It is official: Kenley Collins cannot be extinguished.
This season of Project Runway has been a little underwhelming, with shortages of both attractive creations and compelling contestants. But one story has risen above the rest to mystify us all.
Why is Kenley still here?
Kenley Collins is a young designer specializing in '50s-style dresses. She is also a whiny pain in the neck. She is also apparently immune to being bounced from the competition, given the fact that she has now made by far the worst garment two weeks in a row and has managed to stay.
Why Kenley should be in charge of the economy, after the jump...
Last night was the second week in a row that Kenley should have gone. Her purple dress, made of purple fake snakeskin, was suitable only for an Everyone Must Wear Purple Fake Snakeskin party. The big flaps at the bottom, charitably likened by the judges to something in the fish/reptile range of water-resistant animals, looked more like pockets that should have been on the inside of a pair of pants instead of the outside of the bottom of a dress. The plasticky sheen of the fabric screamed "Dynasty wardrobe department," while the trim on those flaps begged for a steam iron.
Instead, nobody went home. The entire episode was unnecessary, it turned out, because all four of the remaining contestants will create collections for Fashion Week, and three of them will then be chosen to compete in the final round. (Making an announcement at the end of an episode that everyone can stay is such a betrayal of the audience. "Just kidding!" the producers seem to taunt. "This wasn't really part of the show! This was just people making evening gowns in one day for no reason!")
The need to keep Kenley around has, oddly, become more acute as the people around her have become more appealing. The other designers -- friendly, laid-back Jerell; inventive mom Korto; and mousy but estimable Leanne -- all like each other and dislike Kenley. Sending them into a three-person finale would be the kind of conflict-resistant solution that shows like this simply don't employ very often. Not since the first season of The Apprentice, in which Donald Trump, of all people, chose two likable, competent finalists, has it been fashionable to narrow the field to only the talented and well-adjusted.
Unlike past abrasive contestants like Santino Rice, from season 2, and Jeffrey Sebelia, of season 3, Kenley doesn't even make interesting clothes. A girl who thinks her Bettie Page aesthetic (which she shares with writer Diablo Cody, "I Kissed A Girl" singer Katy Perry and half the other female hipsters of the moment) is far more interesting than it actually is, Kenley has mostly turned out competent, cute print dresses...over and over again.
That Kenley is apparently boot-proof became obvious last week when the five contestants then remaining designed outfits for each other inspired by musical genres. Suede, the fauxhawked designer who was eventually eliminated, did a so-so job making a "rock and roll" outfit for Jerell. But as ho-hum as it was, it wasn't a walking piece of unintentional comedy, as was the "hip-hop" outfit Kenley made for Leanne. Here is Leanne, allegedly looking "hip-hop."
As you can see, this is not hip-hop. And yes, in case you are wondering, that is a print tank top under that jacket. Not "hip-hop" so much as "shuffleboard," that.
Kenley has officially ascended the throne of The Unbeatable: they will make you wonder until the very last minute whether she's going to win the entire season. She will wear flowers in her hair and pout her super-red lips until the last possible moment. She will make a Fashion Week collection full of retro dresses, and she will continue to reject all criticism and snap at her doubters. But she will not be thrown out before the end, because if you can't lose with a pair of skintight high-waisted jeans with an ill-fitting crotch and a senseless array of gold buttons, you can't lose at all.
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