On Project Runway All Stars Season One, former Project Runway designers competed in new challenges.
Three finalists made it to the season finale where they each created and showed 6-piece collections and the judges (regulars Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman and special guest stars Tommy Hilfinger and Neiman Marcus fashion director Ken Downing) decided who would get the ultimate prize: a boutique in select Neiman Marcus stores.
Austin Scarlett showed his collection firs. Surprisingly, it wasn't all gowns, in fact he had some separates with interesting structure; but there was also a gorgeous wedding gown, which didn't seem to go with the rest of the collection.
Mondo Guerra showed his collection, "Therapy" next. It was a lot of black and white prints with a couple of outfits that used cool Rorschach prints. There was also a dress at the end that didn't seem to fit with the others.
Finally Micheal Costello showed his "Serengeti" collection which was resort wear with a lot of animal print and at least one outfit that could be worn with a bra (as fans know he prefers open back designs). It all looked very cohesive but maybe a little commercial with less wow then the other two designers.
The judges critiqued each designer separately, but really gave positive feedback about all of the collections. Later, as the judges debated with the designers out of the room, they noted that Austin's wedding dress didn't fit with the rest of the collection, even though they agreed that "millions" of women would want to buy it. Several judges had problems with the size of the pockets on Mondo's designs, and they talked about Micheal's great sewing ability and Tommy Hilfinger said that you could put Micheal's pieces in a store tomorrow.
The three finalists were brought back in and Micheal learned he was out. Then they started telling Austin how amazing he is and how far he's come since the first Project Runway season, and how they know they'll see more from him in the future. You can tell from his face that he doesn't get the hint that he's not the winner. It slowly sinks in as they announce that Mondo is actually the winner of Project Runway All Stars.
Congratulations to Mondo, who will get his clothes in Neiman Marcus as well as $100,000 cash from L’Oreal Paris, $100,000 dollars worth of technology and office space from HP and Intel, a sewing and embroidery studio from Brother and a year-long guest editor position at Marie Claire magazine.
