Project Runway opens its sixth season with what you could expect from the previous five seasons; drama, cockiness, confidence, and of course competition. With all of the drama that has happened in the past with this show, it finally premieres with a pretty good season opener. Michael Kors and Nina Garcia return as judges, filmed at F.I.D.M. in Downtown Los Angeles. The contestants this year, well let's just say that we're gonna have to see more episodes before we even go there. There's definitely some clashing personalities, and there's most definitely going to be conflicts throughout the season. I hope that we can expect harsher challenges, and efficient critiqued judgments from the panel. With the last two winners of the previous seasons (Leanne Marshall 5, and Christian Siriano 4) setting the bar for these designers at an Empire State Bldg. height. Speaking of contestants let's see the line up along with their final pieces for the first challenge.

Althea, or what I like to call her, Little Miss Ohio; she's really cute and bubbly; actually kind of reminds me of a hippie. The first challenge was for the contestants to create a "Red Carpet" like gown. During Tim's critique in the workroom, he commented on her fabric choice being that it was a shiny/metallic silk fabric. Her one focus was to clean up the stitch work because of the type of fabric, any flaw would be seen by the judges. She was going for an Old-Hollywood glamour feel, the finished stitching on the final piece was a little messy but I suppose it's the best that fabric can arrive at. I didn't really like the halter feel of the dress, I felt that the actual halter strap was too wide ultimately making the dress feel like prom dress. Strapless would have suited the dress to look more elegant. Overall the draping was very beautiful on this dress, and the fabric seemed to work out well, when the model walked the flow was beautiful. I'm actually looking forward to seeing what Althea will come out with in the upcoming challenges.

Up next is designer Logan Nietzel from Seattle, WA. Logan is one of my favorites because his favorite designers are John Galiano and Tom Ford, and I do like Tom Ford. Logan was slightly concerned when finding out that the challenge involved creating a "Red Carpet" look.  Saying that his aesthetic isn't really "Red Carpet". After seeing an in depth look in "Tim Gunn's Workroom" on the Lifetime website. I really liked the concept of the dress that he had going, but what became of the final product was passable at best but not really "Red Carpet" like. There was good innovation with the zipper usage and the incorporation of the leather, however I feel that it just didn't give it enough pizazz on the runway. I would have like to have seen the back of the dress finished with more leather going into the lower back. Maybe to even resemble a corset-like cut with the leather. I would have also liked to have seen more leather usage throughout the dress, this may have given the dress more of a bang upon first impression. I will also say that the model did rock the dress down the runway. In the end I can't wait to see what Logan's strong point is going to be in the upcoming challenges.

Next up we have Ari Fish, I'm convinced that Ari did come from another planet. Her process of creativity is I don't know, intriguing? I was actually somewhat excited for this girl at first and then the creative process began and well she doesn't sketch. That would be the most important process in designing first of all, it would be like driving in pitch black darkness with no lights; it's not completely impossible but you must be nuts for doing it. When Tim paid her a visit during the process, he was completely baffled by Ari's partially finished creation. Fortunately, the shocking didn't stop there; the completed piece was sure to shock to judges. What walked out onto the runway looked like an incomplete space suit and not something anything remotely near Red Carpet. The judges wasted no time in tearing apart her creation, thus making her the first contestant this season to retreat back home. It's not to say she's an awful designer, she possesses talent, just not the talent that Project Runway calls for.

Mitchell a southerner from Savannah, GA whom I believe was bit by the bug of bad taste. I just have a couple of things wrong with everything Mr. Hall did from the selection of his fabric to his actual "design-detail" or something of such with smocking. First off, the original piece was this two tone blue and creme smocked dress that looked like it came straight from an 1800's antique Plantation. Now we all know that last-minute things go wrong on a constant basis in the fashion world all the time. Having said that, Mitchell's luck is about to worsen; his model failed to provide accurate measurements and was off by 5in. With an already ruined look, it was now crunchtime to basically "Suzie homemaker" something. The final product that walked the runway was even more hideous than the 1800's plantation dress. The finished product looked like a night gown with an ugly smocked neck, it looked like a modern way of ritualistic neck stretching. Lucky for him, Ari's design was exponentially worse. Mitchell has really got to step it up if wants to remain in the competition.

Nicolas Putvinski, an accomplished designer with pieces of his in the likes of W., and other well known fashion magazines available in the U.S. He's probably the most cocky of this entire group, with his accomplishments flourishing the pages of magazines already, he definitely has a very high bar that he set for himself. I really liked the final product of what he made, the only issue that I had was that he was supposed to making a dress for a "Red Carpet" look and what walked on the runway was very innovative and sheik, but not something that I would consider to be "Red Carpet" worthy. The detail and design of the dress was very on point, especially after he smoothed out the edges of the single pieces; something that Tim pointed out to him during the "Workroom Process". Maybe he may be a little overqualified compared to some of the other contestants but overall I think that Nicolas will definitely be able to hold his own throughout this competition, he may even be the one to set a high benchmark for the rest of these contestants to work off of.

