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TASK 4 MP3 VISIONS
Outfit inspired by the song Stefania by Kalush Orchestra
Welcome to the fourth panel of LidlTerm Season 3!
The designers were met with the following setting:
Paris, France. The time is 23:32 on the 25th of May. You're attending an exclusive event full of music industry executives. After some networking and spilling a drink on yourself, you've managed to impress a representative of Sony Entertainment Music with your design portfolio. Sony Music is producing four new music videos in a week and they need a designer with a strong point of view. The music executive talks about iconic music video fashion: looks that helped define the music video as a one of a kind. The man requests that you design something for an unknown artist to wear in their upcoming music video. You ask who the artist is but the man isn't interested in telling you. All you get is an mp3 file and a picture of the music video set. You're left to figure this one out for yourself.
- The designers were given 4 mp3 files with no artist name to them. Each designer chose an mp3 file and then designed an outfit based on the song and the music video set. Like mentioned earlier, each designer had no knowledge of the artist's/groups' aesthetic or fashion history.
nicrobbo95
Interesting. The music video set is filled with vibrant colors and eye-popping visuals, and yet your chocie to include an entirely different color (yellow) was a brilliant move, it integrates unexpectedly well into the set. I don't mind heavy make-up or big, dramatic earrings but I think one should usually go with one or the other, at least in the context of Project Runway. I must say that this design fails to be aesthetically pleasing: there's a lot of good ideas to it but all of it just doesn't come together. It looks like a nightlife dress on top of sporty pieces, it just looks odd and not in a good way. There isn't a natural flow in your design: the two different sides of it are not friends. There aren't any design elements on display that are bad: they're all pretty great individually. You told me you took the song to heart and I believe that I see the melancholic LA party vibes in this design. A few pointers: the shoes are boring clichés and the bag doesn't really do anything for the design. That's a good rule to apply in your design process: are all items truly necessary to create the vision you're going for? The thing about you is that you understand your own personal style and it's always evident in your designs. Not once this season have you produced something that isn't attention-grabbing.
fierce.needles
The contrast of the neon lime green against the set is so impactful. I will always have love for designs with fishnets - a tricky item to use - and the way you utilize it is is both tasteful and sexy. Xanax is a dance song with sad undertones to it, your choice to create après-ski resort wear is so unexpected and a really fresh take. It's a design loaded with energy. The shades sell the whole look, they help bring that little extra that was required in order for the design to go all the way. The neon lime green is, in my eyes, the most difficult color to work with in PR so hats off to you for using it in a perfect amount, more lime green would've made the outfit too obnoxious/loud. If your design had a taste it would be Jägermeister: it's fresh, cool and a nice slap in the face. It's clear by now that you approach each task with a lot of confidence and a vision, the execution has so far always lived up to a high standard. I believe the bottom of the outfit was a risky choice but since it's an unusual look, it's only logical you went with unusual pants and shoes. You don't just put a bunch of clothes together, there's always a fashion character on display, which is a fun approach to design that I think you should stick with.
alydaman
Yet another submission this week with colors that play with the music video set. Last week I criticized you for having a design that was dramatic yet lacked impact, this week you show a genuine love and a passion for design: this isn't some overworked gown, it's several different components that make up for a great look. I love it when a designer mixes various stuff that might not go together in an obvious way: each single item has it's own identity in this design and yet the design as a whole has it's own identity. I always love seeing new variations of that t-shirt, it's been a lot of designers' favorite item in PR for almost a decade and yet it's still a relevant, cool item. I think the skirt, the shoes and the hat are my favorite aspects, they make music. I believe that the best part of your design is that it has a vibe, one could say that about every design but yours envoke a feeling in an unusually strong way: peace and love in that Bob Sinclair kind of way. I fancy the fact that in your design, soft aspects meet hard, rough aspects. I want to see this level of styling and artistic love and integrity from you in every week, no more Iris Van Herpen gowns.
