Page 1 | Page 2

ON THIN ICE

On the evening of our last runway judging, Heidi tells our eight remaining designers that they will receive "a little package" with details about their next challenge. The following morning, those packages are delivered to them by season one's Robert Plotkin dressed in his USPS uniform. The content of each package is met with incredulity, especially when coupled with an enclosed letter from me: "Put this on and meet me in the [Atlas] lobby." Speculation abounds. Ballroom dancing? No, figure skating!

We take a field trip to a professional, three-ring (literally) ice-skating arena in New Jersey. There, we meet National Gold Medalist, World Silver Medalist, and Olympian (about to be for the second time next month) Sasha Cohen. Sasha announces the last detail of the challenge: "Design a figure skating costume for me." How thrilling is that?!?! Furthermore, how challenging is that? There is a dimension of difficulty to this challenge that our designers have yet to embrace: garment engineering. This must be a high performance outfit with the glamour of the red carpet.

After some turns around the rink, we wave farewell to Sasha and return to the workroom. The designers have 30 minutes to sketch and $150 for our shopping expedition. The designers have two days for this challenge, including our excursion day.

From my perspective this is the most difficult challenge that has been presented to our designers so far. The design brief is simple, but its execution will be achingly complex. Furthermore, we must not lose sight of the fact that this design is for Sasha Cohen herself.

Finally, I want to summarize the designers' work for this challenge by putting each into one of the following categories: "innovative," "ho-hum," or "a float in a parade." You'll have no trouble figuring out which is which!

ZULEMA
Zulema WINS! Her "Swan Lake" was an homage to an ugly duckling who evolves into a beautiful ice princess. She took on a very ambitious design and really made it work. Her sinuous use of the trim over the flesh-colored mesh was stunning, and the pleated skirt was a wonderful counterpoint. The total look was sexy while still being appropriate for Sasha. Excellent showing, Zulema!

EMMETT
Emmett is OUT. I was concerned about Emmett's ingredients from the onset. He chose dark, light-absorbing fabrics, and even though there was some bling going on, it read "matronly" to me. Furthermore, he planned to apply extra sparkly stuff; how was he going to achieve that in our time-frame? Unfortunately for Emmett, even with the extra adornment, his silhouette was too expected and the overall look was stale. I am loathe to ever question a judge, but Anne Slowey, where was the vulgarity? What tooty? Anne is always spot-on in her judgments, but I felt as though she was looking at Emmett's work through a different lens.

ANDRAE
Andrae named his look, "Princess Cyclone." He designed it to evoke "a dark princess who is both dramatic and menacing." He achieved just that, and I applaud his risk-taking. This outfit was innovative without being a joke. It possessed buoyancy and visual effervescence, yet it was serious. Bravo, Andrae!

Page 1 | Page 2