Next on the roster we have Qristyl Frazier; she definitely brings a certain humble energy to this years group of contestants. Qristyl, like Mitchell, got bit by that bad taste bug as well. First her fabric choices was this very nice deep purple satin, and the other was this Miami-like print that carried the purple through portions of it but was a very intense pattern to the eye. It looked like something Uli from Season 4 would have chosen, since she was the pattern queen; it probably would have worked for her too. When Tim approached Qristyl in the workroom for his critiquing, he had an abruptly long pause while looking up and down the dress. There's was really no advice he could have given her at this point to fix the dress. She had merged the two fabrics with a seam that ran practically down the middle of the dress. Her intention was for it to be curvy, but what was executed was definitely a somewhat straight line. It looked like the dress didn't know which it wanted to be, the pattern just simply wasn't cohesive. I definitely saw her viewpoint of how she wanted the curvy seam, but even then the patterned fabric was so loud that it may have just given the same effect. The judges quickly demeaned the dress and hopefully it will give Qristyl that boost she needs to come to her senses. If her and Mitchell don't step it up, they may not be seeing much of Project anything for much longer.

Another fellow New Yorker Malvin Vien joins the line-up. It amazed me that on his video blog on the Lifetime website, he mentioned that he's never watched a Red-Carpet show nor does he like cameras. Well Malvin the fashion world LIVES I mean LIVES for camera's and despite your want to stay away from commercial and be unconventional, you still need to be aware of surroundings. Red Carpet shows are one of those inclusive "surroundings", this is the major designer playing field, if you don't know what's here then um what do you know? Okay that is not to say that I'm questioning his talent, I haven't even gotten to his piece yet. Malvin is such a mild, timid, person that looks like he's just so delicate, those are qualities that will get you mauled over in this industry. Now onto the dress, I just really thought it was BLAH. I mean the few attentions to detail on the front and the back we just so so. The color choice of the fabric as well as the material itself was in my opinion the polar opposite of what someone would wear to a Red Carpet event. It looked like a dress a mom from Orange County bought at South Coast Plaza from St. John's. I hope that Malvin is able to come out of shell and blossom, but because he closes himself off to mainstream things, it may eventually work against him.

Louise Black, 32 y/o from Dallas, TX a fashion/accesory designer for Christian Lacroix. Louise is one of my favorites. In her video blog on Lifetime's website, she stated that she had never and doesn't work with a lot of fabric to produce pieces such as gowns. Now this is someone that is completely unaware of the talent they possess because for not having previously created a gown before, she SURELY did a hell of a good job at it. Louise's final piece that walked the runway looked like it had walked out of a 1940's time capsule hidden somewhere on the F.I.D.M. campus. She encapsulated this era with the dress and modernized it with absolutely exquisite draping. There was so much attention to detail in this dress, from the shoulder all the way through to the bottom, I really liked everything about this dress. I could picture someone like Charlize Theron wearing this. I can't wait to see something that she has done before if this is something that she can produce without practicing first. The one thing that worries me is her versatility, we know now that she's under the Old-Hollywood Glamour spell, and the only way to make that work is to properly modernize it in whatever pieces she makes in the future. I'm excited to see how far in the competition she will get.

Ra'Mon comes in all the way from the Windy City Chicago, IL. Working as a designer for Kohl's, Ra'Mon has some pretty good taste when it comes to clothes. His favorite designer is Marc Jacobs, who is my other favorite designer as well. The choice of fabric that he chose for his gown was a very nice safe color. The construction of the piece was very well done, but there was definitely some minor changes that I would have to say for it. I agreed with the judges on the strap side of the gown, it made it look very prom dress like and took away from Red Carpet material. I really enjoyed the opposite shoulder, the overall construction of this piece is done very well. I do not however agree that it was considerable for being in the top 3. I feel that the construction of Louise's dress far surpassed Ra'Mon in overall detail and look. I think Ra'Mon is a fantastic designer and he may be in this competition for the long run if he pull out pieces that are as eye-catching as this. Then again, this is Project Runway and sometimes working under pressure is evil that detaches many.

