Episode 11 - Functional Fashion

This week's task includes sponsor American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. and will focus on combining fashion with function as the contestants face off at American Eagle's New York Design Center to create wearable technology.

Both teams will collaborate with American Eagle designers incorporating today's cutting-edge technology including cell phones, MP3 players, and computers into American Eagle's spring 2005 collection.

"The Apprentice contestants are creative, innovative, and energetic," said Michael James Leedy, chief marketing officer at American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. ,  "and we were excited to give them the chance to have fun and get into the heads of our target demographic, like AE designers do everyday, by incorporating the latest technology into our spring clothing and accessories."

Wearable technology is emerging as an innovative, up-and-coming fashion category; however, it has long been part of American Eagle's merchandise and design strategies. From the American Eagle Flight Messenger Bag which can store laptops and other essentials such as cell phones and MP3 players in a padded inside pocket to the AE Expedition Down Jacket with inside zip pockets especially for an MP3 player or cell phone as well as a loop for a headphone cord, AE customers look cool and connected wherever they live, work, and play. This week, "The Apprentice" episode illustrates how easily technology can be integrated into fashion without compromising comfort or style.

American Eagle will launch a sweepstakes in American Eagle stores nationwide and on ae.com following the airing of its episode in which one lucky individual will win a trip for two to New York City, tickets to the final episode of "The Apprentice", a new American Eagle wardrobe, and a tour of the New York Design Center where American Eagle's episode was filmed.

Comments

[Manny]

bye bye Angie...

[Lee]

So long Angie.... :)

[yawnola]

i want chris fired, hes beyond annoying with all his yelling and such, plus i hate how he has to squint his eyes when he yells....

[yawn]

i want chris fired, hes beyond annoying with all his yelling and such, plus i hate how he has to squint his eyes when he yells....

[James]

Angie... hopefully...

[stephen]

On my blog: http://apprenticeviews.blogdrive.com, I am placed my predictions.

In my final four: Katrina, Alex, Bren & Craig

Of these - Katrina and Alex are in the finals. I am bettin that it will be Katrina unless she self destructs. Someone on this blog made the point that Da-Donald will be hard pressed not to hire a lady this time.

Anyway, there ya have it from my guessin...

see on the Apprenticeviews Blog stephen

[CARLITO`S WAY]

I`ve never seen a person escape as many Boardroom firings as Chris has.I once said he had 9 lives.I was wrong.He has 10 lives.

Donald Trump should have done a double firing in The Boardroom this week. He should have canned Chris and Angie both.A Double Whammy.

Alex is tainted with losing team now.He and Chris will be asked by The Donald to pick someone from Magna next week to even out both teams at 3 people apiece.For better or for worse the Magna person that they select will greatly determine their fates and rather quickly.

In this task Magna rebounded in a masterful way.With all the problems they had with their clothing they turned things around very fast and very sucessfully.

[CARLITO`S WAY]

I thought it was ironic and amusing that Magnas reward turned out NOT to be selecting and buying clothing from "American Eagle Outfitters Inc.The Donald selected some other company.A very good clothing company.Nevertheless, I thought it was indirectly backhanded and inconsiderate that Mr.Trump was praising another clothing Firm right in front of the 2 employees from "American Eagle Outfitters." Donald Trump picked American Eagle Outfitters to be the focus of the task this week on The Apprentice but when it comes to rewarding the winning team he sends them to a competitor of AEO. What kind of message does that send? My 2 cents.

That Craig seems to be a wise ass and he seems to be working Kendra. I truly hope that she does not let that idiot get in her head and is portrayed in a negative way. At the moment Tana and him are the unofficial members of "magna" and he knows it and he seems to be holding an alliance with Tana rather than trying to "blend" in with the original magna members. With the high school graduates Tana is the only strong member and might possibly have a chance at winning.

With all the losers on this season it would be a disservice if a college graduate does not win.

