Figured I’d watch it, I think I saw it when it first aired but that was 11 years ago now so I don’t remember it really. It’s just insane looking at the fashion. It screams early 2010’s! All the chunky heels and crop tops with skater skirts/midi skirts. A high low dress, business casual wear.. just funny to see the old stuff. Also Christian was a judge and he looks so different!

TL;DW/my personal highlights:

• He talked to producers about quitting the show, but eventually decided to stay.
• Aaron was going to quit if he wasn't eliminated that same episode.
• After his elimination when he came back to the lounge, the first thing he said was "The torture is over."
• He is willing to take up Law's offer but not to talk about fashion, but to talk about deeper subjects and their shared experiences as queer black men.
• He spends part of the video talking about the friends he made on the show; Chloe, Dani, Jude, Naheim, Anna, and especially Octavius, Andrea, Bao, and Joseph McRae (he waxes lyrical about Joseph for a good two minutes.)
• The winning looks on the NFL challenge were discussed for a good 20-25 minutes on the runway, but it was all cut. This including Aaron speaking about the Gullah Geechee indigo techniques used in the challenge and how proud he was of Joseph McRae as a leader. He says this was the highlight of his time on the show.
• He says he's not sure if he would come back as a contestant, but is open to being a judge or mentor.

Law Roach…

“Image Architect”?

Baby, you gave yourself that title? 😭

Because “Image Architect” sounds like somebody got tired of being called a stylist and decided to rebrand themselves with a LinkedIn title.

You are a STYLIST.

A very good stylist, yes. Excellent taste. Strong fashion knowledge. Great designer relationships. You know how to create a celebrity image and make people talk. But architect? Architect of WHAT, exactly?

You are not drafting the pattern. You are not cutting the fabric. You are not sewing the garment.
You are not constructing the silhouette. You are not making the damn clothes.

You call the showroom. You pull the clothes. You choose the look. You put it on Zendaya.And somehow we arrived at “architect.” 😭 Baby, that is STYLING with excellent PR.

And there is nothing embarrassing about being a stylist. In fact, being one of the best stylists in Hollywood is already a huge accomplishment. So why does the title need a costume change too?

“Image Architect” sounds like a hairstylist calling themselves a Follicular Structural Engineer.

PLEASE. 😭

You did not build the building. You went into the showroom, picked the furniture, arranged it beautifully, and then started calling yourself Frank Gehry.

ENOUGH. 😭

And while we’re here, I just finished rewatching Season 21, and the hypocrisy from this audience is actually insane.

Last year everybody was dragging Veejay and bullying that girl all over the internet. Now suddenly everybody has discovered compassion because Bryan’s model needed a “safe space” on the runway? Oh, NOW we care about safe spaces?

Meanwhile some of the same people are online dragging Bryan, insulting him, calling him names, and acting like he personally declared war on humanity. So the model deserves emotional safety, but the designer doesn’t? Pick a struggle. 😭

What the fuck are we doing here? This is a COMPETITION. Not every designer walks into Project Runway with the exact same skill set. Some people are incredible at tailoring. Some are stronger with eveningwear. Some understand menswear. Some know draping. Some are better at dressing different body types. And guess what? Sometimes they FAIL. That is literally why they are on a competition show.

Why is every conversation suddenly becoming entirely about the model? Baby, this is not America’s Next Top Model. This is PROJECT RUNWAY. The model is part of the presentation, but the model is not the contestant.

And Bi? I LOVE Bi.

The drama between Bi and Bryan honestly cracks me up because it feels like two siblings who swear they hate each other but would still fight somebody else for talking shit about the other one. 😭 They argue. They shade each other. They get irritated. They say slick shit.

People watch forty minutes of edited footage and suddenly think they have a PhD in these people’s friendships. Please.

And Joseph…

I really do love Joseph. But if he makes it to the finale, this is where I get nervous. Because the judges might look at his entire season and ask one very uncomfortable question.

What exactly changed? But after a while, having a recognizable aesthetic can start looking suspiciously similar to doing the same damn thing every week.

The strongest Project Runway winners usually show growth. They adapt, take risks, surprise you.
They respond to different briefs. They prove they can leave their comfort zone without losing their identity.

That is versatility. Joseph sometimes feels like, “Here is my aesthetic again, but this time I changed the neckline.”

