Project Runway 7/16/26--"Ready, Set, Redemption!" summary

 

Previously on “Project Runway:” we've decided the last season is the direction we'd like to take the show. There are 22 designers and Tyra Banks is here to judge. Not an actual designer. The only good thing is that six people will be eliminated. The bad news is we are back to cliffhanger eliminations. Everyone brought a look from home, so these looks should have been well constructed. Also we don't have time to watch construction and then have a runway that shows everyone. Six people were winners and have immunity: Bryan, Bobby, Elizabeth, Chloe, Jude, and Andriy. They initially called eight people out in the bottom, for some suspense. Jennifer, Andrea, and Lré were all eliminated quickly, with no suspense. Dani is in. So out of R'Bonney, Plane, Robby, and Jeffrey, only one gets to stay. (click for more)

Also my recording is showing 90 minutes, but the episode description says one hour. So who knows. (EDIT: I think it's 30 minutes of commercials.) Let's wrap this up. Jeffrey is in. OK I knew they were probably getting rid of Plane, and probably R'Bonney because they're trying to get Drag Race viewers to also watch this show. But knowing they tried to also cast Jeffrey's ex this season, I thought that just left Robby as the “designer”. Interesting. Plane is crying, which is also interesting because I didn't think he would care that much. R'Bonney is embarrassed and thinks maybe she brought the wrong outfit. Robby is thinking the same thing. Meanwhile Plane is now like “well I'm a drag queen first so whatever”. Robby is actually breaking down, because he just got divorced from his partner and his life has not been great this past year, and now he's first out. Aww. Jeffrey is worried everyone thinks he's just a costume designer. Heidi comes on the screen and says to say your goodbyes and then go to the runway. A producer asks Robby in confessional if he would ever try again. He doesn't know, but RuPaul always says “Never say no to TV”, which explains a lot.

Time for Challenge 2: Redemption look. Redemption for what? Who knows. The people who won the last challenge don't need redemption. $500 at Mood and one day. Heidi demands that the six designers with immunity prove that the judges didn't make a mistake. Five people will be eliminated today. So to do the math: there are 16 contestants left. Six of them have immunity. So out of the remaining 10, half are eliminated. That's wild but please continue to get rid of people in groups. Oh also, because this will cause drama, the six immune designers can save one person from elimination. Why. This is not a show with voting. Joseph is having a flashback because he was voted out last season. And now there are votes again. He is convinced that if he's in the bottom, there's no way anyone will vote to save him.

At Mood it is the usual running around. Anna says she uses thrifted clothing a lot, so shopping for fabric in a fabric store is not something she's that familiar with. She interviews that she used to play “Project Runway” when she was little, and made her mom and dad play Heidi and Tim to judge whatever she was sewing. She's inspired by a dress she made when she was ten, and she has brought the dress with her. She holds it up in confessional. Bi announces to the room that he can do math because he's Asian. As he talks in confessional the chyron people think they're funny and put math in the description but they fuck it up immediately. Get it together.

It looks like they have eight hours to get stuff done. Andriy has immunity, but he's looking to try his best and impress the judges again. Bobby is painting on her fabric, just dots. Andriy says they vibe the most, which is interesting since he's Ukrainian and she's Russian and their countries are at war. Bobby says basically the same thing. Naheim isn't super thrilled about a duo, but he also wants those votes if he's in the bottom so he's going to try to buddy up.

Christian shows up early, after only an hour. He then says 12 people will continue, which is annoying. It means that once the judges figure out which five people are eliminated, the vote is to save one of them. So only four people will be eliminated on this challenge. Bah. Christian doesn't really like Anna's color palette, but she explains that it's because of that dress she made when she was ten. She makes it sound like she thinks she's going home, so before she goes she's going to make something for her childhood self. Christian points out that the judges won't know anything about her inspiration, because she is allowed to make anything she wants, so maybe make something modern. He basically tells her to start over and make something that has nothing to do with this dress from when she was ten. We spend a lot of time with Anna talking about how she's wanted this for 20 years and it's emotional and she doesn't think she'll get a save if she's out. Foreshadowing.

Joseph has to stay focused. But he's making some kind of garment that's rhombuses of felt in all different colors, sewn together to make his own pattern. This is supposed to be “sophisticated” and show he does more that volume. He's also talking in third person. Christian finds Joseph's designs interesting but they always become a lot of look. Pull back. Cut to Andriy in confessional saying 100% he would not save Joseph because it's the same thing he had last season. Octavius is apparently going to make a tuxedo, to go with a jacket with a black and white pattern. Or is there a suit and then a tux underneath? It's not clear, but Christian wants him to focus on the garment he's started. We get some backstory on Octavius, which is that he's a former Olympic hurdler, and he lost his fiance suddenly and almost quit fashion. But he kept going.