[Lucy]

Alex should have gone. In my opinion, it was obvious that he set Angie up to take a fall. His list of "to do" jobs gave him away. Angie had a whole slew of tasks, while he had but one or maybe two. I think Donald actually made a mistake?!? Alex is a little to slick, but worse than that ... he very, very obvious.

[Derek]

This episode was totally unfair to Angie. She had so many tasks to do, while Chris loses the credit card, wastes so much time, and doesn't get fired. This is a true sign that Trump favours men - there is no other way to explain the fact that Chris was not fired, and Angie was (clearly a much better player than Chris)

Very frustrating. That said, I'm cheering for Tana now.

[Trump deserves Chris]

This show sucks, Chris should have been fired long long time ago, like the second episode. A lot of other contestants are better than him. He is flying under the radar doing plus the only person in Networth lost as PM, and got John fired in that episode.

[Gretchen]

I am upset that he fired Angie AND called them both loser's. Angie has been professional and mature. Donald lost a lot of business savvy with me tonight. I think he was still angry that he fired his Pet, Erin, when she was project manager. Then saying she "choked". I would honestly like to see any one of his employees be away from their family for 6 weeks and handle the stress that Angie has handled and not have a "moment". That's my 2 cents. I, too, am rooting for Tana. Now that I have seen Donald's true color's and KNOW that her truly does not want a high school graduate to win. I doubt she will win. Sigh.

[Jenny]

What exactly did Chris do, make a few purchases and loose a credit card? While Angie did everything else. I don't even know what the other guy did. Chris should have been gone for sure. Ok so maybe Angie failed her presentation, but at least she did not almost throw away money. Come on, chewing on the job, cussing at people, and losing money. What is wrong with Trump? Maybe he just wants a lap dog he can train, instead of a person who think for themselves.

[Mike]

Trump pontificates that everyone should know their customers. As a customer of his show, I am dissappointed that he showed so little character and class in firing Angie. She did more for her team on this task than either of the guys. Trump usually fires the project manager for failled leadership. Alex clearly did not manage this task well, but Trump likes Alex, so he made an excuse for his lack of leadership. And why Chris is still there?

[Deanna]

Carolyn was right on the money tonight! Actually, she is always on! Maybe she should have your job Mr. Trump. She hasn't been a fan of Chris since the begining. Who is? I really thought your show was going to truly recognize talent and passion, but your show is typical "Corporate America on TV." Mr. Trump; did you know that you are like every other boss out there in the "unfair" work place. Let the slackers slack and punish the person who is responsible, too responsible! It is better to hide under the table skirt then to get your hands dirty, right? Oh well, back to the show - my main point; accountability - Alex failed his team as a leader, due to his lack of simple organization and time management skills. Alex set up his team to fail as a whole and he let down his team on an individual basis by not providing the necessary tools to be successful.

Alex's definition of success is "single minded vision" what does that mean? Oh, nevermind, I understand now. Alex should have had a quick, at a glance, "project punch list" verifying the completion of the project details and delegation. duh!!!! hELLLLLOOOOOOHHHHH (HELLO). Alex isn't the worst of the bunch, but nor was Angie, by far. Chris has a rich father that left him a lot of money! Right? (LOL) That's what I think. You let me down "D".

[Leah]

I have recently lost all respect for Donald. He has completely lost his mind. First of all, when he fired Erin I was disgusted. She was smart and knew what she was talking about. Firing Angie was stupid, although she probably could have delegated the tasks better.
If he doesn't fire Chris soon, I'm gonna stop watching. Chris is absolutely obnoxious and out of control. He is angry, immature and hasn't contributed anything to his team.
Trump needs to read these messages... and fast, or else he's gonna lose a lot of viewers!

[Deanna]

I remember last season, the runner-up lawyer, I forgot her name, she was a slacker too!! This isn't a good track record the "D". D -maybe you should consider a more objective decision making process, instead of subjective. Watching your show makes me very - very happy to be unemployed!