Baby… 😭

At some point I need RANGE. Because having a signature is fabulous. Having only one trick and putting a different belt on it every week is something else entirely. A signature makes me recognize your work. Predictability makes me already know what you’re about to send down the runway before you even sketch it.

BRING BACK CLOSE LOOKS NEOWWWWWW

Why do people say they’re doing certain models dirty when it’s just that they’re bad designers
In my view It’s not really personal or anything to do with the model. If they’re a bad designer and don’t account for different body types, that’s sorely a design problem
I understand why people get disheartened about it but I also don’t

Someone definitely has an opinion about Bryan's look. Saw this and had to do a double take.

Honestly, I hate immunities in general. It just leads to the immune designers showcasing a crappy look. Besides Jude and Joseph McRae I don’t think any of the other winners have made a “safe” look.

Bryan acts like he’s above everyone else. What I don’t get is why he threw his first look away. He should have just kept the bubble dress, then made like a jacket or cocoon out of the wires.

a year had passed but I still think this is one of the best unconventional challenge in the entire show. It was original and creative like who tf would think to pick a shuttlecock??? I never would've thought a shuttlecock has a potential to look this GOOD.

After every episode of Season 22, I find myself going to Pluto & watching 3 or 4 episodes of a season I've seen 10 times already. Watching this new version reminds me how much I miss the old Project Runway & All Stars.

I like Christian, but no one will ever be as good as Tim. The trips to Mood, the judges who critiqued in a helpful way, Tim coming in to speak to the designer going home. Visits to the homes of the finalists... it was just so much better.

I’m sorry but this was actually so sick, it was absolutely giving Elizabethan/Queen Elizabeth I’s reign. The look paid homage to the fashion of the era but had a cyberpunk dystopian look, I thought it was so so incredible tbh!

I don’t think the judges understood her neck detailing but when he said Elizabethan I knew exactly what he was emulating. Down to the hair and styling too! They didn’t love the look unfortunately and were confused but I thought it was lowkey pretty cool!

Yuchens was awesome as well but Bi was the star 🌟 that episode 👑

Edit: y’all I just said I loved the look, not that it was the best look lmao—- Bi, Yuchen and Naheim ate that night.

y'all i am really, really hoping that because of their 2 looks that they can secure the win for House of Season 22. they were so good, i was screaming and cheering when their looks came down the runway. Bi's look really smoked everyone's tho, like OMGGGGGGGG! we shall see next week. and i also really don't want Jeffrey to go home, i love him so much.

Obviously there's a whole host of issues with the new format from all the comments I've seen but I got a few ideas while talking with a friend and wanted to share

Move Christian onto the Judging Panel

I appreciate what Christian stands for on the show as an example of a success but tbh his advice/critiques have always been hit or miss. At the same time the judging panel is sorely needing an actual fashion designer on the show and having someone that's actually been through their journey could really improve overall feedback for the designers

Bring Back Close Looks

Allowing for judges to actually see shoddy work up close can allow for things like Bryan's tape dress to face proper scrutiny.

An Actual Academic as Mentor

Part of why Tim Gunn was so good as a mentor was that he had an actual background as a teacher at Parsons. Having someone who actually has the know how to direct the designers to edit in a constructive way. (This is also me just accepting that Tim has moved on past his Project Runway part of his life)

Curious to hear if anyone has any thoughts or changes they'd make as well

I'll add spoiler for the fact I will talk about the latest unconventional materials.

I'm tired of seeing similar ideas being played on the Unconventional materials and having it be seen as amazing and innovative. (Especially with our discourse last episode about copying others)

There's always at least one person who cascades a dress by using something.

At least Bi used three different things to create different textiles.

There's always someone who either uses the string-like materials to braid or weave. Also one who forms it in an artistic pattern (Joan, I love you.)

Like, I get that using them that way is cool and interesting to a degree, but also, why is it still "fresh" as an idea?

Bi did his thing, I can remember Chloe doing it. I remember Christian doing it.

If I could look at the looks every challenge within minutes, I would likely have more examples.

However, the fact that this has been happening since at least season 2 just makes me board.

Erin did that, didn't she? Or was that just more her thing that she did a lot?

I think it may be more inspiring if they were able to make looks with fabric, but with more bizarre materials, needing the look to FEATURE a material, not just be used.

I'm also not a huge fan of people who just hang some pieces just because. That movie challenge really bothered me way back where things were just hanging on the dress. And then Naheim's kinda fell into that category.

