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A new reality show is airing on ETC (or was it Lifestyle). It’s called Project Runway. If Manhunt was a show in search for the next top male model, Project Runway is out to discover the next top fashion designer. Think Donna Karan, Gianni Versace and so on. Every week, the designer wanna-bees will face tasks that will challenge their creativity, innovation, workability and pressure-handling.

I think we caught the pilot episode last night and the designers’ first challenge was to create a sexy, unique dress for a night out in town. Ok simple enough, that is, until they were informed that the raw materials they could only use will have to come from a grocery store and with a limited budget of $50. Yeah – lemons, garbage bags, tools and a lot more organic stuff. That’s bound to challenge any person’s creativity. If I were on that challenge, I think I’d be looking quickly for shower curtains, ribbons, tissue paper and colored paper bags. Some of the contestants were obviously thinking of the same thing – quickly grabbing shower curtains, garbage bags, ribbons and other ‘wearable’ fabric.

Others were more original and daring – one bought a lounge chair with blue fabric, another bought lots of butcher paper and the most daring of all bought a heap of corn husk. I think he had to buy the corns first so he could strip the husks off.

The next day, their little projects will come to the runway where their chosen models will wear and display their works. The models were amazing. Anything they’ll wear on the runway will look glamorous just because of the way they walk and project themselves. I had to force myself to remember that these models aren’t wearing expensive fabric but merely cheap and virtually un-wearable stuff made from lounge chairs for example. There was even a dress made of pure pantyhose and another designer made a rather distasteful tin foil skirt.

I thought the designer who bought the corn husks made one of the better dresses but no one realized that by the time of the show which is the next day, the husks would dry out and browned. So there went the model on the runway wearing the skimpy and dried out corn husk dress that were falling off as the she bounced.

In the end, the corn guy got the highest rank and an immunity from the next elimination for his being unique and innovative (I think he was the only one who used organic matter).

Anyway, I think I’ll follow this one to the finals if only for the creative challenges. Oh, that and I forgot to mention that Heidi Klum hosts the show.

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