[New Viewer]

The triumph of lowered expectations.

Magna has four members, Net Worth is down to three. So what happens? Chris has screwed up so much in his previous tasks that project manager Alex essentially gives him a few small tasks in order to get him out of the way.

What was the work distribution on that task-Alex 45%, Angie 45%, Chris 10%? And guess what-he even screws that one up!

So it's basically Alex and Angie doing everything versus Magna's four people working together. Both Alex and Angie feel the strain, as Alex is unable to get to the presentation on time, and when they do get there everyone is flustered, and matters are in disarray.

Angie might have done badly on the presentation, but the fact is she did not have time to prepare well because Chris is so useless that both members push him to the side and overwhelm themselves with work.

Alex either feared angie or is developing an older brother relationship with Chris, hard to tell.

At any rate, Chris probably deserves some sort of award for lowering everyone's expectations of him to the point where they now just send him on a few errands while they tackle the heart of the matter themselves. Works out great for Chris-they can't say his decisions were the reason for the downfall because Chris doesn't make decisions anymore-they just send him on errands and tackle the job themselves.

[Jennifer]

I was not a big Angie fan, but I thought it was really unfair that she was fired. Chris lost a credit card! The one thing he had to do, and he couldn't do it. Trump is sexist. I hope Kendra wins -- she's a very smart marketer and keeps cool under pressure (so far), although I like Tana, too. Bren is funny and charming, but I don't think he'll win. I liked Craig, until he started picking on Kendra, and even though his Home Depot idea was a really good one, he wasn't good at persuading his team members it was good and isn't that the first step in marketing?

[Who is Stephen's Katrina?]

Stephen's Final Four:

In my final four: Katrina, Alex, Bren & Craig

***On my blog: http://apprenticeviews.blogdrive.com, I am placed my predictions.

In my final four: Katrina, Alex, Bren & Craig

Of these - Katrina and Alex are in the finals. I am bettin that it will be Katrina unless she self destructs. Someone on this blog made the point that Da-Donald will be hard pressed not to hire a lady this time.***

Who is Katrina? Stephen, when did this new candidate join the Apprentice 3 show?

What is this? I am placed my predictions...

[Richard]

Carlito's Way,
Donald Trumps comments were not backhanded nor inconsiderate to the execs at American Eagle Outfitters when he described the reward he was offering to the winning Magna team.
Bergdorf Goodman and AEO are hardly competitors by any stretch of the imagination. Bergdorf Goodman's seeks to serve the sartorial connoisseur, while American Eagle Outfitters target demographic are a world away - primarily in age and income.
The message that Donald sent was, "You did a great job for me. You did a great job for American Eagle Outfitters. And now I'm going to reward your hard work and send you on a shopping spree at Bergdorf Goodman."
If, on the other hand, Donald were to send them to the Gap, or Old Navy, or Banana Republic... THAT WOULD be a slap in the face.

[Liz]

I too was very disappointed in Trump tonight. So
much for him listening to his executives. I feel
Angie had given each task 100% even while being on
a team of hot heads and tough individuals to work
with. Seems like tonight she had to do the task
basically by herself,and then take the blame for
losing. I wish at this point they'd make the teams
men vs. women and see what happens. I think Tana
and Kendra would kick ass against the remaining men even if outnumbered 4 to 2. They just seem to
think the tasks out and act with enthusiasm no
matter what the circumstances. That's the candidate I'd hire. I used to get good ideas for
work from this show,and this season-nothing!

[Richard]

Deanna,
I agree with you that Alex should have been fired. What I keep forgeting is that at this point in the game, Alex must be thinking about his strategy to knock-off his toughest competition. He set Angie up, and then let Chris double-team, thinking that he can mop the floor with Chris later. Unfortunately for Alex, he doesn't have a chance against the likes of Tana and Kendra.