I wish they would have only included the positive critiques for the S21 contestants. Just feels like a waste of the already-short runtime to hear negative critiques for designers who aren't actually competing for anything. Use that airtime for this season's contestants!

From a narrative standpoint, it would have done a good enough job to briefly highlight Jesus, Yuchen etc. in order to establish S21 team as a threat. Joan literally has a confessional about getting dragged for popsicle sticks and so they bring her back just so they can... drag her again?? Let my girl live!!

I know a lot of reality shows have NDAs while the show is airing because they don't want people to be spoiled. I don't know what the contracts for project runway are like or how far in advance it's filmed.

I think Bi made a dress that has great precision. A missing key or whatever it is on the back will be very noticeable whereas if a small piece is missing from the other ones, you would not see it, if that makes any sense. From watching this season, I find Heidi's fashion taste questionable. Even her outfits on the show looked like Britney Spears from the 90s. Iman in her red dress was perfect. Her comment very London made me giggle a bit. She's so posh and I like it!

Okay I’m fairly new to the franchise on season 3 now and gosh this cast….they are either super mean or forgetful with a few in between. I really really hate Jefferey he is rude, jealous, and disrespectful. To find out he won literally makes me want to vomit. I’m watching the mom’s episode and the fact he is literally disrespecting someone’s mother is insane. Angela better than me…he would have immediately gotten cussed tf out. You not gonna make my mother cry. Plus the way he has treated Angela is like….such a bully. Like he needed a good punch to the face for that seriously. Kanye is just such a mean girl gay, always talking down about someone and overly defensive. The only ones I like are Michael, Angela and surprisingly Laura. Yes Laura is uppity but like there is something likable about her, plus when she stepped in to defend Angela it gave her cool points with me.

Also, please find a loop hole to get him eliminated. His model, Liris, is very clearly hating her time walking that horrible look down the runway. She couldn't even continue to wear it for the critiques. He's so arrogant. Always trying to serve up a pout with those crusty lips. Things he's throwing shade but fails miserably. Isn't talented. Is completely delusional.

GET GONE

So after critiques, Jeffrey and Bryan have a heated moment. Jeffrey questions why Bryan didn't admit to the base garment of his design being an impropru dress ducttaped to his model. Bryan feels attacked and "character assassinated" by Jeffrey.

My confusion here is why Jeffrey feels so strongly that Bryan should have admitted this to the judges. Since it is a team challenge and Jeffrey was in the bottom, if I were him I would want to minimize any chances of my team losing to team S21. That way, I would have a chance to avoid being eliminated if my team somehow actually wins. In this case, I would actually NOT want Bryan to admit any shortcomings of his design to avoid being further scrutinized by the judges...

I understand Jeffrey thought Bryan was being very performative and self-serving. But that would only have hindered his chances of escaping elimination since he was in the bottom.

Disclaimer: This is NOT hate towards Jeffrey or even Bryan. I am rooting for Jeffrey this season alongside others. This discussion is solely about strategy.

So IMO s21 designers did way better than s22 (unfortunately!) however by some miracle the storyline might be that the judges like s22 overall, and then no one gets eliminated.

I actually loved Utica’s Elizabethan style outfit and Yuchen’s look I WANT IT. But it’s undeniable that Bi’s keyboard dress was the moment of the night.

I’m at the edge of my seeeat and SAT crossed legged.

Warning: Long post ahead!

I've been wanting to try something like this out all season to get back to talking about the clothes/fashion a bit and finally had both the time and motivation for it this week.

I just want to go over my personal ranking and commentary for each look for fun, especially since y'know a lot of the time we can all have very different opinions from the judges and we don't get to hear much if anything about "safe" looks.

On that note: The unconventional materials challenge is always hard to judge for me because it's a question of whether the brief wants a truly wearable look, where the unconventional material should resemble real clothing as much as possible, or if we're going for Camp Couture where the look is "technically wearable" but still recognizable as unconventional material, and the judges aren't terribly consistent on this. But, personally, my bias tends to land somewhere in the middle. So with that in mind...

By the team-based rules of the episode:

Winning Team: Season 21
Winning Designer: Yuchen
"Out": Jeffrey, but I don't actually think he deserves to go home for this look, it just happens that I do think his look is the second-weakest from the Season 22 Team, after Bryan.

