What a wrap on Season 9 of “Project Runway“! Did you watch it? Viktor and Anya’s collections were my faves, so glad one of them took home the grand prize and title as winner.

[All party images by AnaPhoto.net]

Just like I did for the for the first episode of the season, I attended the  Style Coalition / “Project Runway” Season 9 finale party courtesy of the gracious HP (Hewlett Packard), with many surprises on board, including Project Runway contestants making an appearance (Suede!), a HP TouchSmart desktop PC design competition, and super sweet cupcake treats adorned with HP’s logo, as well as measuring tape decor and white chocolate pieces of scissors on top.

[Co-host Kristin Booker of FashionStyleBeauty.com with former contestant Suede]

Anya, the winner of the HP and Intel design challenge, was named the overall winner of season nine of Lifetime’s “Project Runway,” and gets the $50,000 technology suite.

[The HP "Project Runway" cupcake tree!]

Throughout this season of “Project Runway,” designers used the latest HP EliteBook Tablet PC notebooks  with second-generation Intel® Core™ i7 processors to create designs and the HP TouchSmart desktop PCs to make original fabrics using touch-enabled software.

-Julia DiNardo

Mingling with this season’s Project Runway contestants and noted fashion designer, Vivienne Tam, mimosas were raised to salute Hewlett Packard‘s new collaboration with the famed show. New technology enables designers to create digital prints that can then be translated onto fabric and was used in a recent episode’s design challenge. Remaining competitor, Emilio Sosa, gravitates towards “free form” which he attributes to growing up in the Bronx where it was “all about graffitti.” Along with their TouchSmart Notebook, a computerized sketchbook, HP predicts the digital tool will help to redefine the fashion, amplifying the design process and allowing designers to create their own fabrics. Vivienne Tam agreed, dubbing it a new frontier in the industry and also promoted her very cool butterfly design on HP’s new digital clutch during the event. The Vivienne Tam/HP handheld computer, which resembles a purse, also doubles as an accessory with a dual function, and is available for pre-order this month.

[Emilio Sosa and Seth Aaron Henderson interact with HP's digital print tool]

-Maria Eilersen

FPD  just learned that in lieu of the debacle that “Project Runway”  season six has become regarding the dispute between networks, Bravo will be launching a program called “The Fashion Show” – a designer competition where the winner gets to sell their clothes at a major fashion chain (no info as to which one that may be!). The judges will be Isaac Mizrahi, Kelly Rowland of Destiny’s Child fame, and IMG’s Fern Mallis. Is a  hit or a flop on the way? Who knows, but I think that the wheel, at this point, definitely needs to be reinvented!  Although “Project Runway” was a launching pad for Bravo’s other shows, not to mention a cash cow, I would expect a differnt angle, at least, from them on the famous fashion competition.  How about launching a competition to guest blog on Fashion Pulse Daily?

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Images from BravoTV.com

We love that Nina said “No doubt” – when asked by Heidi if they were sure they made the right decision. There’s something so admirable and charming about Leanne’s modesty and mellow personality that’s completely refreshing to the fashion industry. Her work speaks for itself, and she doesn’t need to have an attitude or make a fuss to make a statement and get her work noticed. Brava Leanne!

Images from BravoTV.com

Jerell got aufd tonight — we kinda saw it coming, since he basically disregarded Tim’s comments, which is usually the kiss of death. Plus, the wedding dress — it definitely was highly reminiscent of the dress he did for the last challenge he won… In any event, I still can’t help but find it kind of funny that the last six designers standing get to show at Bryant Park, in order for the audience not to “leak” who won. So Jerell, and Suede, and Joe Faris get to show after all — is that fair?

jack mackenroth and becky newton

We ran into one of our favorite people, the incredibly-talented Project Runway Season 4 contestant Jack Mackenroth during New York Fashion Week. He graciously agreed to field some of our most important fashion week-related questions!

