I was honored to have been asked to judge the Los Angeles castings of Season 7 at the chic W Hotel , along with Tim Gunn and Marie Claire's Zoe Glassner. Here are a couple of the first "Casting" videos of the new Season 7 Contestants and my thoughts (as best I can remember):
Amy Sarabi:
We were all instantly fascinated by Amy. If I remember correctly, she was from the San Francisco Bay Area and she worked in the Gap Design Team. Her designs were as far from Gap as one could get! I loved her construction, her ruffled and pleated bolero jackets. The garments she brought in were flawlessly made and oh-so-directional. To me, she was a Stand-out. Should be a front-runner.
Anna Lynett:
Anna's designs were sublime and had a "quiet" elegance about them, if I remember. Her designs didn't scream, they whispered. It is hard to tell in this casting video, but her garments were actually really nice and made us "stand-up" and take notice (I'm sure you guys are like "All I see is a lot of boring gray!"). Her demeanor was very sweet--she might get "eaten up" by the "Reality Show" machine however...
Stay tuned for more of my Season 7 Casting Nick Verreos Memory Lane...