Project Runway "Wearable Art" Challenge

How fabulous is the Guggenheim? Of course it is, designed by the masterful Frank Lloyd Wright, the space is as magnificent as the masterpieces it houses. So it was quite appropriate that the Guggenheim would serve as the source of inspiration for

Project Runway's

"wearable art" challenge. The popular HP + Intel fabric challenge was integrated, heightening the level of creativity from the designers. Naturally, some did better with it than others. They are still working in teams and the only contribution "teams" are making to Project Runway at this point in the competition is making drama. One team member designed the art look while the other made a commercial counterpart.

Daniel was hit this week. He needed that because the last few challenges were (big) misses for him. [But] for me, he's done. Go home.

AUF!

I want to see nothing else from Daniel.

Layana was Daniel's team partner. She created this mess of a dress. The symbolism here, artistically speaking, is that the dress captured Layana's inexperience and lack of art / cultural references due to the fact that she's like 12. This isn't art. She created crap wrapped in tulle. Layana, you do not know better than Tim Gunn or the judges, acknowledge that missy.

And while you're at it Layana, learn from Michelle. Yes I know the dress is weird, but this was NOT the ready-to-wear look, Michelle's partner Stanley was working on that design. Michelle successfully created an artfully cohesive gown made out of leather and painted bubble wrap!

Patricia: EDIT! Too much is too much... I loved the bold graphic patterns she created and there are aspects of the dress that I appreciate, like the silhouette when I squint my eyes. But to say that the chiffon head piece made the model androgynous tells me that you are clueless! The model looks like abstract-expressionist tragic bride.

Richard went home, yay! Too bad he didn't go packing the challenge before this one because Samantha would have soared at the Guggenheim. Richard became such a pain in the ass about everything and everyone that it just consumed him and his abilities. His emotions overshadowed good design and behavior!

Stanley took the well-deserved win and $10K!! [I hope he gives Michelle a little bit of that cash!] The dress is hot. I love the shape, pleating, structure and styling. I was not a fan of the print, however.

We are down to 5 designers.... I'm pretty good at nailing the top three but I must admit, I'm having a little trouble this time around.

Who do you think will make the top list??

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VALENTINO COUTURE Spring 2013

Valentino's

Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli graced the Parisian runway this week with an exquisite couture collection. It took a reported 500 hours just to hand-roll the piping that embellished so many of the garments. Valentino presented an absolutely breath-taking collection. So incredibly, magical and beautiful were all the pieces which were heavily layered with organza, lace and embroidered with crystals. View Collection: 

Photos: GoRunway

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Black Friday with Jeffrey & The Atlantan

Even Santa’s busy little helpers will have to stop shopping to see what all the buzz is about at

Jeffrey Atlanta

on

Black Friday!

The Atlantan

and

Modern Luxury, in partnership with Jeffrey Atlanta, will feature the designs of Celine, Prada, Lanvin, Balenciaga, Gucci, Christian Louboutin and more in a custom window-display that doubles as a live fashion photo shoot for the magazine’s January/February issue at the Phipps Plaza store on Friday, Nov. 23, from noon until 3pm.

Santa loves milk and cookies, and apparently so do Atlanta’s fashionistas! Jeffrey Atlanta will be serving Mr. Claus’ favorite snack for shoppers, while NYC fashion photographer

Colby Blount

and Editor in Chief

Stephanie Davis Smith

will be on hand capturing the live fashion show for an upcoming issue of

The Atlantan

.

Also turning shoppers’ heads will be fashion illustrator and Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) nominee

Jason Bunin

who will be sketching live personalized illustrations in a separate storefront window. Interested clients should make an appointment today by calling 404.237.9000.

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Project Graffiti - Project Runway

The

Project Runway All Stars

took to the streets with their host

Carolyn Murphy

for last week's challenge. They learned about graffiti and I learned a new art term: aerosol art. I can't wait to impress all of my snooty, intellectual, politically correct friends with this term ... aerosol art ... look ma I'm pretentious! 

