Ah, crap. So the reason for so little air time was that he was just a regular mid-season elimination. Tim Gunn save was so wasted on Char, even though I have nothing against her. Then again, Fäde's past two looks were not as great as the first looks of the season, so even though I disagree, I do understand why he was eliminated.
He wrote this on his Facebook page:
I guess I would struggle with this, too, if I ever went to a competition like Project Runway (if I, you know, had designing/sewing ability). Some of these challenges are so stupid and uninspiring, that I would get stuck on that and just couldn't do my best work - so I would probably get sent home just like Fäde. Then again, surviving these stupid challenges is part of the competition.