FP: What collection just completely blew you away during NY fashion Week?
JM: I have to say my favorite collection was Christian Siriano. I was so proud of him I cried like a baby. He took his concepts to a whole new level. The construction was so complicated and gorgeous. He took the concept of puff sleeves and opened them up into strips of fabric. So fierce. Every look was absolutely amazing!

jack & rubin singer

I also loved Rubin Singer and for men I thought John Crocco pulled out an amazing collection for Perry Ellis. He really pushed the aesthetic of the Perry Ellis brand and was much more fashion forward then I’ve ever seen. I loved the khaki fabric with the embroidered polka dots. I missed Diane Von Furstenberg and I was so bummed. I heart her!

FP: Was there a particular trend you saw that you loved?

JM: It seemed like the season of the paillette. I saw leaf shaped paillettes, clear paillettes, matte and shiny — all different shapes and sizes. I loved it.  I also think the trend of sheer and flowing fabrics is here to stay. It was everywhere. Also — harem pants. EWWWWWWW. They were everywhere. Not cute.

FP: Who was your favorite celebrity sighting?

jack, ana ruiz, and vanessa williams

JM: My absolute most favorite celeb sighting was at the Patricia Field fashion show! First of all it was a fabulous party atmosphere put on by MAO PR, and was full of drag queens and fashion superstars. I was in the front row sandwiched between Judith Light, Becki Newton, Ana Ruiz, and Vanessa Williams (all from Ugly Betty). They were so hilarious and nice.

FP: What was your favorite freebie?

JM: Ooooh–Perry Ellis gave out a fab bottle of cologne. I got an MP3 player at the Valentino party and a gorgeous watch at the opening of the Fossil store on 34th street.

FP: How did you “decompress” after fashion week? (I went out of town, even if it was just to Connecticut, for the weekend!)

JM: You know what? I didn’t get to at all. The next day I had to write a speech and powerpoint presentation for The US Conference on AIDS in Fort Lauderdale. I left 3 days after fashion week and just got back. Now I have to make a wedding dress out of 3000 white condoms for the Condom Couture fashion show for an Evening of Hope HIV benefit in San Francisco on October 15th.  Then I have to make a chocolate Wonder Woman costume with Zac Young, the pastry chef from Butter, for the Chocolate show on November 6th. Woo-hoo!!

FP: We heard that you and Kevin Christiana have something in the works – can you reveal a bit about it to us?

JM: Yes–It’s very exciting. We are co-hosts and co-designers on a new “re-design” show where we work with one female candidate each episode and we ambush her wardrobe and remake them into some fabulous creations. It’s a little bit Project Runway meets Queer Eye (with only one queer) and it has a really cute hook that makes it original… We also hope to rope in some of our favorite designers throughout the season.

FP: When you have your next show, who are the three people you would most definitely have in the front row?

JM: If I ever show at Bryant Park I would want my mom, Tim Gunn and Linda Evangelista sitting in the front row.

FP: And last, of all, we’d love for you to analyze three looks from New York Fashion week for us:

look #1) Herve Leger by Max Azria
JM: I am a child of the 80s and 90s and I loved the origianl Herve Leger and am digging the update. It takes a killer bod to wrap yourself in “ace bandages” but I love the shimmer and it would make a woman look gorge!

look #2) Alexandre Herchcovitch
JM: I thought this collection was very conceptual rather than wearable. I liked some of the prints and some of the great military details but I don’t think you will be seeing crotch ruffles on the streets anytime soon.

look #3) William Rast
JM: I really like this look by William Rast; I would wear the entire look. Denim seems to be moving away from the overdone back pocketing and dark wash, and back to the distressed look of the 80′s. I love the tee and the jacket.

A special thanks to Jack Mackenroth for sharing his thoughts and pictures with Fashion Pulse!

– Julia DiNardo

Poor Suede, we’ll miss you and are sorry you got the axe! As Season 5 of Project Runway is coming to a close, we were ready to see Kenley go this episode, just as we were ready for Joe Faris to leave last time. She’s sticking around for at least another week, quite true to Project Runway‘s motif of keeping “the drama” around until the end. No one though, should ever disrespect dear Tim Gunn, and for that alone, we were ready to see Kenley pack up and head out. Although Korto is wildly talented, it just seemed also that Jerrell had this challenge in the bag as the winner– what happened?? Stay tuned for more “ins and outs” of Project Runway, and for the time being, check out the fabulous coverage of the five finalists’ shows at Bryant Park, compliments of Nitrolicious.com.