by Todd Betzold

The day has finally arrived...we get to see the designers' final collections on Project Runway All Stars and we get to finally see who will be the winner...I'm going with Mondo.

 

Austin, Michael and Mondo head over to Gotham Hall, where the finale runway show will take place. They have two hours until the show and Mondo is done with his work, but Austin still has some stuff to finish, so he is freaking out.

 

The models come in for their final fitting and Michael's collection isn't fitting as well as he would like them to, so now he is freaking out as well. The models go in for hair and makeup as the guests arrive for the show and Joanna comes back to check out what they have done.

 

Time for the runway show: the judges for the finale are Angela, Georgina, Isaac and the two guest judges this week are fashion icon Tommy Hilfiger and fashion director at Neiman Marcus, Ken Downing.

 

Austin is up first and his collection is called, ironically, "Austin Scarlett. He gets emotional watching backstage with Joanna. I think his collection is very good...he has some great looks and the wedding dress is done very well, especially on just four days of work, however I don't feel it fits with the rest of them.

 

Mondo is next and his collection is called "Therapy." There were lots of black and whites in his collection and it was very typical Mondo, which is great stuff. I loved it and thought it all blended together so well...he is tops right now in my book.

 

Michael is last to show his collection and it is called "Serengeti." He was enjoyable, as well, but I felt it was a lot of the same looks over and over again. He had his signature drapey dress, but it wouldn't be a complete collection without it. I enjoyed it, but just too similar and nothing that blew me away...I'm giving the win to Mondo right now.

 

All the designers will be critiqued, with Austin up first. All the judges love the pieces, but then we get to the bad news. Isaac said it felt like a "best of" set, not a collection...the best of Austin work. They liked that you saw a woman come out on the runway, but the lack of a complete collection is going to hurt him.

 

For Mondo, Isaac said his collection looks the most cohesive of all of them. They love his looks, but had some critiques with pocket sizes on pants and material used and his dress didn't fit in so well. They each seemed to have something they liked in the collection, so that is a good thing for Mondo. They loved his workmanship and attention to detail.

 

Now time for Michael, Tommy said that you could put these pieces in the store tomorrow and sell them. Georgina said the prints are too commercial and Isaac said he mixed it in not a good way. Back and forth critique for Michael...his pieces can sell, but didn't like the collection together.

The judges discuss all the looks one more time before we find out who the winner is. We have some disagreements between the judges on who should win with some fighting for all three of them, but they have finally made a decision and call the designers back to the runway.

 

The winner tonight will get the biggest prize package in Runway history and the two designers that don't win will get two tickets to Paris...very nice. Michael is the first one out, but a trip for him is coming soon. That leaves us with Mondo and Austin (the two who I thought it would be). The winner of Project Runway All Stars is Mondo (and I knew it).

 

Project Runway All Stars airs Thursdays at 9/8c on Lifetime.

 

(Image courtesy of Lifetime)

 

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