PR S6 Ep5 Pt.I: All the Snark That's Fit to Print

Previously on Project Runway... Our Intrepid Designers created dresses for their models to wear to an industry event.  Althea won for an incomprehensible skirt, and Q of Questionable Taste was sent home for presenting a very dull dress.  This week, we're promised unconventional materials -- finally! -- and The Biggest Lie in Project Runway History.

Ooh, kittens, this was a GOOD one.

image via Lifetime.com

We begin this episode much like we did last week's, with pointless boring blather about how people are going home, and Nicolas talking smack about how basically everyone sucks but him.  Luckily, we're quickly saved by a cheerful Heidi presenting the challenge in an adorable stripey-shirted ensemble: a field trip with Tim, and a challenge involving black and white.

Logan is thinking black-and-white movies, a sensible idea given that they're in LA, but we home viewers have the advantage of knowing it's an unconventional-materials challenge -- and sure enough, Tim brings everyone to the LA Times, to the printing area.  It's really cool to see the massive presses and machinery.  Meeting the paper's fashion editor, the designers learn they've got a scant three minutes to grab all the newspaper they can, for this will be their only material for the challenge!  There are great stacks of the LA Times, divided by sections, which allows the designers to get a glimpse of how the stacked papers create patterns, sparking some immediate ideas.

After a great deal of shoving and hauling and grunting, the designers manage to get all of their materials back to their work stations at FIDM.  Tim presents them with a selection of dyes, brushes and markers, tells them that they can use muslin as an infrastructure but that it cannot show, then gives an interesting little talk about the history of paper clothing.  They will only have until midnight to work.  Yikes!  Let the bitchery innovation begin!

 Next, in Part II: Whoa, is that Carrie's prom dress?!