Bryan flirts with Christian and then says in confessional that Christian is not his type. Bao thinks there aren't that many luxury designers (oo, shady. I guess). Bao was on Next in Fashion, which I never watched. She claims Project Runway is “legacy stuff” which I don't think is still true. But sure. She has a very ambitious look with dark blue and black brocade and a lot of structure. Christian tells her that this look, at this moment with these judges, is going to be a hard sell. I choose to believe this is shade about the judges and not a mentor telling someone their look is bad. These judges hate brocade. Bi is making a tuxedo in vegan leather. There is pintucking which takes a very long time to do properly. He promises Christian that what he's got done so far, he did in about ten minutes. It's maybe a hands' width of fabric. Christian says if he can do that, that fast, then he doesn't need this show. “You can work for me.” Heh. Bi talks about his parents' struggles as refugees.

Cut to the lounge at dinner where Bryan is telling people Bi was his intern. This again. Of course Bi sits down at the same table and Bryan is like, I was just telling everyone how you were my intern. Bi says, “What kind of drama do you want to start?” and then doesn't deny he was an intern, and then he gets up and literally runs into the next room. Bryan is just like I don't think he can take it. Take what? Your fucking with him? Bi feels disrespected. Jeffrey is wondering if this is all strategy on Bryan's part. So he's gonna watch out for Bryan. There's some competition that Bryan was in, and he says that he had to make five looks for the competition, so he hired Bi to be his premier. This is someone who “is in charge of overseeing the process of sketch to 3D”. That is exactly how Bryan described it. Your right-hand person. After the competition, Bi was gossiping about Bryan so Bryan demoted him to intern. OK I think I see where this is going. Bryan demoted Bi as punishment so he's telling everyone he was an intern. Bi is remembering all the work he did during the competition, when he wasn't an intern, and is now offended Bryan is leaving that part out. Bryan doesn't really help his case by adding that it's OK to poke at Bi. Bi complains to Anna, who says she's not sure if Bryan is doing a bit. Bi knows that Bryan is fucking with him, and he's determined to also move forward to next week.

Naheim is feeling solid about his look. He's young, but he believes he's so accomplished because he listens to what his mentors have to say, so he's looking forward to talking to Christian. He's got a cropped military jacket, in olive with red flannel lining. Is the silhouette new and interesting? Naheim is pretty OK with this critique. Yangyang has more of what she had last week, which is a dress with cut-outs all over it. We couldn't see what it was last week, but this week we get confirmation that it's “laser cut raven-inspired fabric”. So it is birds. It's kind of interesting but it's also exactly what she did last week. She calls it her signature fabric. But it's just a shift dress underneath so it's too boring right now. Jeffrey wants to make a pinstriped suit, which would be fabulous and also prove that he can make clothes that have nothing to do with drag.

Aaron has what Christian calls “a gray jersey onesie.” Well, yes, but there will be parachute pants and a “twist-front bodysuit with a jersey snood.” A snood is basically a hood, or actually it's a knit bag attached to a woman's head, usually at the back, that holds her hair. It has to fit perfectly. Dani has a black leather jacket, but with leg of mutton sleeves according to her sketch. “A sort of Napoleon jacket-inspired trim situation.” She needs to edit. Christian talks to Jude, who is anxious and not really having a good conversation.

Christian does a “gather 'round” and points out the six designers with immunity, who will be making a decision about who to save. So here are some “recognizable” designers they might know to help. Oh, it's the six designers who were eliminated. Sigh. Plane has put on Katya's old wig and her dumb sunglasses with the fringe. Everyone has made an effort to look cute. So after everyone has been eliminated, there will be 12 people voting on who to save. Joseph says he has to win because he's not leaving anything up to these people ever again. Bi is ready to kiss ass. For some reason, the remaining designers all head into the lounge to talk about how they don't know what the eliminated designers are thinking, are they going to use strategy, do they have an agenda? Plane is gonna pull some shit for sure. Meanwhile the six eliminated designers are backstage somewhere talking about how the immune six are going to do things properly and they should fuck around, like save the worst designer or something. Robby wants some groveling, and then Plane is like I'm sure you'd like Andriy to get on his knees, and then “oh you told me that in confidence, oops, they'll edit it out.” Girl stop.

