'Project Runway' season premiere recap: La La Land

But maybe they were too busy trying to make sense of that ridiculous silver romper from the mind of Ari ''I Could Be Sam Ronson's Kooky Twin Sister from Another Solar System'' Fish. IfRunway history has taught us anything, it's that loony tunes like Ari who present conceptual installation pieces right out of the gate aren't usually the first to get Auf'd. (Dare we recall ridonkulous Blayne's crack-ho onesie from the season 5 premiere?) And I figured the judges might want to keep her around for a while, if only to give Malvin ''I don't differentiate between different color carpets'' Vien some competition for this season's Most Likely to Occupy an Alternate Universe award. (Seeing as he's already got the Most Likely to Be Mistaken for the Hair Love Child of Robert Smith and a Thompson Twin in the bag.) When the judges surprisingly sent Qristyl Frazier and her hot mess of a schizophrenic dress to safety, I was sure they'd have the sense to tell Mitchell and his musty muumuu to go stand by that fireplace with a glass of brandy. (Oh, Michael Kors.) But no. They gave Ari and her Martian nappy the heave-ho back to her home planet. It's a shame, really. What will the yards of lonely fabric do with no one to ask them what they want to be made into next week?

As for the winners and near-winners, I was rooting for the orthographically creative Ra'mon as soon as he mentioned that he'd gone to med school for neurosurgery (!) before heeding the call of his fashionista muse. Then I saw that gorgeous asymmetrical purple gown of his and he won my full support. (Heidi also gave it her foolproof endorsement: ''It looks expensive!'') I guess I can see why the judges ultimately deemed his design too safe and gave the win to Christopher Straub. His two-toned, dual-textured mini-frock had the edge on innovation and was more youthful as well. Hopefully the win — and immunity for next week — will help Christopher quit it with the self-conscious remarks about his lack of professional training. Dude, you're on Project Runway, so you must have done something right teaching yourself to sew! But ugh…those baseball hats you wear to the side? You don't have to go to design school to know that those are more than a little d-baggy. So let's lose 'em, mmmkay?

What did you think of the long-awaited return of Project Runway? Are you satisfied that it's the same show we know and love? Did Ari deserve to go? Who are your early favorites? And how would you rate Lindsay Lohan as a judge? Not as sharp as L.L. Cool J, right?

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