I appreciate that as they came around the corner to see cars, one of the designers said, oh the car challenge, indicating actual familiarity with the show. There were cars filled with safety gear, the challenge was to make something out of bandages, seatbelts, harnesses, construction fencing, and other such gear. They are down to six and the knowledge that no one would be safe this week seemed to weigh heavily on them all as they second guessed themselves. Ayana had grabbed a ton of stuff, knowing her intention was to make a modest, aka head to toe outfit. Kenya worries that she doesn't have enough or that since she only grabbed black things and is surrounded by folks making things in bright blue, safety orange, and safety yellow.
Tim has concerns that Brandon is making something that doesn't look like him, so he tries again. Tim expresses concern that Kentaro has combined many fire hoses and made something that looks like a burlap sack, so neither stylish or terribly unconventional looking. Michael has dedicated a lot of time to twisting bungee cords and gets Tim's message to execute it in a sophisticated fashion.
The model mirror is used. (I apologize, I have not learned all the model's names.) Michael's model is happy she's not naked. Margarita's model notes that it's very top heavy. Brandon's model is a little concerned that her skirt is both short and angled out providing a possible booty glimpse. Kenya's model says she would never personally wear something that enlarges her hips, but it's a cool outfit. Kenya's zipper breaks right before they go down to the runway. The outfit is belted so they carry on as is. (You'll note no zipper gate this time.)
Heidi says the scores were tight, no really bad ones, getting eh's from Zac and Nina. But it does seem there's more of a top four again.
They love Brandon's look made of cones and inflatable boats, which looks very Brandon only more color. I will note that Brandon used green last week, so whatever. The judges and I are not in agreement about what constitutes a street look, or an interesting design here. I mean it's fine. But, I am bored of Brandon doing the same thing the way I am happy to see Kenya and Ayana do the same thing. So, I recognize the paradox.
Michael's outfit is short and his time spent playing with the bungee overlay and not the rest of the dress shows. The overlay squishes parts of the dress making it look weirdly fit and I suspect Michael kind of knows it's an idea that looked better in his head.
Kenya's black seatbelt and bandage dress is beloved. They appreciate that she painted some of the bandages to give it dimension and texture. It reminds me a bit of a Kini Zamora design, but in a good way.
Ayana's outfit is amazing, it has long sleeves, pointy shoulders, and a cloud of construction fencing as a skirt. She has a helmet head peace too. She used broken reflectors as detail all over and it looks awesome.
Margarita used kneepads as boob cups and created a molded top, with harnessing, and a safety tape skirt. The judges love it, Nina says it looks superhero-esque, but Zac notes that at this point they don't know what her point of view as a designer is. I want to note here, that in one of her mannequin interviews, Margarita pulled out the dressmaker word for Ayana and Kenya. Right now I think Ayana and Kenya have pretty clear points of view. Heck, as bored as I am of Brandon, he has a clear point of view. Margarita has done a lot of different things. And whether it's the pressure of the challenges or not, I don't know what a Margarita look looks like. Some people that do well in the confines of the challenges,do less well with the go make a collection thing because they don't have a specific aesthetic to fall back on. Margarita may well have a really great plan. But it's something to consider.
Kentaro took Tim's critique about his shapeless top and pleated but boring skirt and attached things to it. He used an arrowhead shape, so decided to embrace the vaguely native American aspect of it, putting his model in fringed shoes, and braids. Basically it looks costumey and not good.
Ayana wins. Michael is out. He is incredibly gracious about leaving. And the episode ends with an RIP tag for designer Mychael Knight from Season three, who passed away this week.
