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This week's episode of Lifetime Network's Project Runway "Under The Gunn" was another DOOZY. It seems that the "Nick-is-a-Bad-Mentor Train" has seen no end--to my surprise(!) since I LIVED it. Anyhow--I'll get to that, my shock and disappointment at the "story arc" and the "Throwing Isabelle Under the Bus" stuff--later in this blog. After all, this is my "Nick's Take"/Inside Dish...





This week's episode was to design a stage outfit for the one-and-only Zendaya, the beautiful 17 year-old sensation of music, dance and acting. Oh and yes, did I mention she has a 5' 10" model-like figure? First off: Zendaya is GORGEOUS and she was extremely sweet. On the show, while judging, she wore a red dress from Project Runway Season 4 Winner Christian Siriano. She looked fabulous. And I really LOVED her shoes: that girl's got STYLE! OK, so now, let's get to the "elephant in the room", Miss Isabelle:







Last week I alluded to the fact that something would "go down" with one of my designers--Isabelle Donola. Since the previous challenge I felt uneasy about her; I got a strong sense that:

A) she didn't want to be mentored;

B) she didn't want to be mentored by ME; and

C) she was a bit, well, "kooky" and not in a good way. EVERYONE involved with filming--the mentors, the rest of the designers, the production team, even Tim, we all knew it--and frankly, they told me so. And of course, I had to deal with her since she was my designer. But I didn't want to be a bad mentor and therefore I kept to my job at hand and tried to mentor and help her.









During the "Sketching Time", like the other two mentors, I was giving my "two cents" in terms of offering suggestions, ideas, etc. on how to design a stage outfit for the beautiful Zendaya. While I was doing that, Isabelle--one of my designers--turned to me and whispered for me to shut up. I was so taken aback, stunned and hurt--all at the same time, that I got up and moved away from ALL my designers. I felt a moment of sweetness when soon after that, Oscar (one of my other designers) then called on me to help him with ideas and style suggestions. Anyhow, this was the moment I felt that "I'm (almost) done" with Isabelle but for the sake of not looking like a fool mentor and not giving up, I (hesitantly) kept to my job at hand, to no avail, of course. I tried, and I still looked bad. During the model fitting--when every designer gets 30 minutes with their models--Isabelle fiddled and fuddled with trying to drape the top right on her model--but did nothing else; I knew it was going to be trouble the following day.










Day of Runway: I had received word from Tim that Isabelle was a mess. And this, naturally, worried me. I didn't want her to fail and I also didn't want the cameras/producers to make it look as if I failed as a mentor. So I continued on with Isabelle. After the makeup and hair time, the designers had thirty minutes to get it all done and Isabelle was still trying to put together her look--while most of the designers were done. Oscar, in fact, had finished his fabulous red sequined look THE NIGHT BEFORE.







I really think that Isabelle lives in "Isabelle World" and when we say that there's only fifteen minutes left, she thinks it's "TV Time" fifteen minutes; thinking it's all a "TV Lie" and they really give the designers TWO MORE DAYS; who knows, but this is the sense I got from her. Lots of designers who come to the "Project Runway" auditions say to us "Is it really six hours to make a dress?...that's 'TV Time' , you really give us THREE days...". Nope, not so mucheey. I think that Isabelle may have felt the same way. Tim had called "time is up" and Isabelle was still half-sewing her look while I stood there, with her model Ashleigh only wearing a white t-shirt and pink thong. She was stressed that she cut her finger. And naturally she blamed it on me for "stressing her out". She wouldn't be so stressed if she had utilized her time better.




Come On Ashleigh: Tim Gunn finally came in--as we quickly hurried to get Ashleigh dressed--even though the outfit was not even finished--but I did not want poor Ashleigh to actually walk down the runway naked. She almost did.











My Designers' Looks:


Natalia Fedner: I really liked Natalia's "Football"-inspired look. It was very "J. Lo 'In Living Color' Fly Girl". I loved that she added the "Z" in the back. But stylist Jen Rade was correct when she said that she looked like one of Zendaya's backup dancers as opposed to this being a look for THE STAR--Zendaya.




Oscar Garcia-Lopez: Oscar went for it--with no abandon and I was all for it! I thought the look was a bit too "Liza Minnelli-Meets-Cheerleader" but heck, I love those two references. He finished EVERYTHING and then made the stiff tulle bootie "chaps" with perfectly finished red bias binding.




Stephanie Ohnmacht: I was really supportive of Stephanie stepping out of her "pretty dress" box and creating a modern pant ensemble. Her Achilles Heel was the fabric. She chose a waxed "denim" that acted like pleather and was not easily mold-able. This was the first time she's ever made pants and I wanted to help her with the pant pattern but I learned my lesson a couple of challenges before; I almost went there to help her but I could just hear the cameras running to catch me helping and Tim chastising me. So, alas, I didn't go there.




Isabelle Donola: Isabelle's white satin jumpsuit was obviously the worst of the bunch. I was so embarrassed for her and mad that she had let it get to this point because of her "Isabelle World" behavior, not realizing the time she had, wasting time when she could have been actually working, her excuse of cutting her finger, and then eventually trying to throw me under the bus saying that I was the reason her look wasn't good or finished...







