Project Runway Recaps: "Project Breakdown"--Here's MY RECAP of this week's episode!

Project Runway Recaps: "Project Breakdown"--Here's MY RECAP of this week's episode!

Psychiatrist Tim, Breakdown Parsons, Little Black Dress Central and Much More...



What does This:

 "I'm SOOOOO Stressed Out!"

This: 

Too Many Little Black Dresses

And This:

 A High Fashion Funeral (fashion designer's Yves Saint Laurent's)

Have In Common? Read on kiddies...

Fifth Avenue Icon--Lord & Taylor

On this week's episode of Project Runway, the challenge was to design and create a dress for the first ever Project Runway Collection for Lord & Taylor, the exclusive retail partner of the show this season. JS Collections/JS Group was the manufacturer who would be assigned to help create the dress when it went to production--as well as provide the fabric for this challenge. The dress would be sold exclusively at the Fifth Avenue Flagship of the iconic department store and on their LordandTaylor.com website.

 Project Runway for Lord &Taylor Collection--Screen cap courtesy of tomandlorenzo.com (Thank you boys!)

The winning dress would join the nine other designs from Project Runway alumn (one designer chosen per season), including yours truly. In the episode, I got my first peak at my design (the cobalt blue halter-style dress in the top row, far right), as well all the others so it was--sorry for sounding like a ten year old kid--kinda "neat" (I have a feeling kids don't even say that word any more LOL!).



Here's my dress--with my original fashion illustration next to it:

Nick Verreos Dress "Project Runway for Lord & Taylor Collection"

A Bunch Of Stressed Out Designers: The nine remaining Project Runway Season 10 designers at Lord & Taylor NYC

The nine remaining Season 10 designers were very excited but soon after they began working, it was BREAKDOWN CENTRAL at Parsons with Tim Gunn as the head attending Psychiatrist trying to deal with all the crying, meltdowns and DRAMA...

Drama Queen: designer/contestant Elena Slivnyak (one of my favorites at the LA Castings which I judged) broke down, going on and on about how she's not used to "designing like this" (with price, fabric and silhouette restrictions) and lots more. My Darling Elena, here's a NEWSFLASH: This is what we designers do ALL the time. Until you have all the money in the world being thrown at you or are owned by a billion-dollar conglomerate a la LVMH, Gucci Group, etc. then and only then can you be "I Want to Do What I ONLY want to do!" (and even then, you STILL have restrictions). Oh these kids, they slay me...

 Breakdown Sonjia--Screencap courtesy of tomandlorenzo.com

Sonjia Williams also broke down, crying as she is unable to put her model into her dress, not finishing the hem, etc. What. Is. Going. On. With. These. Designers? Are the Project Runway producers not allowing these kids to take their daily Prozac pills? Are they being denied their Starbucks Vanilla Skinny Lattes? Now, granted I was stressed back in my season but it NEVER EVER got to the point of a meltdown. I don't think the work, challenges, or time restrictions are getting any more difficult than back in my season. So, what's going on?



The Runway, Designs, The Funeral Show...

Black Dress Chic: Celebs at the Alexander McQueen funeral

For some reason (even though there seemed to be other colors in the fabrics that the JS Collections/JS Group provided them), most of the nine designers chose BLACK or a close cousin of. I thought I was watching the YSL or McQueen funeral procession of red carpet guests. Well, I WISH. Those outfits were actually MORE fabulous--but then again, not really sellable at your local department store--and for only $200.



Take a Look at the BLACK Dress Parade:

Ven "I Hate Women Who Are Not Size 4" Budhu: a respectable sheath dress with his "Rose" pleating detail.

Fabio Costa: asymmetrical, exposed metal zipper dress...in BLACK. This was a nice effort. He thought of the customer; it was wearable for many sizes. I think that is why he was one of the "higher scores" in the bunch. I also liked the hard-and-soft aspect by adding the exposed metal zipper at center back. It immediately makes it ideal for the Contemporary Market.

