TVSquad

Heidi Klum, supermodel and wife of singing sensation Seal is now an international footwear designer too. Heidi Klum has recently finished her 3rd footwear collection for Birkenstock. This collection, according to Birkenstock, is her most glamorous take on Birkenstock sandals to date and includes:

Madrid “Diamond” feature metallic grained leather uppers in gold or silver appliqued with rhinestones and crystal hearts.

“Saphire”, Heidi‘s two-strap sandal features two-tone metallic leather uppers, adorned with rivets and rhinestones. This style is available in three colour combinations: gold/silver, pink/silver and green/blue.

All sandals had their traditional cork-latex footbed covered in matching metallic leathers and come with a silver plated Heidi Klum pendant.

An objective on-looker might deduce that Birkenstock are moving away from their traditional “eco-conscious” and “green” customer base and are attempting to woo a new affluent and trendy customer who would easily empathise with the glamourous profile and, indeed, lifestyle of Heidi Klum and Seal. Let’s face it, the traditional Birkenstock customer has probably never even heard of Heidi Klum and is more likely to empathise with Ghandi or St Francis. So is this a conscious decision by Birkenstock to move away from their traditional “carrot-crunching” customer base or are they simply attempting to be all things to all people? The latter is perhaps the more plausible answer and who can blame them for wanting to achieve global dominance just like every other high-profile brand.

Nonetheless, part of us all longs for a brand free from celebrity and stardom, a brand pure, free and simple — a brand reminiscent of the “hippie” era. Birkenstock used to be that brand. Maybe a new celebrity-free “Brand Messiah” will come forward and fill the void — suggestions in writing please.

Reply

I was so worried that Nick might be eliminated because of stupid-ass Santino. Marla and Diana's time had come, that's for sure.

Reply

Overall, I really liked Diana's designs, though I have a feeling I might be in the minority (for example, I liked the dress from last week). This outfit was not good. Not -boring-, like the judges said, but the scarf and the jacket were too restrictive. Marla should've been gone last week, but I was kind of disappointed about Diana. The person I really wanted to go, though, was Zulema, who should have been kicked off for that ridiculous too-short sweater dress weeks ago (and her dress last week was wretched, too). I did like this dress (didn't understand why the judges thought the jacket didn't go), but I find Zulema even more distasteful than Santino (who totally cracked me up with the "It's only fashion!" dance).



Andrae really needs to clamp down on his facial expressions. Freaks me out. He and The Great Santino could share mood stabilizers.

Reply

Also, c'mon, I liked Marla and Diana's window. I'm looking at Tim's blog now, and he says he liked the outfit well enough, but that the window didn't show the evening transition--I guess that's a good point, but I'd hardly call Andrae and Daniel V's clock thing inspired.

Tim on Santino & Nick: "By subjugating himself, Nick did the right thing and was saved from god-only-knows how much potential abuse from you-know-who." Huh? I thought that was a pretty bad idea, since Nick knew at the beginning the design wouldn't fly and let himself be talked into it anyway. (I thought they were trying to win a reality show, not save their self-esteem?)

Reply

Thank goodness Bravo reruns this show a thousand times each week - I forgot it was on.



Just going by the still photos, all of the designs look pretty ugly to me. The Andrae/Daniel dress makes her look like a box from the shoulders to the hips and I used to wear a jacket like that called a bolero a couple of decades ago, so it can't be considered a new idea.



Kara and Zulema's dress is pretty, but who would want to show that much skin at work? The jacket also looks a little like a "Members Only" jacket without sleeves.



Marla and Diana's dress actually looks like something you could wear both to work and to a club (without jacket).



Santino and Nik's outfit also looks dual purpose but the fabric is awful.



The one I like the least is Chloe and Emmett's. The top half doesn't match the bottom half. But, I guess that is why I am only a viewer of fashion on TV, not a fashion editor.

Reply

Evadne - I liked Diana a lot, but I knew she wouldn't last in the competition. As for Marla, she should have gone last week.



Worst window design - Nick and Santino, fo sho.

Reply

Great recap, I definetly agree. Santino actually doesnt bother me as much as most pople, but the man isn't too smart. He's definetly not in a place to insult a fashion icon! And especially one who has the ability to kick him off the show!

Reply

Clearly, Santino is a talented designer; however, I firmly agree with the blogger post by TVSquad stating that Michael Kors should not have been insulted that was highly inappropriate and offensive!



Mr. Kors did not get where he is today in the high stakes fashion industry by not knowing his consumer's tastes and for Santino to argue with Mr. Kors was completed absurd. This is not the first time that Santino has lashed out at the judges. I think Santino needs to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground and hope that the judges don't develop a mean streak and kick him off the show for being patently obnoxious.



Regarding, Diana and Marla, Marla needed to be eliminated when she was caught copying Nicky Hilton's Chloe dress design. Diana is a talented designer, but since it was a team effort and two people had to be eliminated from their respective teams, then I fully concur with the judges' decision this time.