razzing
It's difficult for me to critique this design because it does an unusually good job at just speaking for itself. It's metallic looking menswear that looks like a play on a knight's armor, which is a pretty great idea for a rock music video, as so much within the rock scene is classified as overdone or cliché. I like that it's monochromatic but also very detailed: that combination prevents it from being ''meh'' which can often happen in monochromatic, undetailed designs. The pop of red is the star of the whole look and overall the design looks like a 2022 take on Icearbr's winning collection from Snawlterm S3 (that's a big compliment). You've been critiqued for not quite figuring out how to create designs that represent your love for drama and flair without it getting into drag territory: in this instance you found the perfect balance. It's extravagant but it's also somehow toned down and tasteful.
uhu
Just look at that ... that's a music video outfit for a super-rockstar (and Måneskin are perhaps the biggest European band right now). I've already nagged all season about what an avant garde designer you are, but I believe your past designs have always had a certain softness to them, I believe this is the first time I see you design something that is truly edgy. The mask/headpiece that you've constructed is grotesque, horrific and absolutely perfect - without a doubt one of the best items ive seen you come up with. I love that the dress looks like it's made up from various sorts of industrial toxic waste. I think those shoes are super tricky to utilize in PR as they're clunky and tends to make a model look clumsy/awkward but in this instance they're fabulous in relation to the dress. I'd say most designs this week came alive in a completely different way once applied on the music video set, compared to when they're just handed in for submission, but your design on the music video set is just PR magic. It actually looks like an iconic music video is about to play out. Like I told Razzing, it's difficult to create rocker fashion without being cliché, I believe your design relates to a lot of fashion seen in previous rock music videos. However, your take has the Uhu-DNA in it as well as some new perspective to it: the horror headpiece has an almost menacingly cheerful attitude to it.
cinthia
You've taken part in all three seasons of LidlTerm, so it's absolutely for the best that you're in a state of reinvention - I have never seen anything like this from you. Sure, it's still very Cinthia in that the design maintains your trademark aura of confidence mixed with conceptuality - but in the past you've had a tendency to use a lot of warm colors or neon colors. This design is a take on Cinthia x Scandinavian fashion x Issey Miyake. It's a design that looks cozy to wear and yet it envokes a cold feeling: there's also something bittersweet about it. This year you've had some insecurities regarding styling and yet this is the most on point styling of a model I've seen you do: the hair, the make-up and the shoes are perfect! The music video set, as well as the song itself, has an eerie undertone which is also present in your design. An impressive aspect is that you compliment the music video set fabulously and yet the set doesn't stand a chance at overshadowing you despite all the details that are in it. Cozy fashion is super trendy right now so you manage to keep it fresh, and that skirt is to die for.
LC22
I'm so conflicted by your design, and I'm going to have to be a total bitch because the quality of the submissions this week is just f*cking insane. I'm aware of the fact that a lot of country and folkpop singers utilize earthy colors, white and gold - and in many ways this design is something we've never really seen in PR ever which is a feat in itself. On the other hand, I can't help but to get disco and Studio 54 vibes from your design. I also don't find that the design integrates all that well with the music video set: it's just a bit too pristine and almost formal/dressed up for a rough, earthy music video set and a song that is about running through the forrest at night. I adore the golden details on the top and I applaud the fact that this outfit is very polished and executed well considering your concept, it doesn't look like you got confused or lost in the process. It's a gorgeous design that a lot of people would actually love to wear, it's just not as perfect as it could be.
zoetic
We've seen that kimono skirt with the tattoo many, many times, often in more conventionally glamorous dresses - and yet you did a unique take on it?! This design is beautiful but it isn't conventional & commercial, it's rather experimental and editorial, bordering on avant garde. The fuzzy hood is such an unusual choice for a dress like yours - it makes it all way more exciting. I'd categorize this design into a fashion trend that's been developing for a while in that designs can be sexy while also showing very little skin. I adore how you mimicked the pattern on the skirt on the top, it's creative. My favorite detail is perhaps the smallest one: you expanded the white, pearl-like pattern of the skirt through the sandals. I've never seen that and I applaud it. I believe you capture the slightly eerie aura of the song Wolf and this design is definitely memorable, which means it is a great design for a music video. I really appreciate the way your design matches the music video set while it's not matchy matchy in any way - in fact you utilized a color palette not found in the music video set at all. Well done!
