‘Project Runway’ 20 episode 11 recap: In ‘Double Bind,’ designers had to reconcile two opposing fashion styles [LIVE BLOG]

There were only six contestants left in season 20 of “Project Runway” going into episode 11, “Double Bind,” so who won this latest design challenge and who was the next eliminated from the competition? Scroll down for our live blog with all the minute-by-minute developments and commentary throughout the episode.

Kara Saun was sent home from “Runway” last week in the anything-goes challenge “Freedom,” leaving seven designers competing for another chance at the “Project Runway” title: Brittany Allen (Season 18), Prajje Oscar Jean Baptiste (Season 19), Laurence Basse (Season 15), Bishme Cromartie (Season 17), Rami Kashou (Season Four), and Korto Momolu (Season Five). The winner of the competition will get $250,000, a mentorship with the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America), and a feature in Elle magazine.

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Last week in “Freedom” the designers got more leeway than they’ve ever had before. They were given the opportunity to design whatever looks they wanted — no restrictions or limitations. Of course, that kind of freedom can be a blessing or a curse; trying to narrow down unlimited options can be its own hardship, as Kara Saun learned when she was eliminated for an overly extravagant look that needed editing. But “Double Bind” was just the opposite. Not only did the designers have to follow specific rules, they had two follow two sets of rules. Specifically, they had just one day to design looks reconciling two opposing fashion styles.

So who managed to execute the best looks despite the contradictions of the challenge? Which designs were the best of both worlds, and which got lost in translation? Follow along below starting at 9:00pm (times listed are Eastern).

SEE‘Project Runway’ season 20 spoilers: Who was eliminated, when, and why?

9:04pm — “Kara Saun was truly the soul of this group,” says Korto upon her friend’s elimination, but the show must go on. Christian Siriano greets the designers backstage and beckons them back to the runway where Elaine Welteroth is waiting for them. “Expressing yourself with style, personal flair, is really what fashion is all about,” Christian tells them. But Elaine reminds them of the “double bind,” where a person is faced with contradictory demands or expectations. Too quiet one minute, too loud the next. Too meek, then too aggressive. The double bind “makes women in particular self-edit so they can fit in or fit the part, and it’s time for that to change.” So for this challenge, they’ll each create a runway look that showcases two styles.

9:06pm — Time to assign the opposing styles. Bishme is first and gets “basic and bold.” Sounds like a good fit for him after last week’s winning sporty-bridal look he put together. Korto gets “formal and casual.” Rami gets “fitted and oversized” — not sure how that one’s gonna work since those really do seem like mutually exclusive categories. Prajje gets “elegant and edgy” — see, I feel like those more subjective categories would be easier to reconcile. Brittany gets “sexy and modest.” Laurence is last and gets “classic and trendy.” “Classic and trendy? They’re talking about me so it shouldn’t be that hard,” she says. You know, Laurence annoyed me earlier this season with her cockiness, especially when she was really dismissive of the “Toying with Fashion” challenge, but I’ve come to really appreciate her badass confidence. As an advantage from winning the last challenge, Bishme has the opportunity to switch styles with someone else, but he decides to keep “basic and bold.” Good call, I think. “Basic and bold” are abstract enough concepts for give him some flexibility.

9:10pm — One-day challenge, 30 minutes at Mood and $450 to shop with. Brittany’s up looking for some stretchy lacy for the sexy part of her sexy/modest look. Christian likes that idea, but he advises Korto to consider color instead of black. “This entire competition I’ve been in a double bind,” says Korto. “One minute my skirts are too long, next minute they’re too short. I’m too safe, but then I’m giving too much rah-rah-rah. I can’t even,” so her plan this time is to just stick to her aesthetic.

9:16pm — The designers each have their own understanding of the challenge. As a woman, Brittany understands the no-win expectation to be sexy but not slutty or vain. The basic part of Bishme’s look will be a hoodie, but as a Black man, he knows he’s perceived differently just for wearing one, he has to reminds himself to take his hood down when he walks into stores so he won’t be looked at as a thief or a threat.

9:19pm — Christian arrives for his walkthroughs. Laurence is oing to take a classic blazer and turn it into a trendy jumpsuit, but her ideas may be a little too complicated for a one-day challenge. Bishme needs to make sure the basic-hoodie half of his look is prominent enough so the design doesn’t just look to the judges like a gown. As for Korto, she has a “cool” concept of making a casual garment in more formal fabrics, but she’s still frustrated at having her look described as “safe” last week. Christian tries to explain that the details of her look weren’t as ready apparent because she made it in black, but she’s been using color all season only to be called “safe” the one time she went for black. “I feel like I’m damned if I do, and damned if I don’t.”