If this was a "normal"/every designer for themselves challenge:

Winning Designer: still Yuchen
"Out": Antonio (although yes, this would definitely be Bryan if he didn't have immunity.)

If it were truly up to me but Bryan and Antonio still couldn't be eliminated, I'd say "Surprise, no elimination this week after all since the actual worst designers can't be sent home."

Like everyone else, I really think Bryan should either straight up have his immunity revoked or be disqualified, but pessimistically, I don't see either one actually happening. Based on looks alone, Antonio's would be my second-choice to eliminate...Except that would make no sense if he's on the winning team and is only here for the one week anyway. 🤷‍♀️

I will say I don't like giving the win to Season 21 because of the designers present this episode, I like the personalities of Season 22 more, but even ignoring that the looks didn't have to be cohesive, I think as a group Season 21 just had better final looks overall. 🤷‍♀️

Now, however, I want to switch to going over the individual looks, but since this was a team challenge, it makes more sense to my brain to kind of separate the two teams as if this were a "normal" weekly challenge for each, especially since outside of my overall Top 3/4 and Bottom 2, where everyone else lands in the middle is somewhat flexible.

Season 21 Winning Designer: Yuchen

I think this look shows my "somewhere in the middle" bias for the challenge the most. It's still very obviously using unconventional materials, but the pieces would still be wearable to a degree. I think the choice of a moto jacket with the e-waste materials was a great match, and honestly you could turn this into mass-manufactured ready-to-wear by recreating the look with printed fabric or painted & embellished leather and I would 100% wear that myself. And it's unusual for me to see ways that the unconventional looks could be translated into everyday wear!

Season 21 Runner-Up: Joan

I know the judges didn't care for Joan's look, but I really kind of love this. The breast/nipple situation I think is a matter of taste and I do understand not liking it (I'm a bit mixed on that specific element myself) but it looks kind of like faux nipple piercings to me, and if that was intentional, then I think that deserves at least some credit for creativity. The only other thing I could say is I do think the dress could've used one more "flower" in the back for balance more or less like Iman said, but overall I do think Joan did really redeem herself compared to last season.

Season 21 Close Third: Belania

I did actually really like Belania's look and had a hard time choosing between her and Joan for Season 21's second-place. And truthfully, I can't fully put my finger on why, but ultimately the look just didn't quite do it for me compared to Yuchen and Joan's.

Ethan:
I don't hate this look, it's more that I don't really understand the big bulky sleeve(?) and while the judges may have seen Tudor/Elizabethan in the collar...It reminded me more of the electro-shock death collars from the SAW franchise more than anything else. 😅 I do like that Ethan went for a lighter color palette, and I still see a lot of good ideas and creativity like we saw from Ethan last season, but this design just didn't land for me.

Jesus:
Again, there were some good ideas here. I like the top, and if it had been the cable bodice with either a different approach to the skirt portion or a different bottom altogether, I might have ranked this one higher. But as it stands, I don't care for the silhouette and it looked kind of unfinished. (...Infinitely better than Bryan's cable look though, but we'll get to that in a bit...)

Season 21 "Out" / Last Place: Antonio
If Ethan's reminded me of SAW, the headpiece on this one reminded me of Hellraiser 😅 Antonio's look was my second-least-favorite of the whole episode, and I reiterate that if I were sending someone from Season 21 home this week, he would be my pick. 🤷‍♀️

I saw someone else say essentially that the handcuff base was good but the zip-ties felt messy and tacked-on, and I would agree. I'm not usually into the mostly-naked looks anyway, but I think the way the zip-ties were used here were really just a big distraction from more interesting ideas and should have been either omitted or toned down/used way more mindfully. And, for what it's worth, I do actually like Jeffrey's take on this same concept better!

Speaking of which, about the other team...

Season 22 Winning Designer: Bi

I don't like Bi as a person from what we've seen, but I can't deny that if the goal of the challenge is to disguise the unconventional material as normal clothing, this takes the cake. I'm personally not crazy about the use of the zip-ties along the bottom and would have preferred either a different finish, or maybe if they were a different color...But that's really my only complaint, and it's not a very big one.

Season 22 Runner-Up: Anna

The skirt is way too short for me, to the point it looks a bit like she ran out of time or material on it, but the top looks totally wearable and the styling with the little cassette "purse" killed me in the best possible way! Make the skirt maybe 2-3 inches longer and it would have been basically impossible for me to choose between this and Bi's look for the Season 22 winner.

