Kelli Martin got off to a great start this season, impressing the judges and winning the first Project Runway challenge. So it came as a shock when the 27-year-old designer found herself in the bottom on Wednesday’s episode, criticized for what Nina Garcia deemed was her lack of taste. Calling from New York, Martin fires back at the judges, reflects on Michael Kors’s critique that her look was “slutty” and explains why partnering with Daniel Feld was a big mistake. –Brian Orloff
Let’s talk about the team challenge. Why did you pick Daniel as your partner?
To be honest with you, I would much rather have picked Stella. She was my buddy, and looking back I feel as if we would have meshed a lot better and been able to bounce off each other and had a lot more fun . . . [But] I was trying to be the responsible one and think, If [Daniel has] such impeccable taste [laughs], maybe he can counteract my “lack of taste,” as [the judges] put it.
Did he provide that good counterpoint for you? Did he help you with the design choices?
At first, he was royally pissed because he was chosen close to last. I felt a bit like slapping him in the face, like, “Are you kidding me?” I was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt and be nice and be like, “Come on, give me your opinion.” Eventually he did help me pick out the fabrics. He was half the source of the fabric choosing so I don’t know why he was on such a high horse. I tried to make it work. I tried to be as nice as possible, but once I saw [his] first skirt construction, I was
shocked to say the least.
Daniel kept saying he had such high-end taste. Does he?
I think he’s delusional just a bit. He has an idea of what he’s supposed to like – and what he’s supposed to design. He’s trying to play the role but not quite making the mark. We can see that in his previous designs. It’s not a knock, he’s just very insecure and unsure of himself – and
slightly disheveled all the time.
Were you happy with the look you two put together?
I definitely had concerns. The final look was true to the design [I pitched], so I couldn’t complain about that. Maybe I would not have used so much black, but I had what I had. It definitely wasn’t my favorite design, but [Michael Kors's description] “slutty slutty slutty”–all of that was very
funny, and I got a kick out of it, but it was a little inappropriate. It was a suit. Her ass wasn’t hanging out. Her boobs weren’t popping out. Heidi Klum’s worn sluttier stuff on every episode.
What did you make of Nina Garcia attacking your level of taste?
She liked the way I thought on the first challenge, and obviously she contradicted herself by saying I have a lack of taste when I was cool every episode. We do have a different taste level. She’s a 50-year-old woman and I’m in my 20s. [Garcia is actually 43.] I know there’s totally a market and a niche for what I do.
Do you think that was your ultimate downfall?
At the end of the day it is a television show, and I didn’t pull the gimmick card. I was myself. I’m there to sew, so I go in my corner and sew. I’m not going to throw myself in front of the camera just to get another five minutes.
Tell us: What do you think about Kelli’s taste level? Did she deserve to go home? Were her comments about Daniel dead-on or just sour grapes?
Jay Sullivan/NBC; Barbara Nitke/NBC
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