9:26pm — “Game plan this week is to be a grown-ass woman and continue to stick to my aesthetic, drapings that are me because I know who I am,” Korto continues. She’s not sure how to reconcile the judges’ comments, particularly last week’s, but she seems to have her head on straight about how to proceed from there. All you can be is yourself, come what may. Christian gasps when he sees Rami’s fabrics. The brocade looks “dated” to him, and Rami has been struggling with the judges telling him some of his looks are dated, but he’s determined to prove them wrong. Brittany’s design is “different for you,” says Christian. She needs to make sure the corset under her sheer fabric is stunning, but I personally like the idea she’s going for. Straightforward, clear, executes the challenge effectively — if she pulls it off. Prajje has been struggling, meanwhile, but he’s got an origami technique that Christian thinks is promising, but is that detail edgy enough? It’s an architectural detail over an elegant silhouette.

9:28pm — “Who is ready for a model?” asks Christian. But as Brittany dresses her model with her sheer fabric, Korto is not sure she’s really executing the modest half of her assignment. It’s completely see-through.

9:33pm — “Oh really?” says Christian when he sees Prajje’s plans start to come together. Definitely not a good reaction. He’s worried Prajje is wrapping his model in a big scarf, “looking like a ‘Golden Girl’ going to lunch.” “I love the goddamn ‘Golden Girls,'” says Prajje. Amen to that. Not sure “Golden Girls” wins the challenge, though, and Christian is not sure it’s going to “translate.” I’m loving the shade of blue he’s using, though.

9:35pm — Bishme is not loking the hoodie dress he’s making. So he’s trying to figure something out before tomorrow’s runway show. But he only got enough fabric from mood to execute his original idea, so it’s a better idea for him to stick with the plan. From what I’m seeing on the mannequin, he’s being too hard on himself. Brittany feels like her brain is fried too. “I’m so dead, and my heart is racing,” she says. “This challenge has pulled out all of our brain cells,” says Bishme.

9:41pm — “I think this double bind challenge is difficult because it’s so subjective. How you define it and how the judges define it could be so different, so it’s really like you have to go with your gut and pray you can live this one through,” says Korto. She’s absolutely right. I think the only designers who got pretty concrete double binds were Brittany (sexy/modest) and Rami (fitted/oversized). Those descriptors seem relatively clear. But what makes something “basic and bold,” “elegant and edgy”? Those are very much in the eye of the beholder.

9:44pm — Rami is scrapping his entire jacket and using a big drapey sleeve as his oversized element. But his look reads a little basic to me. Korto thinks it looks “like a survival outfit.” I’m worried for him. Christian thinks Prajje’s look has a dinosaur costume vibe, looks a little heavy. Laurence still has a lot of work to do, and I haven’t really seen her look put together yet, but I usually feel confident about what she puts out.

9:52pm — Time for the runway show with fashion designer Batsheva Hay sitting in as guest judge.

BRITTANY (SEXY/MODEST): I think Korto was right that the design leans way more sexy than modest, but I’m feeling the idea of covering her model in fabric but having that fabric be sheer. The sheer fabric also looks really luxurious. It works for me, and Elaine says, “This is so good.” Nina curses. Not sure I’ve ever heard Nina curse. Is this already the winner of the challenge? I could see that.

PRAJJE (ELEGANT/EDGY): I’m getting the elegance of his look, not as much the edge, but I love the fabric color, fits his model like a glove, I think the origami looks good. Don’t think I would send that look home unless everyone else is flat-out extraordinary.

LAURENCE (CLASSIC/TRENDY): Hard for me to judge this one on the basis of classic vs. trendy since I’m not really up on women’s fashion trends, but it looks good, has cool zipper details, fits Laurence’s personality, fits the model incredibly well. Brandon wonders how the model even gets into the outfit.

RAMI (FITTED/OVERSIZED): I think he’s in trouble. Not because it doesn’t look good, I think it looks really good on his model. But that cape around the sleeve isn’t really enough to communicate oversized for me. It really needed another element to contrast the fitted dress. “It’s going to be hard to pick three bottoms,” says Elaine. “Not that hard,” says Brandon. Not something you want to hear when it’s your look on the runway.

BISHME (BASIC/BOLD): Bishme’s just hoping he’s safe. I think it could go either way. As with Rami’s design, it looks great, but I’m not sure it executed the challenge. I’m getting “bold” from this dress, but the hoodie element to convey “basic” doesn’t really come through for me.

