by Lindsay Strouse

 

Tonight on Project Runway, the stakes are higher than ever. As the number of designers left in the workroom dwindles, the pressure continues to mount to new highs.

 

The designers next challenge is to create a high fashion look for L'Oreal Paris. The winner of the challenge will receive an unprecedented $20,000 from L'Oreal Paris as well as an advertorial in Marie Claire.

 

Collier Strong from L'Oreal comes in to help the designers choose the perfect makeup to base their looks off of. They must first choose the style that they have to work with before starting their sketches. They are giving a whopping $300 to use at Mood for picking out fabrics. If that isn't a nice surprise, they are also given two days to work on the challenge.

 

Gretchen is angry that Michael C. has chosen the same color and fabric as she chose and thinks he crossed some boundaries. Sure, they have the same colors, but let's be honest...I doubt their look will look anything alike.

 

Andy chose to work with metallics and wants to create a futuristic look. Ivy is using blue on blue for her "bright" look and chooses beautiful makeup to compliment the outfit. Tim thinks Gretchen's outfit is starting to look like a robe and she gets a little worried by his comments.

 

By the time the models come in for fittings, some designers have nothing for them to try on. Valerie has taken on a huge task with her concept of crystals and hasn't even started sewing yet.

 

The next day, most of the designers are exhausted and are fearful about the amount of time let with the amount of work to do. Other designers are actually at ease and feel they will be able to execute their looks better with the added time.

 

Tim reenters the workroom with some more news. He tells the designers they must create a second look that is ready-to-wear that will act as a companion to the first high-fashion runway look. They are given until midnight that night and the usual time in the morning to complete both outfits. Even I'm scared for these guys now!

 

Many of the designers must reevaluate their first looks to compensate for the short amount of time left in the day. Keeping the huge prize in mind, the remaining designers rush to complete their looks.

 

Valerie must forget about her original design when things don't turn out the way she expected them to. She breaks down over the fact that she wasted a day and half working on material she wasn't going to use.

 

By the end of the night, the stress is running extra high and I'm getting nervous for the designers. The guys start talking and they agree that the designers might decide to send Valerie home tonight.

 

The next morning, everyone heads straight to work. It's all about time management yet still producing the best work possible. Gretchen and Michael C. are quick to judge each other's looks because of the mutual fabric choice.

 

The designers and models head down the runway with fingers and toes crossed. Heidi Klum introduces tonight's guest judge Naeem Khan, an American fashion designer who has dressed many celebrities, included Michelle Obama.

 

Christopher and April's scores were high enough to keep them in the next round. The remaining six designers had the highest and the lowest scores. The top three looks belonged to Andy, Gretchen and Mondo and the lowest scores were given to Valerie, Ivy and Michael C.

 

Gretchen explains she chose velvet to create a "fantasy" look to enhance her personal style. The judges' only critique is that they wanted more embellishment in the front.

 

Andy wanted to create a silhouette that was very strong while keeping femininity. The judges loved that he stuck to his idea and loved his ready-to-wear cocktail dress.

 

Mondo explains his choice to create a contrast in his high fashion and ready-to-wear look . The judges' critique for him is the length of the gown and the inexpensive looking fabric choice.

 

The lowest scoring designers are brought back out to defend their looks. The judges think the main problem with all the designs is they give off a bad bridesmaid look. They didn't think Valerie was creative enough and they questioned her taste.

 

After deliberating, the judges chose Mondo as the winner of this week's challenge, giving him $20,000 and an advertorial in Marie Claire! Gretchen, Andy, Michael C. and Valerie are safe leaving Ivy to be voted out of the competition.

 

Project Runway airs every Thursday at 9/8c on Lifetime.

 

(Image courtesy of Lifetime)

 

Follow Lindsay at twitter.com/LindsayStrouse

 

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