Project Runway: Preseason Predictions

Let the reckless judgment begin!

November 9, 2007; 7:00 AM • by Valerie Catrow

All right. Enough jibber jabbering. Let’s talk about something important.

As the premiere of Project Runway: Season 4 is upon us, it is imperative that we take some time to make some unfounded statements about this season’s designers.

But first, for those of you not familiar with the format with Project Runway, allow me to give you a very brief rundown:

We start off with 16 designers. They compete in a series of challenges until we are left with 3 (or 4, as with last season) who will go on to present an entire collection at Olympus Fashion Week in New York.

Each week they are presented with a challenge. Some examples from passed seasons included creating a “jet-setting” outfit for Nicky Hilton (season 1), sewing an ensemble for a new line of Barbie dolls (season 2) , and presenting a modernized look for a fashion icon (season 3 and my personal favorite).

Designers work on a limited budget and within a limited schedule to create their designs. They receive guidance and support from Tim Gunn as they scramble to finish and someone inevitably demands “Where the hell is my chiffon?” or declares “I’m not here to make friends.”

Each episode ends with a runway show in which our host, Heidi Klum, and her fellow judges (Nina Garcia, Michael Kors, and a guest judge) stare pretentiously at the garments and interrogate the designers before tossing them into a tiny room while they deliberate for hours. A winner is announced for each challenge, sometimes earning immunity for the next week. The other designers are declared “in” until we reach the losing designer who is declared “out” and given the old “Auf Weidersehen” from Heidi before shuffling off into fashion oblivion.

Past winners were as follows:

Season 1 – Jay McCarroll, who didn’t realized he cared about winning until about 3/4 of the way through. Then he won because he was awesome, not an ass, and effing hilarious. If memory serves me correct, his response to winning was “That’s nutty.”

Season 2 – Chloe Dao, the teensy weensy little lady from Texas who knew the fashion business and, more importantly, how to dress a woman.

Season 3 – Jeffrey Sebelia, the incredibly rude, but undoubtedly talented, recovering alcoholic who made another designer’s mother cry but managed to win the same challenge for which he had earned immunity the previous week, unheard of in Project Runway history.

Season 4 seems guaranteed to give us some OMG moments. For some reason they are only starting off with 15 contestants this year, but boy howdy, it looks to be a fabulous bunch. So, based soley on their bios, a little bit of speculation, and a healthy dose of cattiness, let’s get to my thoughts on a few specimens from the newest batch of designers.

The One Who Will Go First: Chris. I’m sorry, but the shirt is reason enough and something tells me his over-the-top nature will be too much for the judges.

The One Who Won’t Shut Up But Will Probably Stay on the Show Forever: This one is a tie between Elisa and Christian for me. Go here to see Elisa’s astounding levels of pretentiousness and to hear how every sentence sounds like a question? And Christian has been shown in promos saying “I’m kind of a big deal.” ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

The One Whose Name Belies Her: I made this category just for Sweet P. Yeah, click on that link because she’s totally not like you thought she would be and you might fall asleep listening to her talk.

The One Who I Love Already: Victorya, even though I hate how she spells her name. She seems calm, collected, and normal. Hopefully the others won’t eat her.

The One Who’s In It To Win It: I realize this is a big statement, but I’m going to go on the record right now and say that I think it will be Steven. He seems to be smart, sassy, and I’m betting there’s a bit of a loose cannon under all those classic lines.

So there you have, kiddies: Your Project Runway: Season 4 Preseason Predictions. Be sure to tune in next week when all of this blows up in my face.

Until then, Auf Weidersehen!