Project Runway Season Two premiered Wednesday night with a brand-new lineup of fresh-faced designers. Style arbiters Michael Kors, Nina Garcia, and Tim Gunn were all back, along with host Heidi Klum, who seemingly spent the off-season studying English elocution (unfortunate, since her signature “Either you’re in or you’re out” sounded far more compelling in original “fraulein fashion” form). The 90-minute premiere also saw guest appearances from last season’s winner, Jay, as well as also-rans including Rob in full-on flirting mode and Austin in full makeup. Returning as a contestant was Daniel Franco, the first designer cut from season one. Although the episode was sprinkled with the requisite sponsor plugs and near nervous breakdowns, the new contestants appear to have all the talent necessary to continue setting the Bravo show apart in the otherwise baseless world of reality TV.

The opening challenge for the sartorial 16 was to create an ensemble that best represented their design sensibilities—using only six yards of cotton muslin and $20 for supplies. Not surprisingly, Santino’s skillfully gathered teal babydoll dress (shown) was hailed the winner, while Nick’s formfitting salmon-colored suit and Chloe’s chic evening gown also made strong showings. More uneven were Diana’s Edwardian-meets-Ikea two-piece, which demonstrated ingenuity but lack of judgment (the magnets used to secure the skirt failed on the runway), and Daniel F.’s chocolate halter dress, which, although lovely in theory, was so poorly fitted it seemed to transform his 6-foot, 100-pound model into modern-day Mrs. Butterworth. But the biggest losers were Heidi and John, neither of whom demonstrated creative discipline or a cohesive concept (the latter’s tie-dyed frock was downright tacky).

For the second challenge—fabricating a new design literally using the clothes off their backs—the legendary Diane von Furstenberg appeared as a guest judge. Although the ensembles that made the biggest splashes thereafter were Eliza Doolittle’s Klum’s not-so-coincidentally Furstenberg-esque pregnancy dresses, Chloe bested her rivals with a minimalist aqua-and-black halter crafted from the most meager materials. With the exception of Kara and Daniel V., whose designs were respectable but not outstanding, the contestants struggled with the assignment, most notably Zulema whose micromini dress spawned full booty exposure on the runway. Even worse was Kirsten’s mismatched Porsche-emblazoned bib top (which might have looked fresh five years ago) and trashtastic gold-paneled skirt. Although she had a vintage Hermès scarf at her disposal, Kirsten failed to use it because it was a family heirloom—a decision for which she paid dearly. Auf wiederschauen, indeed. —Jennifer Ciotta