'Project Runway' Recap: Back to the Future
We begin this week by flashing forward in time! Last week was not last week! It was two months ago! Can you believe it? You haven't aged a day! The final four have been working at home and Christian goes to check up on them. First up: Hester Sunshine in Santa Fe.
Of course Hester has a multi-colored doormat with her actual full name on it. Christian meets Hester’s wife, Kat and suddenly I realize that their doormat just reads Hester’s name, not both of theirs, which is wild. This is definitely something I would do: “Welcome to Eric’s home, featuring special guest star Eric's husband.” The inside is exactly what you’d expect: brightly colored walls and a knickknack and artwork aesthetic that can best be described as earnestly twee coffee shop run by two art school grads whose main focus is their zine that imagines Drag Race contestants as former presidents. This is a nonsense sentence but you know what I mean.
Hester leads Christian into her studio and introduces him to her collection in progress, which she describes as “Y2K-coco.” What she means by that is that the looks will incorporate digital tech and coding mixed with rococo period. This sounds exactly like something dreamed up by someone who lives in Hester Sunshine's house. There are a lot of patterns running up against each other, a lot of eyelets and rings and poofy miniskirts. Christian is impressed by how much work she’s gotten done and commends her on taking Elaine’s advice about paying attention to finishing, but cautions that there’s not solid colors to be found. She thanks him for the advice, but will she take it?
Next up, Christian is in Ft. Lauderdale, which he describes as a “gay island.” Enter Sebastian and his tall (hot) husband Matthew. Their apartment is, well, an apartment, with apartment-colored walls and such. After Hester’s place, which would give Frank from Trading Spaces the vapors, Sebastian’s living conditions seem downright muted. Matthew tells Christian that they took out the living room so that Sebastian could have a studio space in which to work. This is adorable. I still can’t get over these apartment-color apartment walls, though! It's like a regular-ass house. How wild! Sebastian’s collection is also really far along. It’s also quite muted, color-wise, but full of intricate leather weaving inspired by the weaving of baskets from his home Colombia. Christian advises that Sebastian has to work on figuring out who the woman he’s designing for it.
Christian’s headed to Baltimore next and yet somehow they don’t stop by to see me, which is outrageous but whatever. I'm not mad. Okay, I'm a little mad but again, whatever. Bishme’s workshop is an all-white room, presumably in a coworking space or creative warehouse. He says that his collection is inspired by abandoned buildings, featuring stitching that calls to mind bricks on some garments. He also reveals that when he applied for Project Runway he was homeless and living out of his studio and that he felt like an abandoned house. He talks about the potential inherent in abandoned spaces to become something new. Christian likes what he sees, but he worries that Bishme isn’t far enough along. Bishme has been sketching a lot but has only constructed two looks and has eight more to get done.
Finally, Christian ends up seeing Garo in sleepy Phoenicia, New York, which is a surprise to me and to Christian. Garo, our club kid corset king has a gorgeous B&B-looking house that’s full of light and exposed wood and stone nestled into forest. Get out of here with this cuteness. Garo has a lot of different looks coming along but Christian worries that there’s a lack of cohesiveness and an excess of costume.
Time passes!
Another flash forward! Two more months go by in an instant. You've really kept it tight. Congrats! Now the final four are reuniting in New York and unpacking their work. Garo was supposed to do 10 looks but has brought 14. Hester says she didn’t tone any prints down (raise your hand if you’re surprised). Bishme, thank the Lord, has more looks done. But he still has two more to finish.
Karlie and Christian enter and remind them that only three of them will make it to the final runway and that Nina is waiting for them at the offices of ELLE (that’s us!) with one last challenge. They ride the huge escalator in the middle of a waterfall in the lobby of the Hearst building (it’s truly stunning) and then meet Nina in her office. She takes them to a room full of racks of clothes, shelves of shoes, and more accessories than I have ever seen in my life. I have never been in this room and it is my life’s ambition. Every time I try to go my keycard is like “YOU THOUGHT!” I will Ocean’s 11 myself into this place if I need to.
The challenge
Nina reveals the challenge: they will show the judges two looks that will earn them a place in the finale. Additionally, she will review their collections in advance to tell them what they’re missing and they’ll need to add an eleventh look to show as well. Bishme is shewk. He doesn’t even have 10 yet and now he’s got to pull a Spinal Tap and go to eleven?
Sebastian is up first. Nina flips through his collection on an iPad in her office. She says she likes it but everything is “very strict.” She challenges him to create a soft evening look. For Garo, she says there’s so much shine and embellishment, but he needs to create a tailored suit. For Bishme, she says he has standout pieces, but he needs one accessible piece. She challenges him to create an outwear, street-inspired look. And now Hester! Nina says it’s so editorial but they need a breather from prints. Before she can even finish, Hester is jumping in. “Can I run an idea by you?” Hester says. She then proceeds to suggest a bunch of things that are actually still print, like “a large-scale angel print.” Nina channels Edna Mode and is like, “No prints!” God bless, Hester. She’s melting down. “Nina is going against my design aesthetic!” she says. Hester is like if Lisa Frank and Tracy Flick from Election had a baby and it’s fabulous.