Elena Slyvnyak: Elena's was also one of the "Top" ones--which made her break down AGAIN (she wasn't expecting)--I liked this pleated skirt dress with a harness-detail back and front. I actually wished there was a little peek-a-boo in the front as well (not as much as the back obviously). But yes, it was nice--at least it was a different shape. Very good Elena!

Le Bottom: The lowest scores went to these two BLACK dresses above--On the left is Alicia Hardesty's which was a (according to her) Chanel "homage" of sorts (careful saying that because Chanel's lawyers will sue you!). On the right was Gunnar Deatherage's dress made from a matte paillette lace and was short and BLACK. Miss Nina thought it was boring. DON'T. BORE. Nina.



The Non-Black:

Dmitry Sholokhov: Oh Happy Day--It's NOT Black! Yeayyyy, Dmitry created a very tight fitting gunmetal sheath dress with pin-tuck detail and semi-fishtail hem. It was one of the best--in my eyes--it was very sexy, and I could see Miss Heidi Klum's eyes watering with joy as the model--and dress--sauntered by.

Melissa Fleis: The judges LOVED Melissa's very high neck asymmetrical bronze-colored dress. It was different and NOT black but I did feel that it was a little too tight, there was odd side-boob-age going on, and well, too "fashion-y" for the mass market and a department store. I could see this in the window of a very directional Paris France boutique.  I LOVE this model by the way: gorgeous! And the askew braiding in the hair was FAB! A+ on the hair.

Christopher Palu: the one gown in the bunch--in nude/blush and black was from Christopher Palu--and he WON the Challenge. The gown was VERY proper, elegant, demure. He did his 'raw edge chiffon-and-charmeuse" thang and well, it did the WINNING trick.

Christopher: can't wait to see you--and meet you for the first time--next week at the official unveiling of the "Project Runway Collection for Lord & Taylor" during the Lord & Taylor Fashion's Night Out NYC event on September 6th! Congrats and sell LOTS!



So...here's my Recap of this week's "Meltdown/Too Much Black" Episode--Enjoy!!

Project Breakdown

Months ago, I received a phone call from
the producers of "Project Runway." They said that for the 10th
Anniversary season of the show they wanted to do a special "Project
Runway" Capsule Collection featuring one designer from each season.
Those dresses would then be sold at Lord & Taylor, the exclusive
retail sponsor for "Project Runway." I was asked to be the Season 2
designer. Jay McCarroll, Uli Herzner, Chris March, Korto Momolu, Gordana
Gehlhausen, Seth Aaron Anderson, Mondo Guerra and Bert Keeter were all
the illustrious designers to represent their seasons.



No More Ven ... Drama



One question remained, however: who would be the Season 10 Designer
to be featured in this exclusive "Project Runway" for Lord & Taylor
Capsule Collection? And that's where last night's episode began. As the
episode starts, there is — surprisingly — no mention or residue left
over from last week's "Ven Storm." Obviously, it is hard for the
producers to know just how strongly the audience will react to something
and thus edit accordingly. But it was strange for me, and I’m assuming
for many viewers also, to just move on and not remember that Ven had
basically dropped a bomb on Season 10! But as they say, the show — or
season — must go on!



Fifth Avenue Dressing



For this week's challenge, the designers are told to meet Tim at the
Fifth Avenue Flagship of Lord & Taylor. He is there, along with
Bonnie Brooks, president of Lord & Taylor and nine fabulous
mannequins in the dresses that we — the "Project Runway" alum —
designed. The designers are told that this is the Lord & Taylor
Challenge: to design a dress for the store. Bonnie then describes the
Lord & Taylor woman as being sophisticated, stylish, having good
taste and loves fashion, of course. My kind of woman! The winning design
would go into production, and sell for about $200-$300 at their
flagship and LordandTaylor.com
site and be prominently featured in one of their windows. All the
designs would be manufactured by JS Collection/JS Group, a company that
specializes in cocktail and "After Five."



