The season four opener of Project Runway was excellent. Heidi looked fabulous and sounded like Minnie Mouse on the location shoots, Tim Gunn was adorably unflappable and the new contestants appear to be the most qualified group yet. This year's resident loony is the Accidental Designer named Elisa Jimenez and she really brings the crazy. Her dress for the first challenge -- which was to be something that really shows who you are as a designer -- was a skin-tight, powder-blue mermaid gown with an eight foot train of random, colored material that was just tacked onto the bottom of the back of the skirt. Heidi said "Elisa's model looked like she was pooing fabric" which was pretty much dead on.
When asked to describe her inspiration, Elisa took off into a flight of incomprehensible chatter.
"I wanted something that would be sylph-like, you know, aerial, water, air....Going for, like, a haiku of a cut - just very simple, but beautiful, like swoooooooshtp! Then this cascade of, like, pwaaaaaat! coming out the back." Guest judge and designer Monique Lhuillier cut to the chase: "I don't know anyone in their right mind who would wear the dress the way it is."
But did the Rain Goddess Woman (as another contestant dubbed Elisa) get booted off the runway? No! Instead Simone LeBlanc was kicked off the runway for her poorly-constructed gown and jacket combo that looked terrible together.
Michael Kors asked the model to take the jacket off so he could see the top of the gown. When she complied he then screamed "Put it back on!!"
We can't wait for more of the same as the season progresses.
