Maternity Vogue - For this challenge, the designers are told that they will be fitting clothing for a very different set of measurements for a very important client. They return to the workroom to find the new measurements, altered forms and a picture of their client- their very own host, Heidi Klum! Can they make a maternity gown that dazzles? Can they keep true to Heidi's chic style without sacrificing her comfort? It will be a runway to remember!
For this challenge all of the designers will have to use the same theme fabric. They can any other fabrics to complete their design. The only requirement is that they must use a recognizable (minimum 10%?) amount of the theme print.
Quilters have challenges like these (usually sponsored by the fabric companies to sell a less popular fabric) and it always amazes me the differences between the finished products.
For this challenge, the human figure will just be a starting point. In the same line of the most extravagant couture designers, the designers are challenged to create sculptural garments that puff, starch and suspend themselves into the limits of three dimension space.
Create a fairy tale princess dress with a modern twist. Feel free to make it as crazy or beautiful as you want it to be. Designers will get double the usual budget for this challenge so they can use higher quality fabrics.
For this challenge, the designers each receive a simplicity pattern from a specific era (say the '60s or the 70s). They must update the pattern in a garment while keeping the original style and spirit intact.
And wouldn't it be fun if they could have access to some classic fabric from the era! Maybe there's a Vintage Mood store somewhere in New York
Designers are brought out and told that this week, they'll be asked to work with a different set of models than usual, and that once again their models have been chosen for them. They'll be meeting them after the sketching phase.
Tim will instruct them that for this challenge, they've got to create evening wear that really pops, something that stands out and really catches attention without being too over the top. They're allowed thirty minutes to sketch and they will be meeting their models at Mood.
But when they arrive, the models standing in front of the store are a little different: they're men! Can they make a dress that won't look too campy, but still fits on a man? Will they go too far towards John Waters or Tootsie, or not far enough by playing it safe in a not-so-little black dress? And how many will panic when they get to hair and makeup?
The scene opens with the MODELS seated in the chairs and the designers standing in their pajamas on the runway. Heidi pulls the buttons out of the bag and the models pick their favorite designers.
The challenge is to design an outfit to the model's specifications - exactly for her personal style and fit. That is, of course, without "compromising the designer's own voice."
Anne Slowey AND Nina Garcia show up to judge because ALL of the models will be featured in a spread in Elle magazine wearing these outfits. The winner will be on the cover.
Jewelry makers from my forum often have challenges where we send each other a bag of supplies and you must use those items to create a piece of jewelry.
This could be used easily with clothing designs. The producers select items - materials, thread, notions, etc. - toss them in a bag and designers must use these items only.
Each designer starts an outfit. They have about half the time they normally do (not counting model time) to work. Then they switch manequins (and not with someone they normally worked with - partners should be chosen randomly). They cannot change what has already been done, but they are to finish and add to it to create what they feel is an attractive, finished outfit. Both designers get credit for each outfit they worked on (so each one has credit for two) and the judging is considered accordingly (probably focusing more on the dress they finished).
(This was actually suggested by a friend of mine, but I don't think she reads your blog, so I decided to post it.)
The judges would choose a well known storybook character like Alice, Dorothy or Wendy (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, the Oz Books, and Peter and Wendy). The character chosen should be from more than just a short fairy tale (as that isn't much to work with and will likely produce generic fairy tale princess dresses), but should be very familiar to us. Each designer must design a dress for that character based on who she is and what her story is like. They can be high art couture kinds of outfits, if the designers want, but they must clearly convey the character. When we look at the outfits we must be made to think of the character they were chosen for. They *don't* have to use the style the character is famous for, so Alice's dress could be a chess queen outfit (since she becomes a queen in one book) or Dorothy's could be a princess of Oz dress. Regardless, they must remind us of the characters and books.
This challenge is about time and resource managment, something that is very imporant on Project Runway.
In this challenge, each designer must design a garment for a specified client.
You will be given a budget of $500 and will have 10 hours to complete your creation. However, in judging the design, the judges will consider how much of the budget was spent in the process. So, before they blow the bank, they must truly think about how they might create an inexpensive outfit that looks like a million bucks.
The twists along the way: The designers will be given 30 minutes to sketch, but given the opportunity to take another 30 minutes..for a price.
They are given only 20 minutes to shop at Mood, and must pay for additional time.
Throughout the challenge, Tim tempts them with things they can buy:
An extra hour in the workroom... An extra set of hands to sew.... An unscheduled midproject trip to pick a different fabric.... A celebrity hairdresser, model, or make-up artist.
