Andy DehnartJay McCarroll wins Project Runway.
Project Runway ended as judges Michael Kors, Nina Garcia, and actor Parker Posey (who was IDed as a “fashion fan”) chose Jay McCarroll for, as Heidi Klum said, his “original voice”–and she meant his clothes, not his hysterically bitchy sensibility that provided comic relief throughout the entire season. “We really believe he’s the next great American designer,” Heidi said. He walks away with representation with an agency, a spread in Elle, mentorship from Banana Republic, and $100K. On the finale, which repeated nonstop from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. ET, Kara Saun’s “Aviator”-inspired Fantasy Flygirl collection had “execution [that] was flawless,” but it came in second. Because of its lack of consistency, Wendy Pepper’s collection came in third place (“what’s going on with the boobies?” Michael Kors asked about a see-through dress Wendy designed). New York magazine has a closer look at the designers’ collections.
Earlier, Kara Saun and Wendy Pepper had it out, but the fabric really hit the fan when Tim told Kara Saun, “We have an issue. It has to do with your shoes, which were done gratis and as a favor. It’s in breach of the contract that you signed. It’s really illegal to have done this.” Wendy then confronted her about her solution, which was to have her friend invoice her: “Jay and I shopping at the store for $5 shoes is hardly comparable to you custom designing your shoes and putting an arbitrary value of $5 on something that looks like your shoes. … It just shows how you’re so fucking morally corrupt,” Wendy said. Jay, too, was upset with Kara: “Finally, something happens to Miss Fucking Perfect. Love it.” It was almost resolved when, as Tim said, “Kara Saun presented a magical receipt for these shoes. And I was a little dumbstruck; I thought $15 wouldn’t cover the import tax on these shoes.” But then he said that “the producers are not going to accept $15 for these shoes,” so Kara opted to have the judges exclude the shoes in their consideration of her collection.