I think Christian is talented, but not as nearly as much as everyone seems to think. His collection is derivative, repetitive and over-designed. How many pairs of boring black pants is he sending out, with big-sleeve jackets?! His other non-pant looks (leather top and pouf skirt, pouffy dress, feather dress) are non-looks to me, they're unwearable and don't really communicate any vision other than 'I like ruffles, they're dramatic'.
It's knock-off McQueen but not in a good sense. McQueen is always interpreting some kind of influence -scots, victoriana, egypt, mata hari, whatever, and turning it into something beautiful and a little twisted. What does Christian's collection mean? What's its inspiration? I know he likes big-sleeved jackets, narrow pants and ruffles in a very basic colour pallette of black, cream and brown, but what else is going on here? It looks cohesive because there aren't really many ideas, it's just the same basic thing over and over.
Jillian's is ambitious, patchy in execution. I was hoping for something much stronger and refined from her, to be honest: I feel she could have developed the military edge more fully. Still, it's hit and miss but I think she's the best designer by far, hope she wins.
Rami's gowns are gorgeous -the gold one shoulder thing is stunning and I want it. The rest is meh, his grecian draping is nice but I think his palette is really dated and uninspiring.
I still think Kirsty McCall's winning collection on Project Catwalk series 1 was the best and most professional looking collection I've seen on any of these shows. It was the only one where I've been genuinely happy to see what she produced, rather than a little let down.
I don't care if most of his influences are of the Roman + Greek variety - he does it fabulously!
