I think that the assertion that good designers produce good designs was a truth for Season One. However, after having seen Season One and without immunity, the contestants of Season Two had little incentive to take risks. They just wanted to get to Olympus Fashion Week and they learned, from having watched Jay, that it could be done without winning a challenge. Take Kara for example. I challenge anyone that saw her decoy collection to tell me that she was not a good designer; when I saw her collection, I thought I saw the winner. In my opinion, Kara played it too safe along the way, especially with the Iman gown. Think of how many black dresses she made (Nicky Hilton, Iman, Inspiration, Sasha Cohen) and how beautiful her work in color could be (Garden Party, in which black was not an option, and her decoy collection). She is a very talented designer but she played it too safe.
So here's my take on immunity. I think now, as a whole, early in the competition it gives the designers the incentive to excel rather than just get by. But I don't think that every challenge should come with immunity. Rather I believe that immunity challenges should alternate with reward challenges and that the reward challenges should be perceived as having real value. Last season the rewards were in All Dolled Up (MyScene Barbie), Window Shopping (Banana Republic) and What's Your Line? (Iman evening gown); I don't believe that either Nicky Hilton or Sasha Cohen ever wore the garments designed by Santino or Zulema. As for the only immunity challenge, do you remember Santino wanting to win so that he could do something "really offensive" the next week? With a reward challenge the following week, designers would not opt to take that road. In my opinion, when you get to the final six designers, the incentive should be all reward rather than any immunity.
What do you think? Immunity alternated with reward to the final six with all reward until the final collection. That's my idea to try to see more 'wow' designs and to pull the designers away from hanging back in the pack. Could this work?
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