For me, "Project Runway" is the gold standard of reality television. To celebrate the creative impulse through people who must possess basic skills to begin with makes for fascinating viewing. (Compare this to the first few weeks of "American Idol," for example, where they celebrate an utter lack of talent for public consumption.)

"Project Runway" requires that contestants be able to sew as well as design: to have the hardware and the software. Since this is reality television, there's a degree of contrivedness (make a dress out of food! Or candy wrappers,) but what sets PR apart is the exploration of the act of creation. Each challenge requires each designer to dig within their own intellectual toolbox and come up with something of their own.

And yet, this season has been somewhat demure, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong: I have no wish to see "Project Runway" devolve into something like the Real World/Road Rules Challenges (a subject for one of my "So Damn Bad It's Great" blogs, no doubt.) But there's no overarching story this year, no subtle message about the nature of fashion or creation to take away. All of the past seasons had this, and whether real or edited, the narrative truly added to the experience. Here's what I mean.

In the first season, "Project Runway" presented the viewer with a Salieri/Mozart story involving Jay and Wendy Pepper, as well as deliniating between "point of view" and "good design" via Jay and Kara Saun. Wendy Pepper, who deserved all of the bile and the hate directed her way, nonetheless played the "Project Runway" game extraordinarily well, skating by most of the time, throwing other, more talented designers under the bus...and getting all the way to Fashion Week via triangulation in lieu of talent. If nothing else, Pepper is one of the most memorable and interesting villians in television...and her intense jealously of the other two leading designers was a twisted, macabre spectacle to watch every week.

Kara Saun, on the other hand, presented very nice, well-made outfits that always landed her at the top of the heap...but did she have a point of view? Did what she create come from a place deep within her, or did it come from the fashion culture itself, as well as a desire to win? Her futile struggle to find her own voice among the fabric dovetails right into Jay's discovery of his voice in the fashion world.

Jay McCarroll set the stage for excellence in "Project Runway." His story, of the "funny guy" who actualizes his potential through the course of a television series for fuck's sake, speaks to the higher level that "Project Runway" aspires to. To witness Jay discover his talent, his gift for orignal design, his voice...was inspiring and astonishing. As an advertising writer, frequently creating in a client's voice instead of my own, I'm certain that Jay is going to have massive problems and issues in the 'real world' of fashion...but as an artist, I have nothing but respect for Jay...and his story.

The second season evolved into a philosophical match-up with the following query: what is fashion? Is it the avant-garde bombast exhibited by Santino Rice, or the meticulous construction of Chloe Dao? Santino himself challenged Dao at one point, equating her to a glorified 'patternmaker.' What's remarkable here is that "Project Runway" doesn't answer this question (and indeed, how could it,) but rather, exposes Santino as a poor representative of his side of the argument. Throughout the season, Santino would glue his outfits together, and cover them with feathers, glitter and garnish...claiming the primacy of his voice over the flawless execution of Dao's refined designs.

"Project Runway" agreed, and sent him to Fashion Week to prove his point. His challenge was direct: show us that your vision can be executed with the precision of the "pattern-maker" and the prize is yours. Instead, Santino got even ballsier: choosing to attack Dao in the house where she lived. Santino the rebel attempted a collection of classic, refined clothes. That first mistake revealed the second: that Santino can't really sew. To be different is an admirable trait, but to critique others on skills that you don't possess yourself...that's hubris (and fucking fascinating TV.)

Dao won by creating her "dream collection," but I would argue that she won because her genius is the fusion of design and patternmaking. Her collection showcased classic silhouettes put together via innovative seamwork...placing the lines in novel places, along unique body contours and in unexpected folds, that nonetheless created the 'look.' It didn't answer the question; indeed, I would have loved to have seen Dao take the avant-garde aesthetic of Santino and execute it in her patented, mannered precision. And had Santino succeeded with his collection, he may have won the argument (and the season.) But the fact that I can even blog about a damn reality show that inspires philosophical discussions about the nature of art and design is pretty damn awesome in and of itself. (Sidebar: for those who think that Daniel V. should have won, I have one word for you: TALBOT'S. Go buy his collection yesterday! Zzzzzzz.)

Had Dao competed against the third season's winner, we might have a more definitive answer here. Jeffrey Sembello, a true enfant terrible, consistently grated upon his fellow designers and the audience's nerves. To be blunt: Jeff was a prick. The question posed to the viewing public by "Project Runway" was this: can you accept that this prick is the most interesting, innovative designer of the season? After all, they stacked three "fan favorites" against him: Uli of the tropical prints, Michael of the safari hip-hop scene, and Laura of the old New York style and pizazz. The answer was yes. We wanted to smack him...and then we wanted to see his brilliantly created clothes on people.

The third season also acted as a commentary on the previous two. We missed the transformative story of Jay, as none of them evolved from where they began into what they will become. Dao's off-the-chain seams and architectural construction was proven to be genius post-haste, with Laura creating the same silhouettes using standard stitching (beautiful stuff, great lady, but standard nonetheless.) Jeffrey, of course, became a commentary on both Wendy Pepper and Santino...what would the villian be like with talent on a show centered around it? And what would Santino design if he could sew...or had a definitive point of view?

It's this subtle storytelling that makes "Project Runway" such an intellectual delight. The way in which the show poses questions...many times with no answers, while it dissects the creative process just makes it so much more than something like "America's Next Top Model" (or most of the other nonsense on Bravo, in fact.)

So where is the story this season? Christian is not a true villian, kind of a 'Diet Jeffrey,' and his designs are nowhere near as out-there. They've been playing the Rami-does-draping-and-the-same-shit story for the past few weeks, but he doesn't seem to get it, and the judges don't want to vote him off...so is there really a message there? Sweet P. has been coasting by until this past week...but we all knew that she wasn't one of the final three. Chris Marsh came back (and clearly found the buffet,) and might be going to Fashion Week, but he's copied a design on the runway, and slept during a challenge! Is the lesson that laziness wins? And then there's Jillian, who always bites off more than she can chew, and just barely turns out (albeit, most of them have been awesome, winning designs.) Is the lesson here that stress sells? 

The producers and the judges seem to be shoving a forced moral down our throat involving Rami and Christian: "similar" versus "point of view," which seems odd, as this particular fable is kind of the underlying theme of "Runway." Think about it: Kara Saun versus Jay. Chloe/Daniel versus Santino. Laura/Uli versus Jeffrey. To put it another way: this can't be the ONLY thing we're taking away from PR! 

I can't wait for the finale and next season, as I'm clearly a junkie for the "Runway." But this season has mos def been a solid B versus the A's of the prior three. Here's hoping for more questions that can't be answered from the reality show that can't be topped.
   

 

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