I Have My Chiffonie Membership Card

My design (in the top row of mannequins) was a "Grecian
Goddess"-inspired halter cocktail dress that had draping in front and
back and was in cobalt blue..



Click HERE to READ the rest of my RECAP!!! 

Nick Appearance Minute: FIDM San Francisco "3 Days of Fashion 2012" : The Recap!

Nick Appearance Minute: FIDM San Francisco "3 Days of Fashion 2012" : The Recap!

San Francisco "3 Days of Fashion" Love:

OMG!!! Nick Verreos and FIDM San Francisco "3 Days of Fashion 2012" attendee--and her FIDM "vintage logo" sweatshirt 

Last week, I had some very important business meetings (relating to a possible "NV by Nick Verreos" line I have been diligently working on) in NYC. Once I finished the meetings, I got on a plane and flew to one of my other favorite cities in the good ol' US of A: San Francisco! I was scheduled to make a "Nick Visit" as part of my FIDM "3 Days of Fashion 2012" tour at the wonderful Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising San Francisco campus last Wednesday.

Nick Verreos, FIDM San Francisco "3 Days of Fashion 2012"

The weather in SF this past week was GORGEOUS! Warm but not too hot and  very clear (No fog in SF: who knew!?). The FIDM SF campus is located in the heart of Union Square so on my way there--with my trusty NIKOLAKI confidante David Paul (who of course, flew with me!)--it was very difficult to keep away from going into EVERY store to do some retail damage.

Red Carpet in San Francisco: Model Rachael Sitz modeling one of my NIKOLAKI Couture gowns--a lavender silk chiffon hand-beaded sequined column gown

There was no time for that, it was all about my Appearance and showing some of my NIKOLAKI Collection dresses to all the high school students who were in attendance for this final third day of the "3 Days of Fashion".

Welcome Nick: Nick Verreos at FIDM San Francisco "3 Days of Fashion 2012"

Over 100 students plus some of their mom's and dad's greeted me with a wonderful "San Francisco" welcome!! I spoke about my time as a young boy drawing all the stewardess uniforms while traveling on trips with my mom and dad, as well as how I decided to attend FIDM and all that has happened since, including "Project Runway", all my TV Red Carpet Expert work and of course, dressing celebs like Katy Perry, Beyonce and Heidi Klum. Speaking of my NIKOLAKI designs...

Designer and His Fashion: Nick Verreos and model Rachael Sitz in NIKOLAKI Collection silk chiffon column gown with hand-beaded lavender sequins and peek-a-boo top detail and...

Rachael in a raspberry-colored silk-wool ziberline strapless dress with draped bustier and asymmetrical skirt. And by the way, this dress was the same dress worn by Beyonce in her "Best Thing I Never Had" music video.

 Auf Wiedersehen? Nick Verreos checking out the "Rock the Runway" finalists, FIDM San Francisco "3 Days of Fashion 2012"

 


Then, after my "Nick Talk" and NIKOLAKI mini-fashion presentation, it was on to judging the "Rock the Runway" Contest--where "3 Days of Fashion" attendees were told to dress in their most "original" outfits which expressed their most "unique" styles.

Serious Judging: Nick Verreos, Julia Anne Hill and David Paul of NIKOLAKI , "Rock the Runway" Contest, FIDM San Francisco "3 Days of Fashion 2012"

I had the privilege of being one of the judges,--along with my NIKOLAKI design partner David Paul, FIDM Alumna Julia Anne Hill (she's Apparel and Design Director/Social Media Specialist for Clinton Kelly Inc.) and two hand-picked FIDM SF "3 Days of Fashion 2012" attendees. The Contest was SO much fun--not so much fun to judge (it was very, very difficult since they were ALL very good!)--but fun to see all of the students' ensembles!

McQueen'ed: One of our faves was this one young man named Diego Rivera (I know--just like the Mexican painter!)--you can see him in the photo above wearing the denim shirt, McQueen scarf and black Meggings (male leggings). I teased him because he also had FAB accessories including very expensive Hermes "Collier de Chien" cuff and Cartier "Love" bracelet. I wondered (out loud!) who his Sugar Daddy was--and if I could have his phone number??

