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When I arrived to take our twelve designers on their shopping expedition, they were in the midst of high-pitched speculation about where we were going and how the cashmere, velvet, or silk that they purchase would or would not respond to their needs. Little did they realize they’d be doing their shopping at a typical Manhattan supermarket!

Now their work is done, the judges have weighed in, and you’ve seen the designs for yourself. Here’s my take:

AUSTIN
Austin was possessed with the corn that he purchased at the market. (In fact, he purchased ALL of their corn). I witnessed him frantically shucking all of the ears, but didn’t have a clue what he was going to do with it. A few hours later, he’s carefully and systematically laid out rows and rows of overlapping cornhusks on inverted (sticky-side up) duct tape. The tape is in the shape of patterns; patterns that when assembled will form his “sexy, glamorous” one-piece dress.

Lesson 1: Make It Work
A few hours before our judging, Austin’s brilliant creation had shriveled and shrunk. The moisture in the husks has evaporated, thereby leaving mere dried fibers. His cornhusk masterpiece was a corn chip disaster, complete with exposed – lots of exposed – tape, owing to the shrinkage. What to do now?

Unflappable, Austin dove into a pile of unused dried husks and rubbed them between the palms of his hands to make husk flakes. He applied the flakes to the exposed duct tape to make the tape disappear. And he brought body back to the dress by building up the inside of the dress with more tape. If one were to forget the former dress and view this “new” one with fresh eyes, it was quite brilliant in its own right: a winner.

DANIEL
Daniel...is Daniel, full of bravura and confidence. He took the design process very, very seriously. He sketched, made patterns, draped, and aimed for his materials to motivate the observer (our judges in this case) to remark, “Butcher paper and a garbage bag? Oh my!” The judges remarked, “Oh my,” but with a different intonation than Daniel had imagined. The challenge to design a sexy, glamorous outfit had resulted in mere ho-hum. It looked like such a minimal investment from such a talented guy. Daniel, we’ll miss you.

Lesson 2: Make The Most Of Your Resources
I can’t recall how much of the $50.00 Daniel actually spent at Gristedes, perhaps all of it, but he prided himself on the fact that the materials he actually used for his outfit only cost $4.00. For me, that statement was an instant “uh-oh,” because he wasn’t fully utilizing the extent of his resources. It’s a bit like saying that you have $500.00 to spend on an outfit at Banana Republic and you come away from it wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a scarf – why?

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