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SEMI-FINAL
GIORGIO DI CHIRICO
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Welcome to the semi-final of LidlTerm S2!
For the semi-final, the designers were given two tasks. For the first task, they were asked to create a design inspired by a Giorgio Di Chirico painting of their choice.
Giorgio Di Chirico was born in 1888 and through his surrealist paintings he depicted a highly different world and reality compared to the one we live in today, yet somehow we can relate to his work through the feelings that they evoke, probably because feelings are timeless and universal. Giorgio Di Chirico had no fear in letting the viewer inside of his imagination and dreams, and he created his pieces in a time and place in which expressing himself like he did was not as encouraged as it is today. Giorgio Di Chirico is often claimed as the father of surrealist painting and I absolutely love his pieces: they are melancholic yet envoke hope, scary yet comforting and there is an evident feeling of warmth and intimacy to several of his pieces. Looking at his paintings is like having a fever dream but only in the best of ways and he had a talent for creating dramatic paintings even though the models and characters in the paintings often appear through minimalistic poses.
Let's see how our top 5 did with the first task!
icearbr
I've been nagging you to get more conceptual and experimental and this week you did me proud. The effect that is the transition from the beige/sand color to the peach color is absolutely breathtaking, a perfect contrast. Although there are a lot of elements to this look in a way that it could've easily been messy, there is a great sense of harmony to it, most likely due to your color choices and the fact that each part is allowed to breathe and shine individually while they also compliment each other. There is a bit of comedy to your design as you created a gown out of hair and utilized that hat for an Italian challenge, it shows you had fun with this task. The gold accessories gives this crazy design an abundant aura and I must say that there is a lot of charisma to what you've created, one can't help but to be a bit charmed by it. I absolutely love the way that it looks like the fabric on the sides are bleeding down your model, thank you for this brilliant avant garde design, it makes one think just like the painting you chose does.
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.uhu
You struggled this week, not so much with designing per sé but rather with real life. You came close to submitting nothing at all due to irl commitments and I managed to convince you to at least submit something, which resulted in you submitting drafts/unfinished designs. More on that later. I find this design quite fabulous actually and there is something really dark and twisted about the top: you managed to convey surrealism in a minimalistic way which is quite refreshing this week. The orange makes the design feel unexpectedly fresh. I can't shake the feeling that this would've looked different had you spent more time on it. However, I can't help but to be really charmed by this outfit, it represents an oddness and a beauty that is found in the painting and I think the tutu-skirt along with the boots work really well in a way that the two usually don't. The tumor-like black illusion is really captivating and a bit scary in a good way. I also appreciate how well the head styling matches the outfit and that there are several risks to your design that all paid off.
snawl
When I first saw this I thought ... what the hell am I looking at. And that is a little bit the point of this challenge, you're not supposed to look at Giorgio Di Chirico's paintings and be like ''oh I get it!'' after just a second or two. As I looked at all the details it all made sense and after having looked at it for a while I must applaud how well it has all come together. This outfit could've easily looked a mess, however through your impeccable eye for styling and because of the color choices this design ends up looking sophisticated (despite the crazy details) and vibrant. It was a really smart choice to mostly utilize earth tones and then have other colors such as blue, orange and yellow in a minimal amount just dancing around the bottom, it leaves the viewer wanting more in the best of ways. The dress has a lot going on so to choose a white and neutral shoe was necessary. The more I look at this design the more I love it, to me your look tells a story and it takes me somewhere and that is the best possible outcome for a PR-design.
alydaman
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I adore this. I think we all expected you to make a gown of some kind, instead you took this surrealist painting, the darkest one of the bunch, and created modern, avant garde, urban streetwear. The frazzled sleeve trick has been done before but this is without a doubt my favorite rendition of it, the way you integrated it into the mask was brilliant and there is a really cool and laid back vibe to your design. The choice of that orange is excellent, I believe it correlates well with the feeling of sorrow or worry that the painting represents. You chose bulky shoes for a design that is already a bit bulky so to render them in a muted sand-color was a great choice. I particularly love how the earring almost integrates perfectly into the ear which is a bit bizarre yet appropriate for an avant garde look. I'm in love with this design, you mixed meditterranean art with more urban and American fashion and it's also inventive, the way the arms disappear into the fabric is a dark concept that does the painting and the surrealist task justice. I want to see this kind of innovation from you in your final collection.
razzing
You haven't used the Tim Gunn-outfit advice since week 1, and you've done brilliantly without it, this week you kind of needed it though. There is no way this outfit could be any more busy, which doesn't have to be a bad thing, the problem is that since there are so many details that are all fighting for your attention, utilizing bright colors was not a good idea as it cheapens the look. This design would've been so much better had you incorporated a darker blue, some olive green etc. When you look at the painting you chose, Giorgio Di Chirico chose to use more sophisticated and slightly more muted colors than you did so it puzzles me you went this carnival route. There is so much potential to this design and underneath the backpack and the Scottish drape, there is a cool design. If you survive this semi-final you need to work on your editing skills: you always have great ideas but sometimes they need to be a bit more refined. I will say though that this is definitely interesting and I love the underlaying structure of it and that in no way did this bore me.