Each time, the designers are forced to think about what might improve their garment, and whether it is really worth spending the resources, knowing that they might be rewarded, or might be criticized for wasting their client's money.
I always thought it would be interesting to dismiss the models one week and bring out new models -- the designers' moms. Designers would have to make a nice outfit for their moms to wear out to dinner and, of course, design to their mothers' age.
MAKE IT WORK!!- For this challenge, the designers are instructed to pick out the most hideous, technically difficult fabric they can find at MOOD and return to the workroom. The fabrics are then taken and randomly assigned to a competing designer.
Good Night and Good Luck: Designers create pajamas; fabric - flannel (of course). Basketball Fashion Shoot: Designers create uniforms for a professional women's basketball team. Diner Diva: Design a uniform for waitresses at a fashion conscious diner. -ek
Tim takes the designers on a fieldtrip to see NYC's Gotham Girls Roller Derby league have a bout. The challenge is to design the uniform for one of the teams. They must be sexy and tough and sassy while still being comfortable enough to compete in. They must also go along with the theme of the chosen team. One of the team captains can be the guest judge.
For this challenge the designers would work in teams to create a three-look collection embodying the aesthetic of a specific culture. The designers would choose buttons at random to be assigned into four different groups/cultures (South American, Oriental, Indian, and African).
Each group member will have 30 minutes to sketch and then present their ideas to guest judge Angelina Jolie (Ambassador/Celebrity), who will decide the leader of each group. The finished collections will not only be judged on construction and aesthetic, but also on how effectively they reflect their given culture.
I think there should be a challenge to create a chic school uniform, or a chic prom dress. The catch is, the models will be any child family member, such as a daughter, a niece, a sister, a stepsister, etc.
The Clothes Off Someone Elses Back - the designers must create a look using only the clothes another desinger is wearing at a given time. They select the designer by pulling the button from the infamous velvet bag!
my idea said: barnyard fun: for this challenge take the designers to a feed store, give them a limited amount of time and money to buy materials to make their design.
Jolinda said: Military Madness The dress uniforms for most of the women of any branch in the military are horrid and very unbecoming to any woman who has ever been forced to wear one. Have the designers pick a branch & design a smashing new dress uniform for our military women! They will love you for it!
This would be a challange near the beginning of the season. Have all the designers sketch and pitch an idea for a basic outfit that can be added to. Four team leaders would then be chosen. The basic outfits would all have to be made out of the same material for each team. After picking teams, they would then have to design additional items to make the outfits suitable for all four seasons. This is where the teams can get creative and show how different items can really make the basic outfit wearable all year long.
The designers would each be given a different historical era of dress (Victorian, Elizabethan, Edwardian, etc.) and told that they have to update it while still keeping the basics of the style. The eras shouldn't be too modern (nothing before the 50's or so). This challenge will test the designers knowledge of fashion history (as in WAY history!) and their ability to take an old look and make it fresh -seeing as how that seem to be the big thing to do- the 60's, 70's,80's and now 90's all seem to be getting a new look. So why not do it for something even older! If you want to be really generous give the designers a collection of looks from their eras to help them out. The era each person gets should be chosen by picking a button from the bag. Thus using that delicious velvet bag!
The twist: the winning design will be worn by Cate Blanchett (or pick a celebrity! I just adore Cate!) at the next red carpet event she goes to! And of course that celebrity gets to be the guest judge.
Design an outfit based on your choice of historical period. Be as faithful to that era as possible while reflecting your own sense of style. Next, style your model in the image of the historical person that best represents the time. The judges will try and guess both the era and the personage.
Design your version of a Gothic evening gown, but let it be inspired by one of the world's great metropolises. There will be a trip to the UN for a drawing assignment.
27 comments:
Maternity Vogue -
For this challenge, the designers are told that they will be fitting clothing for a very different set of measurements for a very important client. They return to the workroom to find the new measurements, altered forms and a picture of their client- their very own host, Heidi Klum! Can they make a maternity gown that dazzles? Can they keep true to Heidi's chic style without sacrificing her comfort? It will be a runway to remember!
Follow the Pattern
For this challenge all of the designers will have to use the same theme fabric. They can any other fabrics to complete their design. The only requirement is that they must use a recognizable (minimum 10%?) amount of the theme print.
Quilters have challenges like these (usually sponsored by the fabric companies to sell a less popular fabric) and it always amazes me the differences between the finished products.
