Episode 12 A friend had given me a spoiler that Tessa was sent home in this episode - - I think this was the first time this had happened, where I had watched an episode knowing who was going to be sent home. The challenge: they had to create an experiential fashion show/display vitrine attended by over 100 fashion insiders. The designers worked with creative consultants to talk through their ideas. They went to Mood, they spun their wheels in the workroom, and the next day Christian brought them to the offices of the Council of Fashion Designers of America where they met with President and CEO of the CFDA, Steven Kolb. He explained their plan for the winner’s mentorship: he described it as a diagnostic, they would do a complete analysis of the designer’s business and give them what they need to bring them to the next level. The designers worked more on their looks, lived through some more self-inflicted drama, which came to a head when they went to their display environments. Garo was at the top of the heap, his room was fabulous and he came up with more ideas with the consultant and model. Bishme wasn’t happy with his room, he felt like it was too literal. It looked like Sesame Street to me. But he was able to explain the changes he wanted and he seemed to know what he was doing with his dress. Tessa seemed oddly pleased, odd because clearly her room was dull and her dress was a mess. And of course she had to criticize the other designers on what they were doing, always very helpful! Hester seemed pleased with her room but was freaking because she had so much work to do on her dress. And Sebastian, my darling Sebastian. He had a total meltdown, was not happy with the yellow and purple room with the flowers. He tried to explain what he wanted and it was touching that he asked if he would speak in Spanish with his consultant. That seemed to ground him to a degree, but then he left the building in a huff and announced, back at the work room, that he was going to quit. Hester tried to help by saying that clearly SHE was going to be in the bottom! He pulled it together. They returned to the workroom the next morning and Christian announced that Cardie B would be at the show. The designers were totally Holy Wow about that! She wasn’t an actual judge, the guest judge was Linda Fargo, Fashion Director for Bergdorf Goodman. The judges visited each room, talked with the designers and had a mixture of good and bad comments. The designers went to the green room and the judges went to the workroom, where they had set up all of the pieces the five of them had made all season. Clearly they were not going to make their decision based only on the current challenge. I’d never seen such an overt statement of looking at the whole season. The winner was Garo - - the judges were conflicted because Sebastian had the best dress but had an awful room. Garo’s dress was a little more odd, but the room was unbelievable and the dress worked great in that context. And as we know, Tessa was sent home. Karlie announced the parameters of the finale: $10,000, five months, ten looks. ______________________ Episode 13 Oh how I love the home visits! Christian started in Santa Fe, visiting Hester. Her apartment was, of course, crazy with color and kitsch and her wife was super adorable. Her collection was a mashup of many inspirations. Christian wisely advised her to have one look that’s a solid and more restrained. Next: Fort Lauderdale to visit Sebastian. His hunky husband stole my heart when he said that he removed the dining room to make his workroom, and that he would do anything to support Sebastian. Christian felt that his collection was a little overworked, trying too hard. Next: Baltimore and Bishme. He was of course being inspired by Baltimore. And this was the best moment of Christian as a mentor - - he was alarmed that Bishme had made so little, he had one or two finished looks out of ten. He had lots of sketches on the wall, but nothing more than that. Christian said, “OK, tell me which of these you’re going to do next. Great, now what fabric are you going to use? Perfect. That’s what you’re doing tomorrow.” And finally, Phoenicia, NY and Garo. Garo was inspired by galaxies and black holes, thing that glimmer. His husband was very cute, ditto the dog. Christian advised him to steer away from the costume and think about things that are wearable and could sell. They got back to Brooklyn, started setting up in their new workroom, and Karlie and Christian came in. I was thrilled to hear Karlie say that they were giving them one final challenge to decide on the final three. They were brought to the offices of Elle and Nina gave them a tour. She introduced the challenge: she would review the collections of the four designers and decide what was missing. Then they’d have to build a new look that filled the gap that Nina had seen. They also needed to choose two looks from their collections to go with it. Bishme was having a hard time because it was the day of his sister’s first chemo treatment, so that’s a lot to take in. He kept changing his look and every change made it worse. And Hester had an epic disaster, she sewed through her fingernail and screamed and flipped out like there was no tomorrow. The guest judge was Steven Kolb from the CFDA. Another first: Bishme asked them to delay the fashion show for a few minutes so he could leave the room and have an emotional meltdown. I felt awful for him, it must have been very humiliating - - and of course there was someone filming him sitting outside crying. Hester: Nina told her to make a solid look and she made a pink dress that was still totally Hester. The judges loved it. Sebastian: Nina told him to make something soft so he did a flowy white chiffon gown, it was the perfect complement to the other two pieces. Plus he told the judges that he was inspired by his background as a ballet dancer! Who knew he was a ballet dancer. Bishme: Nina told Bishme to make an outerwear outfit that was street-based. His hoodie dress was a total misfire, it looked crappy and did not represent his level of skill. He explained to the judges why he was going through such a hard time and they listened to him. Garo: Nina told him to make a tailored suit, and clearly he was surprised that they had so many criticisms. The fit on the suit was a problem, and Nina didn’t like the cress with the overdress. Hester and Sebastian were advanced to the finale. The judges were conflicted about Garo vs Bishme and they sent Bishme home. For the finale: guest judge Diane von Furstenberg!