The designers were also asked to design a companion piece to match a past design of theirs from earlier this season. The designers were told that the companion piece should not be too similar to the original and that it should have it's own identity, but that there should also be a clear connection between the first design and the companion piece.
icearbr
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I must say, you are giving great face with this look. Everything from the neck up is great, there is a lot of vulnerability and beauty to the head area and for the first time in a long time I feel like I get to see a more open-hearted Arber design. I believe this conceptuality should be present in all of your designs as that is what elevates them fully as you've always had the technical aspect down. Having said that, I'm a bit underwhelmed by the rest of the outfit. It looks unfinished and almost like you got exhausted from designing the Georgio Di Chirico look. I've seen you do this before and in a better way even, I'm thinking of Corlay's All Stars week 2 (click for reference). It does match the first outfit well and I can absolutely see a story to your companion piece and my favorite aspect of it are the burgundy heels, they're very fabulous. Overall the only exciting thing about this is the face/head.
.uhu
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Hmm...
This is really where your lack of time spent designing hurts your chances to progress. I feel like there are a lot of good ideas present in this design, but there is no harmony between the different aspects and details. Utilizing the teddy bear backpack in that way to make it look like scales of some kind is absolutely brilliant and those shoes really go well together with the skirt. The graphics on the chest are a bit lazy, that cherry doesn't look good unless you manipulate it somehow with another item and I just don't see how a big oversized T-shirt would work well with the white high-end and avant garde pieces. I will commend you for the fact that the companion piece matches the original look quite well, even though it's not nearly as great. I believe what made the first look so successful is because there is a lot of heart and passion in it and it looks like a design you made with absolutely no fear and sadly the same can't be said about the companion piece.
snawl
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Obviously you tried to recreate the brilliant avant garde head styling of the first look, sadly it's not successful this time. The hat doesn't work well with the outfit and I actually think the design is interesting enough that it doesn't need that much going on in the head and face area. The outfit has something eccentric about it and it fits the James Bond theme very well, it even reminds me a little bit of the Shanghai scenes in the movie Skyfall. The color palette is one of the most beautiful ones we have seen all season and I love how mysterious and intricate the top is, it's absolutely gorgeous and I'm a fan of how the sleeve transitions from magenta to orange and then back to magenta. The shape of the white jumpsuit is also really pleasing. Once again, this outfit takes me places and I think the reason you're so good at the James Bond theme is because you are a designer who has a knack for creating pieces that convey a sense of adventure.
alydaman
Absolutely fabulous. Your companion piece is a more ready-to-wear look as opposed to the gown, yet they correlate with each other beautifully. The gown has purple fabric sticking out from the side and so does the companion piece. An interesting thing is that the gown has a tiny pop of yellow that leaves the viewer wanting more of it and the companion piece delivers just that satisfying amount of yellow. I adore how you used different shades of yellow to give the design a bit more depth. This is the first time I see those pants presented in a way that is a bit more subtle, the effect is absolutely gorgeous because this way it looks like you took a pair of white pants and slightly hand-painted the lower sides. The shoes would not have worked without the pants either. We've seen this kind of look with straps before but your take feels very fresh and exciting. This design not only cheers me up but it makes me feel something that's hard to explain, a mixture of tranquility and optimism. This design is exciting while it's also balanced beautifully, there are a lot of details but they all work together incredibly well.
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razzing
This is the better outfit you submitted this week. If you were making a collection, these two designs would be highly cohesive and I believe they compliment and elevate each other really well, my eyes goes like a ping pong ball between the two looks and it puts a smile on my face. Your companion piece doesn't have the same vulnerability or the same feeling of sorrow (which is fine), it rather has a more futuristic ''Matrix'' style to it that feels very you. I haven't got a clue what is going on with the graphics underneath the coat but I like it, it looks tangled and dystopian, like something out of a factory. I enjoy the contrast of the sparkling bag against the minimalistic coat and the pose renders your design in a creative way as it adds another small layer to the skirt. A fun detail I fancy is that it looks like the shoe is replicating the right side of the skirt. There's a lot going on here, but unlike your first look, the color choices are what saves it and brings some harmony to it all.
results
The winner of this task and the first finalist is alydaman - congratulations. I am in love with both of your designs this week, two pieces of beautiful art. They both brough out feelings inside of me, which is what makes a succesful PR-design. You have a lot of love for drama and flair, and if you mix it with innovation in your final collection, you have a great chance at winning. Good luck!
The second finalist is Snawl. You came close to winning this week, but maybe you will win the big one instead. I believe as a designer you have been slightly stuck in your comfort zone and lately you have really come out of your shell as a designer, you take more and more risks with confidence and you have submitted several conceptual designs lately. If you keep that up, you have a great chance at winning. Congratulations and well done - good luck with creating your final collection.
The third finalist is Razzing. You came close to not making it this week due to your lack of editing and because you didn't apply a critical eye to your Giorgio Di Chirico design. Luckily, your first look had a lot of potential and your second design was great, which is just enough to give you the third spot. You have been a front-runner this season and you've submitted some insane, high-quality designs. If you design the way you did for task 4, 5, 6 and 7 in the finale, you might be unstoppable. Believe in your talent and your creativity and have fun with creating your collection. Congratulations and good luck!
In 4th place is icearbr. It has been an absolute pleasure and a privilege to have you on this season. Your Giorgio Di Chirico design was brilliant, sadly your companion piece was not enough. You have consistently produced great designs this season and I am so grateful for everything you've done for the PR community. Thank you so much for bringing your A-game and for making your competitors sweat, I will always be a big fan of you and your technical skills remain unmatched, you should be proud because I am.
In 5th place is .Uhu - you are by far one of the most interesting individuals I have ever experienced and your designs are always interesting to look at. There is something truly unique about you that money can't buy and that thousands of people on this earth wish that they had, please, never stop nurturing and exploring that creative and inventive side of you. It didn't work out for you this time but that's alright, in my eyes you will always be a winner. Thank you for the amazing designs you showed us this season.
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