Runway finalists spend big

MELBOURNE: The final three contestants on reality television show Project Runway Australia have been given a budget of $10,000 to design a final 10-piece collection. In an episode aired on Arena Television last night (September 8)Queensland designers Juli Grbac and Leigh Buchanan, along with Victorian store owner Petrova Hammond, were given two months to create their $1000 a look collection.

After leaving their joint accommodation in Melbourne, each designer was visited at home by show mentor Henry Roth four weeks into the challenge so he could critique each collection. Twenty-nine-year-old Grbac, who said her collection was inspired by European royalty and who had spent more than a third of her budget on Swarovski crystals, was told by Roth to tone some of her pieces down.

"I worry this starts to look a little bit like a circus," he said.

Buchanan, 29, was told to "get the sex on" while Hammond, whose collection was inspired by rainbows and butterflies, was told to be a little more selective in her choices.

"If you do not stop creating and start galvanising you're just going to get lost," Roth said.

Next week's episode will see the trio's collections presented during a special show, after which the inaugural winner will be named.

The show's prize pool includes a car, a six-page spread in Madison magazine and the chance to show their collection at next year's L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival.