Another morning in New York City. This time the sky is a greenish gold. A quick, establishing shot of a newsstand. And... please no. Not the same freaking Elle magazine cover... Aagggh! No! Yes! It is the same perplexing issue of Elle magazine we have been shown in the opening montage of every Project Runway episode this season. The other New York scenery changes every episode. But in every episode, the magazine stand of the damned still has that one single, solitary magazine, with an unspecified Olsen twin on the cover. Why? Ashley or Mary Kate Olsen, are you trapped in there? If I only knew which one you were, I could make “Free ___” T-shirts. But honestly, the glum face staring out from that glossy cover week to week is lending a Shining atmosphere to the proceedings.
And speaking of hotels... our unsuspecting guests are just waking up at The Atlas. Korto dries her hair, Daniel and Keith press weights in the gym, Blayne does his best (unwitting) Kato Kaelin impersonation, spouting catchphrases to no one; and we’re again at Parsons for the button draw that never happens. Winning and losing model? Come on out. Will Korto keep the model who led her to a win, or choose glum Alex? Guess. Yes, Alex goes home. Poor Alex. For the models it is the luck of the draw in many ways. Or, the bad luck to model a garment that began as a bad drawing. (Yes, I’m reaching but this button ceremony is rather dull.)
Heidi (in a strange, silvery-grey, glitter thread mini-dress with hugely puffy 1980s sleeves) tells the designers they will design this time for a “high powered woman." Blayne interviews in private that he hopes the woman is not Hillary Clinton because he would not want to design a “neon pant suit." Hillary wore neon? No, I think you are again thinking of your tan, Blayne.
Heidi sends the group to Tim at the Parsons workroom. They try to guess who the client is. Nancy Grace? Joan Rivers? Even Heidi Klum (that’s been done on a past season, though). Stella wants to design for “Sharon Osbourne, Queen of Rock." Ooh, there’s an idea. She’d be a wonderfully entertaining guest. “She’s a businesswoman,” Stella points out in her vlog segment. Yes, she is, Stella. And a very good one, too.
Tim enters the room. He seems very cheerful. He asks the designers to “gather ‘round." With a gleeful smile he asks the client to come in. “I am thrilled to introduce Brooke Shields — model, actress, author, and fashion icon,” Tim enthuses. The designers seem enthused as well, or are giving a good impersonation of same. They applaud and smile. Thirty-seven-year-old designer Suede remembers that Brooke began as a model, and quotes her famous jeans ad: “Nothing comes between me and my Calvins." I should add here that at the time (the 1970s) it was considered shocking and immoral for an ad to quote a fourteen-year-old implying she went without panties under her clothes. The ad caused a mini-scandal and of course, Calvin Klein jeans flew off the shelves. That is the ad Suede is referring to — and well done, Suede, for knowing that bit of fashion history (such as it is).
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