Project Runway’s Louise Displeased With Nicolas

Ah, teamwork. The bane of every high school chemistry class reared its ugly head again on last night’s Project Runway, where designers were paired up and tasked with creating two looks for Macy’s INC line.

Unfortunately for team leader Louise Black, choosing a partner with immunity (Nicolas) proved to be an unwise decision.

“I picked him because he can tailor dresses very well. The fact that he didn’t finish boggles my mind,” the 31-year-old said of her challenge partner in an interview Friday.

But then there were other factors at play in her elimination, like the fact that she’s never actually stepped foot in a Macy’s before, and of course the good old ‘Runway’ arch nemesis: time.

How was it watching your elimination last night?

It was a little aggravating just to see how Nicolas was talking about me. I thought he was my friend. Then to see him saying how he hated my dress; I thought he was on board with it pretty much the whole time. He kept saying he really liked it. I guess he had ulterior motives. I think he saw it as an easy way to eliminate another one of his competition. He had immunity so if he didn’t finish his dress, he could have easily have said so, but kept it to himself.

Do you think he intentionally tried to sabotage the challenge?

I’m not sure. Some people have speculated that. It could have just been the case that he didn’t care anymore.

Were you not pleased with what he’d done with the dress?

What was really odd is when Tim came around to critique us, his dress was fairly finished. The body was done, and the ruffles were pretty much finished, he just needed to put a zipper in, do the hem, and sew the ruffles on. We still had a good five hours at that point so he should have had no trouble finishing it. Last minute he kept telling me he was confident he was going to finish. I was really banking on that dress being the focal point of the challenge. I picked him because he can tailor dresses very well. The fact that he didn’t finish boggles my mind. I actually had to stop and help him finish his dress, which left my dress sort of in ruins. I knew I was probably going home because our dresses weren’t finished.

Have you spoken to him since last night’s show, or do you plan to talk to him?

No. I talked to him at a Marie Claire party and he seemed very cordial. We weren’t really that close on the show, but I appreciated his design aesthetic and that’s why I chose him. At the time when we were picking teammates his immunity didn’t really bother me. It’s hard to tell what happened. We were all so frazzled and tired, I may not have even remembered at that point he had immunity.

Do you think being in the bottom the previous week made you a little cautious for this challenge?

At that point in the show I could tell I was losing steam. People don’t realize how exhausting it is and how little sleep we’re getting. I’m one of those people that needs a good eight hours a day to function properly. One of the things they didn’t show in the critique was Michael Kors said it wasn’t like anything you’d see in Macy’s. But when they told us we’d be designing for Macy’s I said ‘what is Macy’s?’ I knew it was a department store, but what’s the caliber of clothing they carry? Is it like Neiman Marcus or Saks? I had no idea it wasn’t as luxurious as some of the other department stores. I think I kind of went overboard with the looks I was trying to create. I wanted to do something a little crazier and more avant garde with the giant ruffles on the collar. I guess having not been in a Macy’s before sort of hurt me. I was disappointed in the dossier they gave us because it looked like a lot of stuff you could pick up at a Ross Superstore.

Watch Louise’ video blog from last week’s episode:

Did you agree with Michael’s criticism that it looked like a “bridesmaid’s dress with a shower loofah?”

Yeah, I was very disappointed with the way the dress turned out. As you can tell from the sketch, it was supposed to be a completely different color, and a different shape. I didn’t have enough time to finish it like I’d wanted. When Tim came around and critiqued us, he got me to change my mind about the color of the dress. It was supposed to be a darker sky blue. I’d had this matte satin, which Nicolas had talked me into getting. Tim said he didn’t like it, so we ended up using a lot of fabric that my dress was made out of; it was the fabric that trimmed the ruffles on Nicolas’ dress. The fabric combinations just didn’t come out well on the runway. I kind of cringed looking at it coming down.

Where did your love of ruffles come from?

I don’t really know. It’s a whimsical thing I do to my designs. I like layers and ruffles and lace and ribbons. A lot of the stuff I do has inspiration from the 20s and some from 18th Century. I’m really into doing this darker look with girlie edge to it.

Were there any other surprises in watching the show this season? Things you expected to see and didn’t, or things you didn’t expect to see - like Nicolas - and did?

Yeah. Just in general a lot of the silly funny stuff that happened behind the scenes with us all being really friendly together wasn’t ever shown. It’s almost like Lifetime has chosen to focus on all the negativity; all the stress and pressure and drama. Finally they gave people a taste of how I am when I’m working: kind of silly and off the wall, making little chirpy chicken noises.

Speaking of the chirping noises, why did you grow up with so many animals?

We just always loved having animals around the house, from guinea pigs to birds to frogs to reptiles. Me and my brother were both very fond of reptiles. We had cats and dogs and bunnies, too.

Do you still have pets now?

I have a Conure, which is a small South American parrot, and two kitties. It was tough to leave them for the show.

In your final confessional you said you hadn’t expected to make it as far as you did. Why not? And how far had you expected to make it?

I knew it was going to be hard to incorporate my design aesthetic into a lot of the looks for the runway, because I tend to work with a lot of one of a kind found fabrics, antique textiles and Victorian beading, so I knew it was going to be a challenge to make a garment work using new fabrics. I knew I would probably make it past the first few episodes, but I was hoping and trying my hardest to get at least halfway through the show. That was my goal.

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