Finally, with regards to Kara and Xulema, Zulema did a great job by telling Kara to keep working because in a high stakes pressure world of fasion, you have to be able to make the show go on and Zulema did the right thing by telling Kara to keep pressing on because clearly Kara was overwhelmed, which makes me think she should be eliminated because in the stressful world of fashion, you can't be a designer and allow yourself to be over-stressed and breakdown into tears. Granted it was pitiful that Kara had broken down because who wouldn't under those stressful conditions; however, this is a competition and only the strongest candidate can win and candidly that candidate does not appear to be Kara.



By the way, Saninto said that Zulema "went ape," but Zulema pulled her and Kara out of a very difficult situation, so Zulema shouldn't be criticized by Santino just because she told Kara that they had to get busy. That's hardly "going ape." It's called being an effective leader and knowing that you have to press forward no matter how difficult the challenge.



In conclusion, Kara needs to be eliminated from the show because she can't handle pressure without getting visibly upset and Santino needs to be more compassionate and less critical towards the judges becuase after all, if it weren't for the judges, he wouldn't be able to "win the chance of a lifetime."

Reply

Clearly, Santino is a talented designer; however, I firmly agree with the blogger post by TVSquad stating that Michael Kors should not have been insulted. Santino's comments were both inappropriate and highly offensive.



Mr. Kors did not get where he is today in the high stakes fashion industry by not knowing his consumer's tastes and for Santino to argue with Mr. Kors was completely absurd. This is not the first time that Santino has lashed out at the judges. I think Santino needs to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground and hope that the judges don't develop a mean streak and kick him off the show for being patently obnoxious.



Regarding, Diana and Marla, Marla needed to be eliminated when she was caught copying Nicky Hilton's Chloe dress design. Conversely, Diana is a talented designer, but since it was a team effort and two people had to be eliminated from their respective teams, then I fully concur with the judges' decision this time to eliminate Diana and Marla.



Finally, with regards to Kara and Xulema, Zulema did a great job by telling Kara to keep working because in a high stakes pressure world of fasion, you have to be able to make the show go on because clearly Kara was overwhelmed, which makes me think she should be eliminated because in the stressful world of fashion, you can't be a designer and allow yourself to be over-stressed and breakdown into tears. Granted it was pitiful that Kara had broken down because who wouldn't under those stressful conditions? However, as Nina Garcia argued, "This is a competition" and only the strongest candidate can win and candidly that candidate does not appear to be Kara.



By the way, Saninto said that Zulema "went ape," but Zulema pulled her and Kara out of a very difficult situation, so Zulema shouldn't be criticized by Santino just because she told Kara that they had to get busy and keep working. That's hardly "going ape." It's called being an effective leader and knowing that you have to press forward no matter how difficult the challenge. I am grateful for both Kara and Zulema that they did not get eliminated because it shows that Zulema had the right idea by not giving up and keep pressing forward.



In conclusion, Kara needs to be eliminated from the show because she can't handle pressure without getting visibly upset and Santino needs to be more compassionate and less critical towards the judges and his fellow competitors (he made the rude comment that Diana's voice was annoying, be that as it may, she can't help how she talks no more than anyone can help out they physically look) becuase after all, if it weren't for the judges, he wouldn't be able to "win the chance of a lifetime" to quote Heidi Klum.



Incidentally, Heidi Klum is not only a good hostess but she has a positive, upbeat attitude and it's always funny when she says, "Bye" and says, "You're either IN or you're OUT."

Reply

My previous guess for the Final Three was Chloe, Nick and Santino.



I think that The Project Runway Powers That Be will decide Santino is just too much of a dick to make it to Fashion Week. They'll kick him out with the same reason they gave Austin last season -- he's a talented designer, but too often he’s designing what he wants, not what the judges want.



Current guess is Daniel V makes the final three, with Chloe winning it all.

Reply

I don't think Diana should have been kicked out. (in denial mode) I think it was Marla's fault, that Diana got kicked out.(denial mode off) The combination of the window space, and the dress were just done horribly. I really did like Diana's designs though, such as the bondage underwear, and the barbie design she did. But then you look at Marla's designs, like that imposter dress she did for Nikki Hilton, and all the other things she messed up on. I just wanted to see Diana go on to do more things... What can i Say

Reply

gah! i hate you people that hate santino!

Reply

I kind of like Santino.. I'm not sure why, but I hope he sticks around for a while as he is very entertaining.

I have been waiting to see Diana go for a while.. she is just too boring for me and while she seems skilled at the technical details of putting outfits together, the final product accurately reflects her personality..boring.

Reply

I think Marla should have been kicked out for being an idea thief after the Nikki Hilton episode. There is NO place for intellectual capital thieves in the real world.

Santino may have a "strong" personality but dang, he is talented.

Reply