‘Project Runway All Stars’ Season 5

Episode 8 recap: “Once Upon a Runway”

At the Drama Bookshop, the designers met up with host Alyssa Milano and Laura Michelle Kelly, star of the Broadway show “Finding Neverland.” They were assigned to design a modern runway look for a fictional heroine from classic children’s literature.

Hawaii designer Kini Zamora said he’d always wanted to design for a modern fairy tale, so he said the challenge was like a dream come true. He was assigned “Alice in Wonderland” and he used denim to create a collared shift with a couture ruffle in back, a look fit for a fantasy tea party and adorable in execution.

With a background in costume, Alexander Pope seemed to have an advantage in the competition. He was assigned one of the easiest characters to dress to impress, Cinderella. But instead of being creative, he came up with what was essentially a boring bridesmaid dress.

While the designers were in the lunchroom, Ken Laurence pointed out there might have been only six designers left at this point of the competition instead of eight, because of the two saves earlier in the season.

It’s a sore point with Zamora because he created a top, during the only team challenge, that kept his teammate, Sam Donovan, in the competition, and the two got into a heated tiff.

Donovan made a mesh crop top and pencil skirt for “The Little Mermaid,” with applique patches of blue and shimmery sequins reflecting the sea. Pope said it’s the same sort of junior look that got Stella Zotis eliminated from the competition.

Sure enough, Zamora was put in the top three with Dom Streater and Asha Daniels, and Donovan ended up on the bottom with Pope and Layana Aguilar.

I was certain the win would go to Zamora or Streater. I loved her idea of a Tinker Bell straight off Carnaby Street, with bold prints and cut-out negative space “wings.” I was shocked when Daniels won. Her jumpsuit with tail design was borderline “old lady,” on par with Pope’s gown.

As for the bottom, it was a toss-up. Aguilar’s look read more ready-to-wear than designer. Pope’s look was old, and Donovan’s was too simple. But I felt the judges had to keep Donovan because the Zamora-Donovan rivalry is the only interesting storyline of the season.

Aguilar had been on the bottom several times, so she seemed like the one to go home, but in the end, going too old lady is the worst offense for a designer, and Pope was sent home.

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New episodes of “Project Runway All Stars” air at 7 p.m. Thursdays on Lifetime. Look for recaps at fashiontribe.staradvertiserblogs.com afterward and Saturdays in the Today section.