"Project Runway" 7.01 Recap: "Back to New York"

Let me begin by saying how honored I am to be the official Ruwway recapper this season here at AfterElton.com. A few years ago (during the Kenley's reign of terror, I think) a group of friends started gathering with my partner, Craig, and I, and our housemate, Dan, at what I’ve come to call The Party Pad in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

In these recaps, I'll share with you not only “what happened” on each episode, but also the opinions and off-the-cuff comments of our viewing party viewers — mostly all gay men, but occasionally we have a straight couple who joins us. Without further rambling, here we go!

Tonight’s Players include: Jason, a pharmacology writer and photographer, Dan (the housemate), an actor and now playwright (look for his first play, Daddy, to premiere in NYC later this month), Nick & Adam, an actor and his marketing manager partner, Andrew (all the way in from Hell’s Kitchen), an actor who appeared on Broadway in Spamalot with Clay Aiken, and myself, Frank, a novelist and playwright.

On tonight’s episode, surprise! We’re back in the Big Apple. Truth be told, I had no idea this was happening until just a few days ago when I saw the commercial for the premiere. Thank God! I’m sure we’ll all agree that something was just not right with Runway: LA.

First, we’re introduced to the contestants. I’ll list a few of the standouts here: Seth Aaron Henderson, 37, the “Rocker” and who I dubbed the “Jeffrey” type from Season 4, I think it was. Janeane Ceccanti, 27, she’s the “Ricky” (Season 5?) of the bunch. As we see tonight, Janeane likes to let the tears flow. Ping Wu, also 37, is the “Ari Fish” (last season) of this season. Surely she won’t last beyond the first challenge! (Or will she?) Anthony Williamson, 28, from Alabama (and he is the Southern Belle! For a moment, I thought I was watching Real Housewives of Atlanta), Jesus Estrada, a baby at just 21, and Emilio Sosa, 43.

Photos credit: Lifetime

Another standout during the intros is Jesse LeNoir, 25, an actor-turned designer (who played Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean at DisneyWorld, apparently.) Off the bat, he’s a fave of Viewing Party members Nick and Jason. They think he's the “Logan” of last year.

Tim Gunn with Jesse

Viewing Party member (henceforth "VPM") Adam likes Emilio, who represents NYC, as does VPM Dan for this reason. The consensus (by VPM Nick) is that Jesus is “cute” but that he looks like an animé character. VPM Dan also thinks that Mila Hermanovski, 40, (not to be confused with Maya Luz, 22) looks like Season 6’s Louise, only older. (I thought she looked more like that woman who would spit on her fabric, whose name escapes me!) Already the season seems promising. As VPM Jason (our resident photog) points out, the portfolio shots all look quite professional, so this group must be good!