In last night's episode of Project Runway, the cast was relocated from fashion-epicenter New York City to the considerably more relaxed atmosphere of Los Angeles. To pay homage to the industry of their new location, Heidi and Tim challenged the designers to create a costume design appropriate for a Western, film noir, science fiction, action, or period-piece movie.
The prospect of designing a Western look sent a few of the designers into a tizzy: Christopher considers denim beneath him (so goes with the currently-en-vogue vampire look), Vampira can't identify with the inherently American theme, and Shirin goes on and on about the cowboy hat.
Carol Hannah goes for an action/assassin look, while Nicolas and Ra'mon create outfits worthy of the SyFy channel fashion closet (although Nicolas' is the challenge winner, and Ra'mon's gets called a "hot, green mess" by Heidi).
Jordana and Louise both fashioned flapper-based looks, and Epperson constructs a Western look that wows Tim and the judges (John Varvatos, Zoe Gassner and Arianne Phillips--I'm all for change, but I really miss Michael and Nina).
All in all, the change in locale was refreshing, the premise of the challenge was great, but this season needs to either step up the design, the drama, or bring back Nina!