Aaron sewed his bodysuit backwards, like the twist is on the back and not the front, so he has to start over. No pants now, just a skirt to save time. The models arrive with one hour left, which seems very late in the day. Anna is still obsessed with her old dress but it is a disaster, and she is now deciding to start over with an hour left. She says she needs to ask a producer something, which is that she wants to start over and use her fabric from home. Everyone was allowed to bring six yards of fabric from home, and Anna wants hers. The producers go get it for her, because they don't care, and she starts over. Everyone else freaks out on her behalf. The fabric looks like a sheer blue with dark pink velvet in a lacy pattern. You know when it's that almost flocking in flowers or paisley or whatever, with sheer in between. Elizabeth is really shocked and she isn't sure if she'd save Anna at this point.

Runway Day. There's a lot of trash talking and discussing of who people would save and not save if they end up in the bottom. Christian is devastated that Aaron had to change his design.

We let everyone be in the room today instead of watching on a screen. Guest judge today is Ice Spice. Sure I guess. Nina's not even here. The eliminated designers are also watching from the lounge. Bryan: white top and skirt. The skirt is narrow and has vertical stitching (quilted maybe?) then below the knee is a big puff of fabric like an 80s prom dress. The top has a high crew neck and a bunch of texture. I think the fabric is gathered and bunched up to make ruffles, kind of. Bobby: maxi dress in two different fabrics. The bodice is a peach with a gold pattern that looks like frogs maybe? It's two long diamonds over her boobs, going up to a halter tie. Then these are sewn to the skirt, a green with spots on it. I think this is the fabric she painted. The skirt is a slight mullet hem, ankle length in the front and just touching the ground in the back.

Chloe: the top is basically a loop of white eyelet fabric that goes around her arms and covers her chest. The top and bottom are scalloped. The skirt is also white with a mullet hem. It looks like a long skirt that was tucked up in the front. Actually all the hems in the skirt are like that. Instead of edges it's like she took a duvet cover and made a skirt out of it so it looks like there are two layers and a fold, instead of a hem. Or maybe a fitted sheet. There's also a black belt but I think that's from the accessory wall, and a white choker that I think is probably extra fabric from the skirt. Jude: gray dress with a windowpane pattern. It's longer that his last coat, almost tea length. But it's another coat dress with wide lapels and long sleeves. It looks very well tailored and expensive. Underneath the coat there seems to be a short skirt with the same fabric, but with black polka dots? When the model turns around the coat is split up the back so you can see the polka dot skirt, kind of like tails.

Elizabeth: red dress with a ton of rouching. The entire bodice and miniskirt have rouching or at least bunched fabric that's been sewn together. Then there's an overskirt in the same fabric sewn to the back of the dress. It doesn't hang down but is almost round. Like she sewed a beanbag to the back of her legs. One strap is on her shoulder and the other one is off the shoulder and I can't tell if this is on purpose. This is paired with the thigh-high black leather boots. Andriy: a white crop top, very tight, with one of those halter necklines that's a band collar and not a tie. Then a high waisted skirt in blue and red flannel, like a tartan. The skirt has a ton of volume and is slit up the front. The edges are raw so it reads like a blanket with fringe. I think it's lined? There's a bustle and no one seems to like it.

Jeffrey: long dress in charcoal gray, with long sleeves. There is a pinstripe pattern on the fabric. At the cuffs and the collar, there's black fabric, and the collar is wide but stands up and covers most of her neck. The shoulders come to points, horizontally, so the line of her shoulder is flat from the collar to the tip of the shoulder point. The skirt is slim and ankle length. When she turns around, the back of the bodice is two black lapels, crossed in the middle of her back and attached at the sides. There's no other fabric in the back, but at her lower back, the black piping that edges the bodice continues and outlines a panel in the back. Like the skirt is a rectangle wrapped around her waist, but offset so the corner is over one buttcheek.

Octavius: a long coat, in dusty rose satin with a black print. The model is not even wearing it, it's draped over her shoulders. Underneath is a satin suit jacket and pants with no shirt. From far away because it's satin it looks like pajamas, but it's actually a suit jacket when she's close enough to make out details. One side of the suit is white and the other side is dark pink, slightly darker than the overcoat. The pants are just pants. The back of the tuxedo has a round keyhole, that takes up most of her back, with a sash tied at the waist to pull everything in. This satin is showing a bunch of puckering which is unfortunate because it's not as well tailored as some of the other looks. The back especially doesn't look like it fits. Bi: black sleeveless shirt and pants in vegan leather. The pants are straight legged, with a high waist and a wide waistband like a cummerbund. The top has vertical pintucking. Actually maybe the top is not leather. On her arms are elbow length fingerless gloves in the leather. There is also a black necktie, and when she turns around the top is backless.