KORTO (FORMAL/CASUAL): Bomber jacket looks fantastic, the pants are fantastic. Do I get formal OR casual from this? I’m not really sure. Korto thinks she executed both elements in her look, and maybe the judges will too. As she herself said, this is an incredibly subjective challenge.

9:57pm — I have no idea how this is going to come out. I think Brittany is the winner. But honestly, who else is on top? Who is on the bottom? I didn’t see any look worthy of elimination in this challenge. It’s going to come down to really fine details about executing the spirit of the challenge, My best guess is that Rami will be eliminated.

10:02pm — Laurence is first up. Nina loves the duality, well done, beautiful execution. Brandon didn’t think it was really trendy, it was more classic — again, subjective! But he’s “taken aback” by her ability to tailor “so beautifully in such a short amount of time.” Elaine says, “That girl is one fire.” She loves the color, the sharp shoulders, the fit on the pants.

10:04pm — Bishme is next. Elaine doesn’t know how successful it was. She thought the sparkly accents on the bust felt dated to her, “and it went a bit beauty pageant.” Nina thought the hoodie needed to feel effortless, but it feels forced. She likes the idea of a gown in that fabric, but he tried to push it so far into sexy that it struggled. Batsheva thinks he actually nailed the directive of the challenge the best, though by contrasting the gown with that hoodie and fabric. So I’m guessing he’ll be safe from elimination.

10:06pm — Rami’s look comes out. Brandon feels the “fitted” part of his look is “self-explanatory,” but he’s not sure about the oversized part. Nina also thinks it’s more fitted than oversized. She wishes the cape were “more billowy,” it doesn’t give the juxtaposition he was going for. Batsheva thinks it’s beautiful and chic, but not “tip-top” as far as the challenge goes. Elaine thinks the model looks stunning, and it was a beautiful memorable look. Maybe he’s safe from elimination too.

10:07pm — Okay, time for Prajje. Things have been going well for him lately. Batsheva gets the elegant half of his look, but she didn’t get edgy from it. She thinks the color choice was also old-fashioned (gasp, shut your mouth!), they’re just primary colors that make the look less exciting. Nina appreciates the architectural origami, and she could see the good idea at the core of it, but it felt too “safe” for her. It wasn’t her favorite or least favorite. Elaine calls it a “conversation piece.”

10:09pm — Time for Korto. Batsheva loves the pants, but she’s not so sure about the jacket. The fit doesn’t seem right to her. But Nina disagrees. she likes the jacket, but not so much the brocade oversizes pants. It needed something a little more streamlined, so this didn’t work for her. Korto is understandably confused because she gave them streamlined last challenge and they called it too safe. She’s not wrong. Elaine thinks the fit and design of the pant is impeccable. It’s the brocade print that’s the problem.

10:16pm — Okay, Brittany is up. Batsheva thinks it’s beautiful and “screams Met Gala to me.” Nina understands the shape is intended to be modest, but she can see straight through it. The metallic lace works really well, though, she loves the work on the sleeves, overall it was a “beautiful” look. Elaine loves the design and could see it in a bunch of different fabrics. She likes seeing Brittany’s surprising range as a designer. Brandon appreciates that she stepped out of her comfort zone. He agrees with Nina that it’s not necessarily modest, but it showed a lot of glitz and restraint.

10:16pm — Okay, sounds like Brittany and Laurence are on top. Korto is somewhere in the middle. And Bishme, Rami, and Prajje were variations of bottom?

10:25pm — Yep, Brittany and Laurence are on top. And the winner is … Laurence! I really thought that was going to be Brittany, but I’m not mad at it.

10:26pm — Oh wow, Prajje is declared in from the bottom three. That means Bishme or Korto is going home! I did not see that coming, especially with this being Prajje’s fourth time in a row at the bottom.

10:27pm — The eliminated desiger is … Korto. I’m honestly kinda shook. I thought she had a really good chance of winning the season.

10:30pm — Korto says in her exit interview, “I stepped on this runway 14 years ago doing what I love, and I’m not a young chicken anymore. But I still make beautiful clothes for people who love it, and I’ll continue to do that. This is my legacy walk where I tell my story to all my mentees, all those people that follow me, and just to say, you know what, if no one sees you, I see you. I see you African designers. I see you mothers who are working and multitasking. Every single one of you have everything within you you need to be who you are, to be great, to be amazing. Just tap into that and you can’t lose. Ever.”

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