Saturday, September 09, 2006

Katy's Take: Couture Du Jour

BPR welcomes back our designer insider Katherine Gerdes for her take on Episode 9. Reading Katy just makes you smarter! This week, Katy provides a lesson on Haute couture:

“Holy crap”… that was my first thought at hearing what this challenge was. My next thought (and it lasted for the full hour) was “impossible.” I know that Project Runway has thrown some seemingly impossible challenges to the designers before (wedding dress challenge anyone?), but this is beyond ridiculous! Before I go further, I just want to state that I love the thought of this challenge. To design an Haute Couture dress is not something most of the PR designers have ever done and it’s a great challenge to really make them think outside their design “box.”

Okay…now back to how impossible this challenge is! I can completely see the designers being able to make something that looks couture, but to be judged on the hand-executed details and finishing is almost too much for even Project Runway to ask of a designer. Just designing and constructing an evening gown in 2 days is a task in itself (I assume that’s why there were teams for the Ms. USA challenge?), but to make them hand finish all the details, whew! That’s a lot to ask. I will honestly say that I don’t know how I would have fared had I been around for this challenge. I almost had a nervous breakdown just watching and thinking about this challenge! Just kidding…but seriously, this is so beyond anything I’m used to designing, I think I would have freaked out a bit. Oh well, guess I’ll see how I fare when I tackle this challenge for my “AUF’d Runway” episode, but that will have to wait until I return from fashion week next week! How exciting is that? I can’t wait to see the other designers and watch the final fashion shows! Oh…and I can’t wait for the reunion episode either, I’ve got a few questions for someone, but I’ll get to that later…


Click here to continue reading Katy's Take. You don't want to miss her comments about Vincent!