Nick Verreos poses with the tied finalists in their "Rock the Runway" looks, FIDM San Francisco "3 Days of Fashion 2012"

The Winner:

Colorful Winner: Nick Verreos and co-judge Julia Anne Hill and the two student judges pose with the Winner of the "Rock the Runway" contest--in the middle wearing the apple green hot-shorts and striped sweater--FIDM San Francisco "3 Days of Fashion 2012"

SF Smiles: (Left to right) Nick Verreos, Trudy Noren (FIDM SF College Representative and Special Events), Julia Anne Hill and David Paul, FIDM San Francisco "3 Days of Fashion 2012"

Once again, it was a very successful and fantastic FIDM "3 Days of Fashion" in San Francisco--I had so much fun meeting all the students, their mom's and dad's, judging the contest, as well as showing them my NIKOLAKI designs. I LOVE SF and cannot wait to come back!!!

Project Runway Season 10 Recaps: Episode 2 "Candy Couture"

Project Runway Season 10 Recaps: Episode 2 "Candy Couture"

Sweet...or Not So Sweet, Fashion:

Cotton Candy Delicious: Guess What the Project Runway designers are working with this week?

Project Runway is BACK and we are now onto Season 10. It premiered two weeks ago and last week was "Episode 2", it was the iconic UNCONVENTIONAL CHALLENGE that all the fans LOVE. I, often wonder if these are the types of challenges that help discover "Next Great American Fashion Designer". But as we all know...it's all about what makes for fun and great TV.

Tim Gunn and Dylan Lauren, Project Runway Season 10

The contestants/designers meet Tim Gunn and Dylan Lauren (yes, Ralph's lovely daughter), CEO and owner of Dylan's Candy Bar. Soon, it is revealed they must create a look out of candy.

Project Runway has done this before in Season 4, where it was held at the Times Square Hershey's Store and Rami Kashou won , in case you're keeping tabs (Photo of Kashou's winning look above).

After some krazeee candy shopping at Dylan's Candy Bar NYC, some candy Parsons workroom draping, molding and more importantly, GLUEING...it was time for the Runway Show with Judges:

(Right to left) Heidi Klum (in a off-the-shoulder snakeskin printed ensemble), Michael Kors (in his black "uniform"), Nina Garcia (in a FAB black and gold jacket and skinny pants and FIERCE heels!), and Dylan Lauren in purple. Now, the whole point of this challenge was to somehow make a garment from candy BUT...make it look as if it wasn't made out of CANDY. Some succeed beautifully and well, some not so mucheey...



Le Good:

Beaded Candy Ball Superb: LOVED Belarus-born fashion wunderkid Dmitry Sholokhov's twisted halter dress with fitted midriff. He used black, red, and yellow candy balls and WOW!!! This should have been in the Top Three FOR SURE, some would even argue that it should have won. The candy looked like oversized beads. One could NEVER EVER tell that it was candy. Simply Superb. With all that, he just "made it through" to the next round--and somehow only landed "in the middle".

Mini Mermaid Cocktail: The first of the Top Two positions was Sonjia Williams (who is quickly looking like a contender to be in the Finals, if only from these two first challenges). She created a peplum-shaped mini dress using ivory and aqua candy balls, white chocolate covered almonds and shark gummies.

I LOVED how she created the princess seams with the candy, injected the color-blocking trend seamlessly and then finished it off with a "neck-piece" of shark gummies. She was part Sexy Mermaid, part cocktail dress, part "Mini Shark". The hat was a miss, as some of the judges said, but other than that, it was an excellent and very creative creation.

The Winner, however, was Ven Budhu. Just from the "hints" shown by the cameras in the Parsons workroom, I could just see that his design was going to be a STUNNER. And it was. The way he created this vision of serious Haute Couture using crushed colored candy, it was magical.