Here's the fabric for this years Hoffman Challenge. And just to give you some idea of how incredible these challenges can be, Here is the fabric from 2005 Challenge and Here are the winners of the 2005 challenge.
Of course, those fabrics were each 100% cotton. I'm sure the PR people would want to choose a more technically interesting fabric.
A Voluminous Vocation
For this challenge, the human figure will just be a starting point. In the same line of the most extravagant couture designers, the designers are challenged to create sculptural garments that puff, starch and suspend themselves into the limits of three dimension space.
Examples: here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Fairy Tale
Create a fairy tale princess dress with a modern twist. Feel free to make it as crazy or beautiful as you want it to be. Designers will get double the usual budget for this challenge so they can use higher quality fabrics.
Simply Simplicity
For this challenge, the designers each receive a simplicity pattern from a specific era (say the '60s or the 70s). They must update the pattern in a garment while keeping the original style and spirit intact.
And wouldn't it be fun if they could have access to some classic fabric from the era! Maybe there's a Vintage Mood store somewhere in New York
Drag it Out
Designers are brought out and told that this week, they'll be asked to work with a different set of models than usual, and that once again their models have been chosen for them. They'll be meeting them after the sketching phase.
Tim will instruct them that for this challenge, they've got to create evening wear that really pops, something that stands out and really catches attention without being too over the top. They're allowed thirty minutes to sketch and they will be meeting their models at Mood.
But when they arrive, the models standing in front of the store are a little different: they're men! Can they make a dress that won't look too campy, but still fits on a man? Will they go too far towards John Waters or Tootsie, or not far enough by playing it safe in a not-so-little black dress? And how many will panic when they get to hair and makeup?
Turn The Tables
The scene opens with the MODELS seated in the chairs and the designers standing in their pajamas on the runway. Heidi pulls the buttons out of the bag and the models pick their favorite designers.
The challenge is to design an outfit to the model's specifications - exactly for her personal style and fit. That is, of course, without "compromising the designer's own voice."
Anne Slowey AND Nina Garcia show up to judge because ALL of the models will be featured in a spread in Elle magazine wearing these outfits. The winner will be on the cover.
Jewelry makers from my forum often have challenges where we send each other a bag of supplies and you must use those items to create a piece of jewelry.
This could be used easily with clothing designs. The producers select items - materials, thread, notions, etc. - toss them in a bag and designers must use these items only.
Start to Finish
Each designer starts an outfit. They have about half the time they normally do (not counting model time) to work. Then they switch manequins (and not with someone they normally worked with - partners should be chosen randomly). They cannot change what has already been done, but they are to finish and add to it to create what they feel is an attractive, finished outfit. Both designers get credit for each outfit they worked on (so each one has credit for two) and the judging is considered accordingly (probably focusing more on the dress they finished).
(This was actually suggested by a friend of mine, but I don't think she reads your blog, so I decided to post it.)
Ok, this is *my* suggestion.
Fashionable Stories
The judges would choose a well known storybook character like Alice, Dorothy or Wendy (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking Glass, the Oz Books, and Peter and Wendy). The character chosen should be from more than just a short fairy tale (as that isn't much to work with and will likely produce generic fairy tale princess dresses), but should be very familiar to us. Each designer must design a dress for that character based on who she is and what her story is like. They can be high art couture kinds of outfits, if the designers want, but they must clearly convey the character. When we look at the outfits we must be made to think of the character they were chosen for. They *don't* have to use the style the character is famous for, so Alice's dress could be a chess queen outfit (since she becomes a queen in one book) or Dorothy's could be a princess of Oz dress. Regardless, they must remind us of the characters and books.
THE FASHION $500:
This challenge is about time and resource managment, something that is very imporant on Project Runway.
In this challenge, each designer must design a garment for a specified client.
You will be given a budget of $500 and will have 10 hours to complete your creation. However, in judging the design, the judges will consider how much of the budget was spent in the process. So, before they blow the bank, they must truly think about how they might create an inexpensive outfit that looks like a million bucks.
The twists along the way:
The designers will be given 30 minutes to sketch, but given the opportunity to take another 30 minutes..for a price.
They are given only 20 minutes to shop at Mood, and must pay for additional time.
Throughout the challenge, Tim tempts them with things they can buy:
An extra hour in the workroom...
An extra set of hands to sew....
An unscheduled midproject trip to pick a different fabric....
A celebrity hairdresser, model, or make-up artist.
Each time, the designers are forced to think about what might improve their garment, and whether it is really worth spending the resources, knowing that they might be rewarded, or might be criticized for wasting their client's money.