Johnny, Johnny, if Project Runway were a sport it'd be Rugby, and well you gotta be able to think fast and work under pressure. Though Johnny is a recovering Meth addict, it's still no scapegoat to use on this battleground. That sign of weakness is an easy affirmation to the other competitors who will take advantage of it, I mean hello it's a competition and nice people will finish last here. With Johnny completely cracking on this opening episode it was hard to say that yes I could see him go far. PR is known for having extensively intense challenges and the Red Carpet challenge was a 1 out of 10 in intensity levels to expect from the show. Now even though he may have gone through a little drawing-block mishap, what he ended bringing to the table earned him a spot in the top 3. Though I do not really agree with his color choice or the trimming in what I think was patent leather, the overall piece was very elegant. He, like a few other contestants was motivated by Old-Hollywood Glamour, which clearly got across with the deep V neck-line, deep back, and silhouette. The draping was absolutely exquisite and the overall construction was on point. I also agree with the judges that the color should have been much darker or even black to consummate the complete elegance of this gown. See Johnny, the crying did pay off, this time at least.

Carol managed to keep herself under the radar in this episode, avoiding the drama, and cautious of making friends with the other contestants. Well hello this is a competition, I would be too! Well let's get down to the dress since that is what matters here. Carol chose a color that was relatively similar to a few other contestants. There was a lot of detail done on the upper portion of the dress, and was done fairly well. The layering of the bottom pieces looked absolutely fantastic as well. The only complaint that I have with this from what I saw is that maybe she may gotten a little carried away with the gathering technique around the hips. I think that it makes it look bulky in the overall silhouette and that area is not a target area of women that they want to stand out all the time if they're hips are already big. The back of the dress was particularly nicely constructed and the model wore it very well. I think Carol may pop out some amazing designs throughout the competition. Compared to some of the others, I think she's here for the long run as well.

Now Epperson is one of those designers that you see and try to size up and then BAM out of nowhere comes this awesome design. The first episode didn't really focus too much on Epperson, it seemed that he just stays out of the storm of drama, which we all know in this show is imminent. You can try and hide from the drama Epp's but wait until you get a team challenge, and you get stuck working with someone you just don't care for. During Tim's critiquing, Tim was in a frolic about the fit on the bodess and the construction; practically freaking out, Epp's just sat there calm and collectively, because he knew that he could make it work. Epperson chose a very beautiful deep purple fabric for his gown and completely worked with it to create a stunning piece. Though I do feel that his model's hair could have complimented the gown MUCH MUCH further, what walked the runway was quite a spectacle. I am a little convinced that Epperson may end up being the underdog of this competition. We will just have to wait and see what the upcoming challenges bring to the table.

Well, last there's Gordana who I think is an interesting designer. She developed a very fashion forward dress as her final design. However, I don't really think that she was aware that it was a Red Carpet challenge and not a who can dress Lady Gaga. I am in no way demeaning Gordana's creation, I thought it was constructed very well, it just looks reminiscent of a gift box. I hope that she doesn't pop out with these quirky designs at every challenge, or if she is actually going to do so then make sure that it's all cohesive. It could get really dangerous if they had to design something conservative and Gordana busts out with a bow on a suit. Please and thanks with that. I think that her out of the box type of thinking will give her an advantage to the challenges if they're anything like the previous seasons. Who knows she could be end up taking the gold at the end of the season, right now is definitely too early to make conclusions with any contestant.

First off, I have to say that I'm absolutely in love with Christopher's sketches, they are so damn cute! Check them out here: Christopher Straub Sketches. I really liked Chris from the first minute that he introduced himself, he just had that inner energy that I had a feeling was going to come through in the end. The contrast between the two fabrics that he chose came through very clearly and the attention to detail in this piece was on point. It was properly constructed and looked aimlessly flawless from every angle. What I really liked about this piece the most is the texture, it was just so well constructed in that area. If I had to make a criticism I would say that I would lessen the bottom layers of the lighter fabric; other than that I think this is flawless. The dress looked like it came straight off of Jenny Humphrey in Gossip Girl, which I bet is an inspiration. I hope that Chris doesn't stifle himself just because he won the first challenge. Since he has immunity from the next challenge I think he should take the opportunity to explore his limits in creativity. We can only hope that he will consistently be able to produce great designs no matter what the obstacle is in front of him. He's definitely no Christian Siriano, who consistently popped out innovative creations in every challenge; but then again NO ONE can be Christian Siriano.

Well from what it seems like with above contestants, I think we can expect to have a pretty good season. I will go on to say that I don't feel this years line-up has what Season 5 had while still on Bravo. Who knows maybe there was a rush in the casting, or budget, or whatever reason; this season really has to make it's mark on the new network to be considered. One thing that worries me is that a few of the designers didn't know what a where to begin with a Red Carpet look and I just feel that the Red Carpet is so important to know if you're involved with fashion. It's that pinnacle that you get to, where your design is being worn and broadcasted all over the nation.  I hope that they will be offering challenges to the designers that are going to really take these designers out of their comfort zones to explore the aspects of design and innovation. If Project Runway fails to deliver any sort of captivation this season as it did in the past, then it will go to be that all of the legal battles were for nothing. I have hope in this show though and I know that it will make it, just not surpass.