The designers were given all the tools they needed including the windiest day in NYC, which they didn't need, to create a

graffiti

aerosol art pattern/print. The Project Runway challenge was to produce a wearable art piece.

Andrae is communicating with the Mother Planet. They're saying "make it work!" and he's replying, "huh?"

Winner and loser, hmmm...

The Bottom 3:

I'm with judge

Georgina Chapman

about there being two dresses here. The top is the beginning of a beautiful and chic outfit and the bottom is a fail, especially with that eyesore of a hemline. To make matters worse (not pictured)

Laura Kathleen

added a trim of piano fringe to the back which was awful. She tried to hard to be different and to be creative. I knew Laura would be safe and I'm glad. Not ready to see her go.

A halter, mermaid gown... so original and innovative... said no one, ever!

Kayne

dear, the judges are beginning to question your taste level.

Suede cut out circles. Suede made a girlie dress. Suede Suede go away...."

Suede

out."

The Top 3:

The most significant advice/criticism from one of the judges was

Ivy's

bad color choice of white for the bottom of the skirt. The guest judge suggested she use a color like red [I thought yellow]. Either one, even orange, would have been a better choice.

This was a smart and sassy look from

Anthony Ryan

. The judges complimented the scale, proportion and wearability. It's a good dress, I like it too, though I hate the pompadour hairdo. It's distracting, dated and overdone. Yet not surprising. Have you noticed the designer's hair style? Yuck.

The clear winner was this creation by

Emilio Sosa

. It was sophisticated and artful. Emilio allowed himself to be inspired by graffiti rather than to try and replicate an art form that he's not a master of and it worked. The only minor issue the judges had was with the belt. They felt it seemed unresolved. No big deal. Easy fix.

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and the Project Runway winner is...

Dmitry Sholokhov

, you are the winner of

Project Runway

Season 10! No surprises here, nor complaints! For a minute, the judges had me in suspense during deliberation because

Fabio Costa

could just have easily won too. I believe that if Project Runway could have gotten away with calling it a tie, they would have. Both designers were terrific. They listened to the judges' critique and they "brought it."

Christopher Palu

cracked. He couldn't handle the pressure, was disorganized and whined about everything. The judges were spot on with their criticism and observations. Christopher struggled with his own identity as a designer, hence compromising his artistic integrity.

Nina Garcia

and

Michael Kors

both commented on the fact that Christopher makes "pretty" dresses and rather than pursuing those instincts, he chose to go "dark." He needs to find a middle ground between the dark and the romantic. (SO get you're shit together Christopher!)

Melissa Fleis,

too, listened to what the judges said and presented a rockin' collection. Cutting the sleeves / cuffs off the white leather jacket made a huge difference. The red leather dress was incredible. And you know Melissa loved it when guest judge,

Jennifer Hudson

, told her that she could have been one of the models.

Fabio Costa

is sitting pretty in the number 2 position. He evolved the most as a designer, challenge after challenge. It's almost like he found himself. At the end, Fabio achieved what the judges, especially Michael, kept wishing for, and that was, to design clothing based on your personal aesthetic. Fabio has such a distinct personal view when it comes to his fashion sense and style. With this collection, he finally brought it forward. The trick is now to keep it up!

A triumphant

Dmitry Sholokhov

, in his sexy black leather pants. Michael Kors kept saying all season long that Dmitry's sewing skills were the strongest and all the judges agreed that the problem was his styling was just a little dated. Dmitry listened, always remained cool and kicked ass at the end!

*READY to do it all over again?? Project Runway All Stars begin this week on Lifetime TV!

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Project Runway [uh-vahnt-gahrd] Challenge

Avant-gardeuh-vahnt-gahrd; noun: is a term used when talking about something that is pushing the limits. Something that is going well above everything else usually used when talking about the arts, politics, and culture.