buyartpop
Lovely. Your design has the rave aspects down while it also has that fragile, torn and emotional feeling of the song. It's a song about slightly unhappy love and you managed to capture that while it's also a look that is really fun and a bit unorthodox - perfect for a rave club. I adore the layered textures that only get more and more intense from top to bottom. I absolutely love it when a designer is able to incorporate shoes into a design in a way that it's a main aspect and not just an afterthought, which you definitely managed. This isn't an overly complicated design and yet it has that zsa zsa zsu to it, it's a look with a fully developed concept and a perfect execution. I'm not sure if it was intentional on your part to apply a purple aspect, the hat, close to the purple graffiti but it's a brilliant choice as it makes your model integrate into the set on a whole other level while also maintaining individuality. I think the choices you made here, from the purple cowboy hat to the overstated skirt, are a sign that the Dutch dance music scene from the early 2000's (think Vengaboys) played a role in your design process.
snawl
The song What U Wanna Do? is about a desperate person trying to figure out how to please her lover in a bit of a sad way and I definitely think that this design displays that kind of vulnerability that the song represents. I'd even say that the song is slightly sorrowful, to me the red heart portrays a bit of a bleeding heart. The best aspect of your design is the transition from a red orange to a deeper red and I am a sucker for lots of layered fabrics. By utilizing a skirt that is a bit more slim and stiff, you've created the illusion that your model is standing in a mild wind, I really like it! I think the choice of the skirt and the shoes are interesting and they work to a certain degree, but a part of me thinks that this looks like one outfit above the hip and a completely different outfit below the hip. Not that a design needs to be matchy matchy in order for there to be total synergy, I just don't love the bottom. In fact, the top has all my attention. I will commend you on the fact that the design gets more textured the further down your eyes go which is a neat feature.
gnge
With this design, you have now established that nude illusion fashion is one of your greatest strengths as a designer. The song is made for Berlin-rave type of parties and this design fits that category very well. I love that there isn't actually that much outfit to look at, but what there is to see is gorgeous to look at. We''ve seen that combination of the skirt and the apron before but I think that the addition of the red lace and the white shoes with the silver details make for a design both suitable for a runway show and for a nightclub. This is the fourth panel and I'd say that you have shown the greatest level of consistency throughout this season, keep it up and you'll be difficult to beat. You were eliminated in both Season 1 & 2 for designs that lacked oomph, and yet you don't resort to overdesigning. I've probably said this before but there's a whole new level of confidence and passion in your designs than previously and it's really great to see. The gray, almost metallic and utterly subtle knee pads on your model is a kinky aspect that I really enjoy.
verdict
I thought the level of submissions on Season 2 set the bar a bit too high for Season 3, but you guys have proven me wrong. As cliché as this sounds, you are all front-runners or ferocious underdogs in one way or the other. This panel is by far my favorite one of the season, you all showed such individuality and a lot of passion for this competition which makes my work as a host more than worth it. I said I would make this week a double elimination but I've made some slight changes in my plans for the season, which means that this week there is a single elimination and next week the double elimination will happen regardless of how much I love the outfits.
Well done to BUYARTPOP and Razzing for making it to the top this week, I wish I could've made it a triple win but that would be beyond my integrity as a host.
Congratulations Uhu, you are the winner of this task. You have broken the curse from last season and finally snatched a task win. Your design represents why you are so beloved in the PR community, while it also showcases growth and a new side from you. The design was absolutely masterful and it's great to see you just having fun with the design process, that is what makes you produce your best work.
As a reward, you will receive immunity for the next panel. You must also eliminate somebody from the bottom. The bottom two consists of:
- LC22
- nicrobbo95
uhu's decision
- Both outfits are extremely tasteful, and both are relating to their songs accordingly. Nicrobbo95 is showing a bolder, more fashion-forward look that is very captivating. However, I find LC22's outfit to just take the edge of relating to the song, with an extremely marketable, commercial outfit fit for a billboard. For that reason I would choose to save LC22 :(
Nicrobbo95, believe me when I say that it absolutely breaks my heart to see you eliminated. When I say that you should be proud of yourself, that isn't just something nice to cheer you up but it's a fact. This season, you beat longterm professionals as well as a Snawlterm winner. I am a huge fan of you as a designer and I celebrate who you are and your work. You have a certain something that money can't buy and if you keep practicing you will be unstoppable. All the best to you!
Task 5 is now available.
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