A 27-year-old designer from Oregon who created a collection inspired by ocean waves was crowned the winner last night on the last “Project Runway” episode you’ll likely ever see on Bravo.
“I’m so excited because I’m on my way and my dreams are happening – it’s unreal,” said Leanne Marshall, when host Heidi Klum informed her she’d won the fifth season of “Runway.”
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In awarding Marshall the show’s $100,000 grand prize, plus a new Saturn VUE Hybrid, the judges praised the meticulousness of her creations.
“The trickiest thing to do is make complicated clothes look easy and her clothes look very unfettered,” said judge Michael Kors as he discussed the three finalists on last night’s show with Klum and fellow judges Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn.
Kors told Marshall her collection thrilled the judges, and the audience gathered under the tent in Bryant Park from the very first outfit.
“You turned the corner with the right first look. It set the tone immediately,” Kors said. “So much of what you showed, the workmanship looked devine.”
Gunn, the show’s square-jawed mentor, was the show’s last-minute replacement for the previously scheduled guest judge at the finale fashion show, Jennifer Lopez, who canceled abruptly citing a foot injury.
Garcia praised Marshall’s shrewd use of “sustainable” fabrics and the variety of her collection, which included not just gowns, but also pants, jackets and shorts.
Marshall’s win meant defeat for runners-up Kenley Collins, 25, and Korto Momolu, 33, who both cried when they learned they’d lost in the first and only “Runway” finale featuring all female contestants.
Collins, who had clashed with all of her fellow contestants over the show’s last few weeks, was particularly hurt when the judges once again pointed out that some of her creations resembled those of other designers, particularly one dress which Garcia said was similar to one created by the House of Balenciaga.
“I’m really sad. It crushes me,” the headstrong Collins cried. “No one likes to be called a copycat when they know they’re a true artist!”
“She needs to take a fashion history course, frankly,” Gunn said of her.
The judges also repeated a criticism they’d voiced previously about Momolu’s work, with Klum complaining her outfits were “over-worked” and Garcia saying Momolu went “overboard with the decoration.”
Even Marshall, whose creations all featured elaborate flaps arranged in layers, came in for criticism.
“I’m just nervous that you’re going to be known as the Queen of Petals,” Kors told her. “You’re gonna be ‘Petals’ Marshall, which sounds like a stripper, not a designer.”
The future of “Project Runway” is still up in the air pending the resolution of a lawsuit between Bravo owner NBC and The Weinstein Company, owner/producer of “Runway,” over Weinstein’s plan to move the show to Lifetime Television.