Even though the designers usually don't "get it" the avant-garde challenge is one of my favorites. With only five of them left, things are getting thick on Project Runway. So, lets breakdown these garments; who made it work and who didn't. 

Dmitry

produced good work. His biggest breakthrough was creating separates rather than the usual dress. He is obviously listening to the judges and pushing himself. Once again, Dmitry was praised for his skills set. That will take him far in this competition. Was his suit avant-garde? Not really. But it was different enough to stand out, well designed and of course, beautifully constructed. The collar piece, however, did not work. Not only was it hideous, it was so costumey that it served more as a distraction to the outfit than good. Edit Dmitry, edit!!

Oh

Christpher

. Sweet, young, pretty Christopher. About 20 years ago,

Vivienne Westwood

created a collection that featured exaggerated hips. The difference between hers and yours? She committed to the design and substantiated it with references, confidence and intelligence. You were probably wearing pull-ups then. Look, its a beautiful dress and the feathered arms gave us runway drama but this is not enough to make a garment avant-garde. But, hey, your safe so who cares.

Irony at it's best.

Fabio

did not win this challenge and was criticized for his look. Why is that ironic? Well, as

Michael Kors

pointed out [to Heidi], the avant-garde designer got flack for being too avant-garde...

Seriously judges

... Michael was the only one who got it right apparently. Clearly, the multifunctional coat- a showpiece- was innovative and experimental. The black shear outfit complemented it. He should have won ! Fabio was the only designer that understood the challenge.

Auf Wiedersehen

Sonjia

.

This is when Project Runway gets really tough. This was a good dress but someone had to go home. Okay, so I wasn't crazy about the color or the moiré pattern and the nude-esque fabric on top wasn't sheer enough. It was distracting. Still, I liked the dress and Sonjia is a good designer.

Melissa

! Brian Setzer of the Stray Cats called. He want's his Rockabilly chick back. OKAY judges, explain yourselves! How is this outfit more avant-garde than Fabio's?? Maybe you guys need to brush up on history. Melissa was the winner. Yup.

...and there you have it.... Tune in Thursday to Lifetime for a new episode of Project Runway!

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Aura: The Ensemble Series Collection

Collaboration between Artist Amy Rader, Photographer Alex Martinez

and Fashion Designer Bill Hallman.

For more than a decade, Atlanta-based artist,

Amy Rader

, has been the name behind some of most the recognizable visuals in the city’s nightclubs, restaurants, boutiques and salons. Recent projects include six large mural designs for Reign and Vanquish nightclubs as well as custom art and branding for Viande Rouge Steakhouse.

This month, Rader is debuting 

The Aura Series,

which is comprised of twelve, limited-edition multimedia works of art. Known for a sulty, high-fashion influenced style, Rader has once again managed to allure with her vision.

In contrast to the darkly sexy series created for Viande Rouge and Vanquish, The

Aura Series

is inspired by the meaning itself; the spirit that is vital energy that animates, imbuing it with meaning and purpose. The bold usage of color in

Aura

was inspired by one of the most colorful events on earth, the Indian Festival of Color (Holi Festival), where color is celebrated with bright chalk being thrown amongst and onto a crowd. 

The Aura Series

is an ode to the vitality of Summer, gilded with hope and splashed in whimsy.

The Collaboration:

To execute the project, Rader contracted the help of two other creative powerhouses and long-time friends:

Bill Hallman

and

Alex Martinez

. Photos by Alex Martinez combined with fashion designs by Bill Hallman are then transformed by Amy Rader using a blend of intricate layers of photography, hand drawings, digital media, gold leaf and paint. “I love to collaborate with designers from different fields since it brings a totally different creative perspective to a project and there’s just something magical that happens when you combine talents.,” Rader says.  “I called this the ensemble series because I’m already planning future collaborations to explore textiles, furniture and fashion.”

Rader revealed the

Aura Series

at the

Emerging Art Scene Gallery

, in Atlanta’s Castleberry Hill on August 10

th

. The exhibit will run through September 1

st

.

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