.

Sonjia Williams

, on the other hand, I've liked quite a bit until this episode. She really needs to shut the hell up about sending the boys home. What is up with that?

Just sew

... Almost every time it was just her and the camera she'd go off on a tirade about sending all the guys home and critical about their designs and skills. Well, Sonjia, karma's a bitch and you've been slapped! She had a meltdown over the construction / fit of her dress. I didn't feel sorry for her.

Flower power

Fabio

has bring bringing it every week lately. Another good dress. It was his version of the LBD. It was simple, but chic, with a chiffon layer added for richness and fluidity. The asymmetrical cut was attractive and the back zipper introduced modernity.

Not winning a challenge is starting to bring

Dmitry

down. But hey, he's either been in the top three or safe every time. I've been saying for a few weeks now that his problem is that he is playing it too safe. Dmitry has the skills set to produce an exciting and innovative dress. Bump up it up!!

One of my favorite designers this season is

Melissa Fleis

. This dress, however was not one of my choices. Melissa struggled in the workroom and rushed it at the end. It showed. The bottom hem came to an exaggerated pointed peak; kinda hideous.

Gunnar

was in the bottom with the lowest score. The judges grilled him for making a dress style that has been seen over and over in department stores across the nation. They are "tired" of the lace / sequin combos. I liked his dress and while it was not the most innovative, it was certainly marketable. AND seeing that this was a challenge to have your design manufactured and sold in Lord & Taylor stores, wouldn't you want that marketability factor? Well, perhaps the judges saw the light and in a surprise twist, did NOT send Gunnar home. No one went home!

Pretty in tattered pink chiffon winner,

Christopher Palu

. He nailed it. From the beginning of the challenge, Christopher stuck through his vision of a long dress. The pink and black combination, the silhouette and it's simplicity won the judges over. Of course, it wouldn't be Project Runway without some drama mixed with a splash of hypocrisy. Christopher was not surprised when the judges gave him a hard time over the continuos use of his chiffon-shredding technique.

Michael Kors

brought it up and

Heidi

"warned" the designer to stop doing it.

Whatever Project Runway!

At the beginning of the episode, Christopher referred to this technique as a signature of his designs. The judges often say they don't know"who you are as a designer" and now that a designer is successfully using a self-defining technique they give him grief for it.

*Watch full episode

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