In the end, I have to say that I realized that Isabelle did not respect me, so therefore, how can I respect her. So when Tim Gunn asked ALL of the mentors for our thoughts after the judges gave their critiques, I was honest when I said that I'd rather spend my mentor energy on my other designers than on a designer that did not want my mentoring and did not want to be civil and respectful.

I definitely felt respect from all 3 of my other designers and I showed them admiration and support in return. At the moment, I never really thought my other 3 designers would think I would react to them like I reacted to Isabelle (but there is more on that in the next episode).



In retrospect, I realize that I should have been the bigger person and I let my emotions and the emotional crescendo that had occurred with Isabelle boil over. I now regret adding insult to injury when asked if I had anything to add. Hopefully Isabelle learned something positive from this experience and as a mentor I did too.



Onward and upward! Looking forward to a fun Team Challenge next week!

Thursday night was the Premiere of "Under The Gunn" on Lifetime. I'm honored and proud to be one of the three Mentors along with Season 9 Winner Anya Ayoung-Chee and Project Runway All Stars Season 1 Winner Mondo Guerra. On the show, it will be our job to mentor, guide, manage, coach,
cheerlead and, when necessary, knock down with tough love, a team of designers in order to
lead them to runway success. The premiere episode was a doozy, to say the least. Before I give you my "Nick Take" on a couple of things (yes, I'm talking about being rejected OVER and OVER...and OVER again, by the designers), I want to begin with how AMAZING it was to be standing at my Alma Mater--the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising/FIDM--along with my fellow mentors but more importantly with TIM GUNN:









Mentor Nick: I never thought that A) I would get a call from Tim to ask me to be on this show and to be a Mentor, and B) I would be in a position to take Tim's mentoring that he gave me back in 2005 on Season 2 Project Runway and "pay it back" to other designers.



The Mentors Lounge:


Lounging: This above, my dear friends, was The Mentors Lounge--or as I like to call it "My Home Away From Home". This is where Anya, Mondo and I "hung out" while the designers were creating their designs and where we the Mentors discussed our thoughts on the designers and well, so much more (I'll leave that little nugget for later!).











The Workroom: For this first episode, there were 8 (of the total 15) designers who we had workroom visits with to survey what they were creating and also how they were working. Our job was not to give them any "design" direction but just to find out what they were doing. From looking at their portfolios before we made this workroom visit, out of these 8 designers, I really liked what Michelle, Shan, Blake and Brady were doing especially. I also liked Natalia and Oscar. And yes, I ended up with them (Oscar and Natalia) on my team...




Natalia Fedner: I had the privilege of judging the LA Castings of "Project Runway Season 12" (and this show) and Natalia was one of the designers I saw and I remembered her designs and I liked what I saw. What did concern me--and the other mentors--was how frantic and all-over-the-place she was when we visited her in the workroom; she barely stopped to make eye contact with us or even listen to what we were saying. She was too busy trying to work, I guess. But it did put up a red flag.




Is That Her Cha-Cha? Then, when it came time for the runway, she created this WAAAY too short micro mini dress. It was two seconds from being Hoochie Vulgar. But there was something about how passionate she was during the castings and how great those other dresses were that made  me consider Natalia for my "team".




Oscar Garcia-Lopez: Oscar was the other designer that I chose. I was a bit "on the fence" with Oscar to be honest. His portfolio included pics of A LOT of crystals and ruffles...and gowns. Now, I'm a gown designer, yes, which actually was why I was thinking that maybe I shouldn't pick Oscar; I should "challenge myself", I thought. And then he made this:




Golden Girl: OK--on the negative side, this was A LOT; the hat, the fingerless gloves, the been there/done that peplum....but IT WAS DONE! Finished to perfection and well, he thought of an entire look. It was of questionable taste level, but it was DONE. Instead of focusing on the fact that it was two minutes from tacky-licious and over-done, I tried to focus on the fact that A) this guy can CREATE (he made all this in SIX HOURS!), and B) maybe, just maybe I can try to help him edit and recognize a good taste level. This would be my challenge, perhaps.




Well, as you know now, the second half of this Premiere episode focused on the Mentors--choosing the designers we wanted for our team--and the fact that several times, we all wanted the same designers. At this point, the designers then picked which mentor they wanted. No one wanted me. Well, almost no one (Thank You Natalia!).




The Three-Legged Puppy At The Dog Shelter: Going through all the rejection made me feel like I was back in high school and I was the last one picked for the (name a sport). I also felt like the three-legged Rottweiler at the dog shelter that no one wanted. Many people on Social Media (Twitter, etc.) have speculated that the designers (especially the younger "kids") might have been intimidated by my experience, instructor background, being the "not so cool" older Mentor...who knows. And maybe all this had something to do with it. But I have a different take: they couldn't remember WHO I WAS. While Anya was the winner of Project Runway Season 9 (which was not too long ago) and Mondo, well, it's MONDO, after all. Compared to those two, I was "chopped liver". I was heartened to see Tim Gunn's take on all this, and well, he said THE SAME THING. Click HERE to watch it.



We'll see what happens next week during our second round of Mentor/Designer Picking. Wanna guess what happens? Let me know what you think...



The trailer for next week might give you hints!