OH I LOVE the Fashion $500! Excellent! er... I mean... They all are...I have no favorites... sorry...
Hi Mom!
I always thought it would be interesting to dismiss the models one week and bring out new models -- the designers' moms. Designers would have to make a nice outfit for their moms to wear out to dinner and, of course, design to their mothers' age.
MAKE IT WORK!!-
For this challenge, the designers are instructed to pick out the most hideous, technically difficult fabric they can find at MOOD and return to the workroom. The fabrics are then taken and randomly assigned to a competing designer.
little black dress challenge...
every girl needs a little black dress, right? i'd love to see all the designer's takes on it. the only restrictions? it has to be entirely black.
Good Night and Good Luck:
Designers create pajamas; fabric - flannel (of course).
Basketball Fashion Shoot:
Designers create uniforms for a professional women's basketball team.
Diner Diva:
Design a uniform for waitresses at a fashion conscious diner.
-ek
DOWN AND DERBY
Tim takes the designers on a fieldtrip to see NYC's Gotham Girls Roller Derby league have a bout. The challenge is to design the uniform for one of the teams. They must be sexy and tough and sassy while still being comfortable enough to compete in. They must also go along with the theme of the chosen team. One of the team captains can be the guest judge.
Around the World in Eight Minutes
For this challenge the designers would work in teams to create a three-look collection embodying the aesthetic of a specific culture. The designers would choose buttons at random to be assigned into four different groups/cultures (South American, Oriental, Indian, and African).
Each group member will have 30 minutes to sketch and then present their ideas to guest judge Angelina Jolie (Ambassador/Celebrity), who will decide the leader of each group. The finished collections will not only be judged on construction and aesthetic, but also on how effectively they reflect their given culture.
I think there should be a challenge to create a chic school uniform, or a chic prom dress. The catch is, the models will be any child family member, such as a daughter, a niece, a sister, a stepsister, etc.
The Clothes Off Someone Elses Back - the designers must create a look using only the clothes another desinger is wearing at a given time. They select the designer by pulling the button from the infamous velvet bag!
my idea said:
barnyard fun: for this challenge take the designers to a feed store, give them a limited amount of time and money to buy materials to make their design.
Jolinda said:
Military Madness
The dress uniforms for most of the women of any branch in the military are horrid and very unbecoming to any woman who has ever been forced to wear one. Have the designers pick a branch & design a smashing new dress uniform for our military women! They will love you for it!
In Season -
This would be a challange near the beginning of the season. Have all the designers sketch and pitch an idea for a basic outfit that can be added to. Four team leaders would then be chosen. The basic outfits would all have to be made out of the same material for each team. After picking teams, they would then have to design additional items to make the outfits suitable for all four seasons. This is where the teams can get creative and show how different items can really make the basic outfit wearable all year long.
Erroneous Era:
The designers would each be given a different historical era of dress (Victorian, Elizabethan, Edwardian, etc.) and told that they have to update it while still keeping the basics of the style. The eras shouldn't be too modern (nothing before the 50's or so). This challenge will test the designers knowledge of fashion history (as in WAY history!) and their ability to take an old look and make it fresh -seeing as how that seem to be the big thing to do- the 60's, 70's,80's and now 90's all seem to be getting a new look. So why not do it for something even older! If you want to be really generous give the designers a collection of looks from their eras to help them out. The era each person gets should be chosen by picking a button from the bag. Thus using that delicious velvet bag!
The twist: the winning design will be worn by Cate Blanchett (or pick a celebrity! I just adore Cate!) at the next red carpet event she goes to! And of course that celebrity gets to be the guest judge.
"Who Are You Wearing?"
The challenge is to design a look for Heidi to wear in a subsequent episode.
The designers consider the location, time of year, etc and design a look for Heidi.
After the runway show, the high and low scoring designers are questionned as they usually are.
The lowest scoring designer is bid farewell.
But Heidi doesn't reveal the winner but narrow it down to two.
Later in the competition, Heidi will appear to introduce a new episode wearing the outfit which has been altered or even remade for her.
What if the desinger has been previously eliminated? They could be brought back a la Vincent and Angela.
Who likes this one?
ERA
Design an outfit based on your choice of historical period. Be as faithful to that era as possible while reflecting your own sense of style. Next, style your model in the image of the historical person that best represents the time. The judges will try and guess both the era and the personage.
Gothville
Design your version of a Gothic evening gown, but let it be inspired by one of the world's great metropolises. There will be a trip to the UN for a drawing assignment.
Post a Comment