Isaac Mizrahi on This Week's Fashion Show: 'It Was Worse Than Juniors. It Felt Like Juniors from the '90s.'

It was a rough week for contestants on the glorious Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection -- Iman and Isaac Mizrahi dismissed their work as almost unanimously terrible. Yowch. However, a couple palatable looks emerged: Cesar turned out a smartly mismatched ensemble while Dominique came through with a surprise victory. Redemption, sort of! We caught up with Isaac Mizrahi -- as we do every week -- to discuss this week's drama, the difficult elimination, and old ladies who won't let him take their picture.

Both teams failed this week, and you and Iman basically pumped them full of lead on the runway. Why do you think they botched this assignment?

Well, I guess it's because they kind of second-guessed themselves. I think it has to do a lot with the chemistry between the contestants. Like, Calvin really seems to be getting under everyone's skin. So far, he hasn't really succeeded on the show, but he hasn't failed. That's the thing about Calvin. Somehow he's gotten this far because he manages to work everyone's nerves so much. Because of that, his non-failures come off better than they should.

The Fashion Show is all about teamwork. Is it awkward to criticize Calvin's ability to work with others but then have to praise his clothes?

That's the thing! Yes, it's very awkward. It's no secret that he's impossible. It's no secret anymore. We try to kind of work it a little bit. That's why last week was great when Caroline Manzo slapped him into shape. You know? At some point I said to her, "Will you work with me?" Because she's so great with these difficult personalities. God knows there are lots of difficult personalities to put up with -- but his is particularly difficult.

Do you think the "weekend getaway" aesthetic derailed the teams at all?

We tried to give them something broad enough and defined enough to work within the confines. I will say as a designer, the more problems that are thrown at me, the better I do. The minute you open up something that broadly, it gets difficult. Does that make sense?

Sure. If there aren't enough constraints, there's hardly enough to get a designer's wheels turning.

That's exactly what I'm trying to say. So we gave them this weekend getaway thing, and that should be enough of a constraint to pull something magical out of the hat. Now, Dominique won, but she only won because her thing wasn't as putrid as the other things. It was really controlled and, actually, really good. I thought it was not the most interesting thing color- or texture-wise, but the proportions were great and she solved the thing of finding something and making something wonderful of it. I loved the umbrella dress.

Was it depressing to choose a "worst dress" this week since plenty of entries qualified?

I mean, honestly? It's not the first time it's come up. We had a little bit of that last week too. We watch it week by week, but it's happening all the time. It's this crazy obstacle course from the first day you enter until six or seven weeks later when you're finished. They did hit this lull right in the middle. but next week is great. Wait until you see the clothes. They really heard what we had to say, and they brought it. Next week they really bring it.

Poor David. He tried piling accessories on top of a nothing dress. [Pictured right.]

I'll tell you what: I think where David was concerned, he's a very good example of being only as good as your last moment. He had a few good moments, but he slips. Then it was like, "That's it. We can't have you anymore. This was the third or fourth week we'd considered eliminating you." Whereas Cindy the week before, she was so great and so passionate about why she needed to stay -- so, we just got it. "Oh, she needs to stay." I also didn't think her dress was offensive as David's. David's just felt worse than juniors. It felt like juniors from the '90s. It was passe and bad. For him not to be able to do something chic -- if you're going to go that sort of dull safari-vest route, at least give us a longer skirt or some kind of kooky shoe. Something! And all those accessories on top of it? Ugh! I thought it was just the most offensive.

Was picking a winner an annoying obligation? Or a bittersweet one, I guess, since you didn't like most of the looks?

Actually, it's not as hard to name a winner as it is to eliminate someone. I will say, saying goodbye to David was awfully bittersweet. I think there's something about him that's wonderful. He gave us a terrible look last night, but there is something great about him. I kept saying that to him, and also to Golnessa. I kept saying, "If you could only make clothes that look as good as you do..." -- and I'm not talking about their physical attributes; I'm not talking about that David is a good-looking guy. I think the way he puts himself together is so great. The little bow-tie, the crisp little shirt untucked with the pants that are a little too short, and the Hush Puppies -- it's such a good way that he looks. Then he shows this stuff that is completely unrelated! Somehow he needs to look at that and say, "I need to be more personally involved with this." He's too objectively involved. I remember last season on The Fashion Show, our guest judge Norma Kamali said a brilliant thing: "You should take this personally." If something walks down the runway that you're not proud of, you should be prostrate. You should be absolutely self-loathing about that, you know what I mean?

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