The perfectly geometric inlaid pieces, the stained glass effect he created with candy--it all added to a beautiful strapless cocktail dress that was reminiscent of something from an Atelier Versace Collection:

Atelier Versace Spring/Summer 2012

Now, Le Bad:

Oh Buffi Jashanmal: Her Project Runway fifteen minutes are a ticking. This is so tasteless that Miss Nina is looking as if she's going to get ILL every time one of Buffi's designs come down the runway. She looks like Paris Hilton's REALLY REALLY tacky--and that's a feat!--daughter (OUCH!). I know it's only the second challenge but I am beginning to wonder how the heck she even made it onto the show.

Noodle Twizzler Dress: Also in the bottom was Elena Slivnyak's "Warrior Princess" structured dress made from a muslin base with piña colada twizzlers. The twizzlers began falling off the dress the minute the model came sauntering down the runway.

And then from not-so-far, the twizzlers began looking like a pasta noodle arts and crafts project from a 12 year old. I totally get what Irena was going for and it could have been great but...alas, it just didn't work. Poor thang.



But the Worst Was:

Oh Huney You Didn't Even Try: Just take a look at the model. She was like "Oh Dear! First, I cannot believe I have to wear this tacky creation and, second of all, I just KNOW my designer is going home". Fashion designer Lantie Foster's design was a MESS. She really did not even try. Umbrella fabric and little candy. And she tried to use the excuses of a first year fashion school student. Hashtag FAIL.



Wanna know what I really thought of this past week's Episode 2? Then read on kids....

"Sweet Tooth Couture"

Last
week, Season 10 of "Project Runway" premiered with the "Biggest Fashion
Show" in "Runway" history. This week, our little ol’ show loses not an
ounce of couture steam and keeps the strong momentum going with one of
the most iconic — and beloved by fans — "Project Runway" challenges, the
"Make a dress out of crap you would NEVER use to make a garment
challenge" … in other words, yes kids, it’s the Unconventional
Challenge. I’ve always said that this is a fun challenge to watch by the
fans and TV viewers alike, but in terms of it being a guide rule in
finding the "Next Best American Fashion Designer"… not so much.



 

Candy Re-Run


As "Plaid Heidi" saunters onto the runway congratulating last week’s
winner — cutie Christopher — she tells the designers that this is "no
time for child’s play." Instantly I think, "Oh Dear, they’re making
clothes for bratty Upper East Side kids!" But oh no, I was wrong. Soon,
the designers meet with Monsieur Gunn in front of Dylan’s Candy Store
where he is flanked by it’s owner and CEO, Dylan Lauren (Yes, of Ralph
Lauren fashion blue blood), announcing that their second challenge will
be to create a look out of candy using materials bought from Dylan’s
Candy Store naturally. Now, I remember back in Season 4, the challenge
was done at the Hershey’s Times Square store (Rami won it), so it seemed
like a slight re-run challenge idea to me, but one figures that it’s
difficult to come up with new "Unconventional Challenges" year after
year.




 

Gunnar and Christopher: Please Get a Room


After a mad "Candy Dash," the designers get their sugar tooth couture
fix, buy out half the store and then head to Parsons to #makeitwork!
The workroom quickly begins to resemble a 5-year-old’s birthday party
after a piñata has exploded. Several designers are spending their early
hours doing muslin dresses to build the foundation for their candy
creations. Others are crushing candy, gluing candy … or just eating it!
And then there’s Gunnar Siriano 2.0 and cutie Christopher who spend a
lot of their time being Bitchy Queens (more so Gunnar than Christopher)
talking smack and "throwing shade." It’s only the second week (In real
time, it’s only been like TWO DAYS since they’ve met each other!), but
there’s already this weird tension between them. I have a feeling that
either A) Gunnar feels threatened because he thought he was going to be
the only "twinky gay" or B) They just need to GET A ROOM! But I digress,
let’s move on…






Click HERE to read the rest of my Recap...