Projet Haute Couture

I love this show - got hooked on it last year, and this year it's even more fun, what with the challenges being even more, well, challenging. If you ignore all the overblown ego crap - and there's a lot of it (not naming names, but you know who you are, Santino) and just watch it for the creativity factor, it's very inspiring.

My favorite challenge so far was when the designers had to design outfits for each other - that was particularly creative, especially when they had to model them on the runway.

This year, I especially admire Chloe, who never participates in any of the cattiness or ego games, she just stays high-minded, focused and sticks to her work, turning out brilliant outfits week after week. I think she deserves to win, hands down.

8/10/08: So Chloe won, then Jeffrey Sebelia the next year and Christian "Fierce" Siriano last year, and we're well into the new season now, the fifth. Some contenders shaping up, looks like it's going to be a lot of fun.

Glad the show is still being produced, but I'm not impressed by the new hostess or with Christian as mentor (liked him as a designer though). It's just not the same. I miss Tim; he's great.

I'm writing this review during the airing of the last few episodes of season 20.

The standout since the new lineup in judges and mentor is clearly Christan Siriano. He had the difficult task to follow Tim Gunn who was so beloved by fans. Siriano manages to give good advice to the contestants while showing an entertaining personality and not copying Gunn whatsoever. The judges do a good job too in alternating talking to the contestants. A show host is really not needed anymore. I welcome the new concept and lineup of judges and mentor for sure.

Here's where it all goes wrong for me. The rehashing of the contestants is absolutely ridiculous in season 20 and was ridiculous in All Stars before. There are contestants who show up every 2 or 3 years to this show. What made this show interesting was to see each year new contestants with new aesthetics. Another aspect that I think is awful is the American culture dispute that is woven into the show. It's a reality competition show yes, they've got to show some drama in the work room yes, I understand, but stop with the culture battle. The rest of the world is well aware that the culture division is huge in the US these days. In season 20 people of one skin color repeat constantly how they support people of the same skin color, while emphasizing that the lady with different skin and hair color has to go. The 2nd on the chopping block for them is then the only guy left who has not their skin color. What is this? Is this about fashion or cultural division? Fashion and music can unite people and make people appreciate each others cultural differences. It's a craft and it's art. Instead in season 20 everyone is talking about who is the bigger victim due to cultural injustices inflicted on them in the past. This is also very visible on the social media accounts of the contestants, in case you the reader think I'm making this up.

Lastly the judging from the judges is alright, but of course there are always cases where you will disagree as a viewer. I hope PR comes back with new contestants each year. The All Stars format can be left discontinued in my opinion. And focus on the fashion and the contents of the contestants character and stop with culture division.

Project Runway is not your usual "reality" television program. Unlike most shows today, where the characters are either straight out of the local Wal Mart or straight out of acting school, the Project Runway cast comes off polished, but not fake. Funny, but not forced. Combine that with the excellent editing by the producers, you get entertainment that you eagerly look forward to week after week. The "challenges" for each week are not nearly as interesting as the comedic outbursts and bizarre dialogue that goes on between the contestants. You couldn't write a script this funny! Often times, watching an episode again and again will allow the viewer to pick up on things that you miss the first time around. The panel of judges are rather non-professional, which makes this show even more hilarious, as the comments they make about each designer's outfit that week are the topic of much conversation. The show also includes guest judges each week who often don't know any more about fashion than the man in the moon. This combined with over sensitive designers makes for one side splitting show. If you've never watched this show, or if you have no interest whatsoever in the fashion industry, you may want to take a look and see what all the flap is about.

Christian Siriano is a terrible mentor. He's not inspirational or motivational. He is snarky, and when a contestant is stumped or down in the dumps - Christian kicks them while they are down. The show went downhill when Heidi Klum & Tim Gunn left- contestants & judges.