Korto Momolu & Leanne Marshall Shine at New York Fashion Week, Spring 2009

September 12, 2008 at 9am in the main tent at Bryant Park, Korto Momolu, along with five other remaining contestants in Season 5 Project Runway showed their collection to enthusiastic Project Runway fans, media and fashion buyers. The event began when Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia and Michael Kors walked from backstage onto the runway. Hand in hand, they strutted on the runway stopping to pose for their photo up when they reached the end of the runway.

Heidi looked dazzling in a form fitting black dress with a long zipper at the back. Shortly after, Heidi got hold of the mic, greeted her audience and spent some time thanking Bravo TV and all of her crew involved in the past five years in the making of Project Runway. The reason for her extensive thanks became obvious as she later announced to the audience that Project Runway’s contract with Bravo TV had ended and they’d be moving to a new network, Lifetime TV.

After the many thanks, Heidi informed the audience that Actress/fashion designer/singer and A-list celeb Jennifer Lopez [J.Lo]was the guest judge for the finale but unfortunately had called the night before to cancel because she had a foot injury! Who was the replacement? Project Runway’s very own Tim Gunn! Tim Gunn emerged from back stage, greeted the audience and promised to be as unbiased as possible. With that, the show began!

The six designers showed roughly ten pieces per collection with Jerrell Scott being first up. Scott was friendly in greeting the audience and he proceeded to show a collection that was quite glittery with lots of sequins on dresses. His collection was energetic, young and fun. Next was Suede. One word, “disappointing.” From the designs, color choice and blend to the execution, there was nothing much to write about. Thankfully, Joe Faris who showed after Suede raised it two notches high. Inspired by by his beautiful, "America," he showed a well thought out and wonderfully executed collection consisting mostly of leather bustiers, pants and denim skirts. After Faris came Kenley Collins. Her collection definitely reflected her personal style and she indeed stated she created a collection that would be her "dream wardrobe." From the flowers in the hair of models to cute adorable floral print dresses, corsets matched with full tulle skirts, it appeared she got what she wanted.

Korto Momolu was next. While the audience had cheered when each designer appeared and after they showed their collection, with Korto, the audience began cheering even before she emerged from backstage. Korto explained she was inspired by nature and also said her collection incorporated her accessory designs. She chose bold clolors like yellow, green and neutrals like nudes and whites of which she used to design long evening gowns, short cocktail dresses and cute sailor like pant reminiscent of the one that had winning the Olympic challenge. At the end of her show, Korto grabbed her little daughter by the hand and walked the runway with the lovely little one.

Finally, it was Leanne Marshall’s turn. Leanne was a surprise. The same contestant that seemed so unsure of herself in the beginning, seemed, to us, to show by far one of the best collections from all six. Her collection was sophisticated, sexy, refined, soft and just beautiful. She did something unique with the way she designed fabrics that seemed to fold like petals and move in such fluid motion.

[All photos courtesy of New York Magazine/Imaxtree]

KORTO'S COLLECTION

LEANNE MARSHALL'S COLLECTION