The workroom
In the workroom, everyone is stressed and doubting themselves, but Bishme is having an especially hard time. His sister is undergoing her first chemo treatment after a cancer diagnosis and there’s a lot weighing on him. When Christian comes in, he coaxes Bishme into thinking differently about the assignment from Nina. “I’m mentally burnt out,” Bishme says. He says the jacket he’s been assigned from Nina looks like a cheap version of his fabulous Dapper Dan jacket from a previous challenge.
After Christian leaves, Hester bonds with Bishme about how discouraged they both feel. And then something unspeakably gruesome happens: Hester accidentally pierces her nail in a sewing machine. It goes all the way through and she is screaming and crying. It’s so much; it’s so awful. I’m honestly shaken by this whole thing and upset that I saw it. However, it soon becomes clear why this moment made the final cut: there is now blood on Hester’s white organza “breather” look.
The next day, Hester seems to have recovered a bit (even though I never will), however Christian suggests that she try to disguise the blood stain with a bow or by putting the model’s underwear on the outside, which have to be the most creative solutions for hiding blood ever aired on television. Instead! Hester makes a totally new puffy dress and crop top with her extra red fur, which shows up elsewhere in her collection.
Meanwhile, poor Bishme is completely melting down. The new look is really disappointing him and he has totally run out of steam. Christian encourages him to have faith in himself and not quit, but is it enough?
The runway
This week’s guest judge is Steven Kolb, president and CEO of the CFDA, who last met the designers last week which is also five months ago.
Before the runway begins, Elaine observes that Bishme looks very sad and suddenly he makes a teary request to be excused for a second. Production halts and he runs out of the studio, weeping. “To be here crying is making me more annoyed with myself,” he says in a confessional. The pressure in this moment must be immense and he’s got to be thinking that his entire life depends on this. From the outside, though, it's also clear that he's made it so far already and his life has already changed for the better, no matter what happens.
When Bishme returns, the runway begins. Sebastian's three looks are a white striped/transparent sleeveless dress with a woven leather belt, a blousy white chiffon dress, a burnt orange dress with big lapels constructed out of a leather with a wide weave. Steven says there’s geometry to everything in his collection; he loves it. Nina says that his work is “always a pull between the strict and the soft.” Sebastian says it probably comes from his background as a ballet dancer. The judges are shewk. He was apparently in ballet school for eight before becoming a professional ballet dancer. And now he's on Project Runway. Can you say polymath?!
Bishme's collection starts with a patchwork pink and orange metallic fringe sack dress with a hood. Bishme is clearly ashamed of it and it looks unfinished and not fully thought out. The next looks is more successful: black pants with a black leather strappy bodice top. Third is a leather skirt with a ruffle paired with a patchwork pink and orange halter top. Nina is disappointed. She loves the skirt and the top. “That black look, you can make that for me any time.” But the new look is not working. Steven asks how the look would be different if he had more time. Bishme describes a light spring moto jacket. Steven wants to know if he could complete it in time for the final runway, if given the time. Bishme says yes. After the designers have left the runway, Nina says that she’s crushed by the new look. Steven says it looks like a potato sack. The hard part, Elaine says, is that this is an aberration. His other looks have pull appeal.
Garo's collection is comprised of a turquoise cocktail dress with a silver organza overlay, a gorgeous silver sequin mini-dress, and a lilac tailored suit. Garo is frustrated with the tailoring on his stretched wool suit, which feels incomplete. Nina thinks the fabric is a good choice but she’s wondering if the jacket is on right. Garo says that he needed another hour to dart the jacket correctly. Brandon says the look isn’t modern but rather it calls to mind Melanie Griffith in Working Girl. The judges are not convinced that this collection is telling them anything they don’t know. Garo counters that he’s created 16 looks; there’s something for everybody. After the designers have left, Nina says that taste is an issue for him. Steven says that for someone known for tailoring, the suit is not it. Elaine does not know if there’s an audience for Garo’s work.
And now Hester! Look one: a white patterned babydoll dress, accessorized with knee socks; look two: a patterned mini-skirt paired with a cement colored coat with red fur trim; look three is the red replacement breather look, which really works here. Nina tells the other judges how much Hester resisted leaving the patterns and tells Hester how much she loves it. Elaine thinks it’s an interesting and fun use of fur. Steven notes that the solid even has the feel and personality of print, which is great observation. I guess that’s why he’s president and CEO of the CFDA.
Ultimately, Hester and Sebastian are in immediately. The judges try to decide between Bishme and Garo. Bishme has the taste, as Nina says, but he is not done. Elaine thinks he’s given up on himself. It’s all really heart-breaking. Ultimately, Bishme is the one who cannot continue. The judges remind him that he has what it takes to make it. “It might not be the right time, but it will be your time,” Nina says. “I know it.”
Who I’m rooting for this week
Mad love to Bishme. And I can’t wait to see all three full collections from Hester, Sebastian, and Garo next week, which is always years in the future!
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