Aaaaand here we have the Sponsor Episode. Quick, how many times did you count the WACOM unit, a tablet-like computer sketchy thingamajig used by iAcademy in their Fashion Design course, mentioned in the program? Tweetie must have dropped it three or four times during her pre-runway spiel to the designers. I know that sponsors are lovely and make talent competitions like this possible, but this episode almost felt as though the editors didn’t have much to showcase, so they added the name-drops, plus a super-long and pointless sojourn at the L’Oreal hair and makeup studio, instead.

What a shame, because the challenge itself was rather interesting: the designers had to make a.) men’s streetwear b.) to be worn five years from now c.) by their non-model iAcademy student-tutors. Men’s streetwear is totally different from women’s fashion: the latter still takes its cues from traditional fashion outlets as runway shows and magazine editors, while the former is more pop culture-driven. See: Kanye West and the rebirth of the band jacket; Justin Timberlake’s transition from baggy to body- conscious; and even the definite impact Korean and Japanese artists have had on male street fashion and haircuts. Plus, there was the added complication of the “five years from now” directive. How would the designers interpret that?

The answer: not very well.

Most of the designers seemed thrown by the challenge, showing off looks that were needlessly complicated to be “futuristic.” It was a shame that they only used men’s fashion extraordinaire, Rhett Eala, for the judging panel, because the designers would’ve benefitted from a consultation with him. The one designer who had wearable clothes, Milka, erred much too much towards department-store safe.

Milka’s design. Add a jacket and some interest in the trousers and this would’ve been a contender.

To be honest, that runway was, well, funny. There were times when my husband and I burst out laughing, most memorably when Cheetah’s depressed Mad Max ninja balabal came out.

Cheetah’s design

The look “divided the judges,” said Tweetie, with Rajo in favor of its avant garde sensibility and the rest finding it silly.

Then there was this one, from Jenno, which I have no idea how it escaped the bottom three.

Jenno’s entry

I mean…what in the hell is this?! It’s like some psycho torture dentist butcher costume. Joseph observed that Jenno was more of a graphic artist than a designer, and this entry must’ve been a phenomenal sketch, because the end product was sloppy and weird.

L-R: Glenn, Nel and Amor

It was hard to pick good entries from the alternately underwhelming and overwrought designs, but I liked Glenn’s, which would have won had that vest been finished better (and maybe with more detailing.) Nel, who bores me as a TV personality but really does have some design strengths, served up a nicely tailored jacket and pants ensemble. But in the end, Amor’s Dragon Ball-esque zippered hoodie and capris won, possibly for being the most inoffensive. It was not Rhett Eala’s favorite, that’s for sure.

And it’s goodbye to my favorite trash-talking designer with the lovely enunciation, Joseph.

Joseph’s F1/Sgt Pepper-inspired get-up

Rajo haaaated this with vehemence, and perhaps Joseph’s greatest sin was that this in no way looks forward. In fact, I can picture this on any member of N’Sync, circa 2002. But this might’ve been shrewd. We’re going through a skinny-pants/skinny tie/slim-fit phase in men’s fashion, and in five years from now those late-90s and early-2000s baggy clothes might make a comeback. Maybe it’s Joseph who’ll have the last laugh, after all.

Katrina Atienza, writer, wife, mom of two and fashion devotee, blogs at Plus Size Fasyon Mudra. Follow her on Twitter (@iggyatienza).