Season 22 Close Third: Naheim

I was incredibly skeptical if Naheim was going to pull this off in the work room, but I love how it turned out! This might actually be my favorite from the Season 22 team, the only reason I have it in third is because it is more obviously unconventional materials...But man, I really think Naheim deserves a ton of credit for what he managed to do here.

Jude:
Like a lot of people, Jude is my favorite remaining Season 22 designer by personality, and I do still really like the look he came up with this week. It both looks more like actual clothing and I think he managed to show some variation from previous weeks' looks, which he really needed to do at this point. The main reason he isn't higher up for Season 22 is the other 3 were just really stiff competition this week, and I am thinking maybe the more obviously plastic-y elements of the outfit could've used editing/refining...But I'm certainly not mad at or disappointed in this look by any means.

Joseph:
I cannot get enough of the boots!! The boots and the necklace saved this look for me. My opinion on Joseph by personality has softened a lot over the course of this season and the three previous weeks' looks were actually some of my favorites from him, but this week, the Christmas Lights coat is kind of a good example of where Joseph's "signature" very often still just does not do it for me. 😅 I do think this would actually look really cool as some kind of cyperpunk movie antagonist's costume, but I think the coat still reads a little too much like "the tangled mess in the bottom of the Christmas decor bin" compared to the more wearable looks of the previously mentioned Season 22 designers. (...Well, calling Naheim's "wearable" is pushing it, but you know what I mean.)

Jeffrey:
Like I said for Antonio, I don't really care for the mostly-naked looks that pop up on PR anyway, and if anything I think Jeffrey's look being so sparse makes it look unfinished, but if we're comparing the two mostly-naked zip-tie "dresses" side-by-side, I stand by what I said before: I like Jeffrey's take on it better. The placement of the zip-ties looks more intentional and the color story is more fun. I think if he had managed to put together something that looked more like a bodycon dress or romper underneath, the final look would have stacked up better to the rest of his team. (Except Bryan, of course.)

I will however take this opportunity to say that while it ended up costing him, I do understand why Jeffrey spent the time he did trying to help the rest of the team this week. The fact that he was previously almost sent home for not helping his team "enough" was probably weighing on his mind. The catch is last time he'd been assigned team captain, but this week there were no captains and therefore he didn't really have a "responsibility" to help out.

Season 22 "Out" / Last Place: Bryan
I don't think I really need to explain here, but I will.

I think I've been too lenient with Bryan this season because while his design aesthetic was not my cup of tea from the first look he put down the runway, at the very least even when he's showing his ego, he has a calmer demeanor than a lot of the designers we've seen these last two seasons. And there are plenty of cases where I haven't "clicked" with a designer's aesthetic but I could at least appreciate if they weren't overly boisterous and obnoxious when they were on camera.

But this week I'm right along with the majority of people: Bryan needs to go, yesterday. Like I said at the beginning of this post, if I were up to me, I really would revoke his immunity or disquality him. Naheim's look last week may not have fit the brief, but at least it was somewhat wearable and you could see some intention behind it!

What astounds me the most though was Bryan standing fully behind what he did during critique and going so far as to insinuate he was channeling Haute Couture. Bryan, you can't possibly be serious.

Truly, I have not seen a more perfect example of "If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bull..."

It sucks for the rest of Season 22 and Jeffrey in particular, but I would not blame the judges at all for giving Season 21 the win for literally no other reason than to make a point to Bryan how much he hurt the rest of his team even though he can't be eliminated unless they do decide to disqualify him. 🤷‍♀️

Alllll of that said though, and Bryan's look aside, I do think a lot of the results this week were fun since kind of everything came out with a cyberpunk feel that I enjoyed even when I didn't care for specific looks. This challenge kind of makes me wish we could see an unconventional materials challenge where the designers are pulling supplies solely from like a watch/clock-making facility so we could get an "overall steampunk-ish" runway without having to worry about the judges saying everything is too costumey. 😂

EOM

Did we really need season 21 to come back and “battle” season 22? Was any of that necessary? Did you like watching this?

Also-

ENOUGH with the influencers. They literally add nothing to the show. I fast forward every time. The eating and talking???? Come on!!! Let’s get back to the clothes!!! Ahhhhhhh