Joseph: a menswear look with wide legged pants and a big puffer bomber jacket. The jacket has one side in a solid color, like a dark gray. Then the other side (and a little bit on the opposite side of the zipper) is a patchwork rainbow effect. It's not as crazy as it looked in the workroom, because I think either the patches are bigger, or he's used fewer colors. The jacket has a tall collar that comes up to the model's ears. The pants are loose and kind of puddle on the floor, like they're too long. The model does unsnap the jacket at the end of the runway to reveal a gray crop top (it comes down to his waistband) and a loose turtleneck, and cap sleeves. Bao: OK. So there is a short dress that comes down to about mid thigh. The top of the dress is just two narrow straps over each boob, attached to a ruffled skirt. A big ruffle, like a prom dress. Then at her knees is another skirt? Like the bottom of a mermaid skirt. But her thighs are bare. The bodice is a dark blue and black brocade, and the skirt is a matching blue. I'm pretty sure the knee down is another skirt and not like, two cones of fabric attached to her knees. Down her back is gathered fabric, hanging down like a thick braid. I think there's even a slight train.

Anna: tight long dress, sleeveless. To her credit, the bodice looks like she cut out the lace patterns from her fabric, and then placed them vertically, mirrored down the center of her body. There's a larger section of the lace, like a bigger circle in the pattern, and that part is right over her boobs. The skirt still has the blue sheer part, but arranged so the lace is over her hips and the blue is near the bottom. At each hip is a poof of the fabric, but just a small one. Like pocket sized. When the model turns around it looked like something weird was happening with the skirt but I couldn't get a good look. Dani: long black skirt, pretty narrow but with a handkerchief hem. It looks like there are gaps in the black, but lined with sheer black so she's not showing skin. The top is a black jacket with frog closures with big round silver buttons. It's cropped at her ribcage, and the sleeves are tight and just past her elbow with the same buttons. The shoulders have a tiny bit of volume but they're not really puffy.

Aaron: the top is a cropped bolero that fastens between her boobs. The sides come to a point there, and there's sparkly gray fabric. Then the rest of the top is a matte gray, big leg-of-mutton sleeves that end at the elbow. There's a shawl collar, or maybe just a big loop of fabric around her neck that comes up to her chin. The skirt is just a short skirt in the gray with two bands of the sparkly fabric at top and bottom. He's put it with those super tall boots so it doesn't look like he just couldn't make a full skirt. When the model turns around you can see the back of the skirt has elastic in the waistband. Yangyang: long dress in a multicolored fabric. It's not a print, but more like an ombre that starts in red, then shades to orange and cream and then a tiny bit of green. The stripes are horizontal on top, with the skirt vertical. The top looks like a swag of fabric, wrapped and draped across her chest, and then up to the other shoulder but stiff. Like she tossed a scarf over a shoulder and it's frozen halfway over. The front of the dress is just plain. There is no back to the bodice, just a strip at the top of her shoulders and the skirt. It feels like the draping on the front just kind of ends and there are flaps at her sides. Like there's enough fabric to wrap around her the whole way but no one sewed the sides together.

Naheim: a menswear look in olive with red accents. Honestly when he was behind the scrim it looked like a pirate because there is a hat. It looks like a short trench coat, but kind of puffy? It's not a puffer jacket, it just looks bulkier than a well-fitted trench. The inside is lined with red plaid, which you can see at the chest because one side is folded open. There are also two patches of the plaid at his hips, and I can't tell if they're inside-out pockets or what. The pants are bell-shaped cropped pants that end at the tops of combat boots. The hat is maybe just some fabric draped on his head. When the model turns around we can see what's up with the plaid at his hips. Somehow the jacket has tails? And they're folded with the tips tied at the center of the waistband, with a long tie hanging down to the floor.

I swear the runways when we still have so many people are the worst. There are three looks in the top, and none of them are from designers with immunity. Everyone kind of gasps but I'm sure this is on purpose for maximum drama. We play like all six immune designers actually sucked this week, instead of just not being in the top. Whatever. The top three are Jeffrey, Anna, and Joseph. Lol. Ice Spice tells Joseph that his colors were very 90s, and it caught her eye. That's fair. The jacket is interesting and it's very Joseph. Tyra says it could be iconic, which, let's calm down. It does kind of say Fashion. Jeffrey is of course emotional that he went from almost eliminated to top three. His dress is striking, and it looks expensive which the judges always love. Law tells Anna this dress was his favorite, which seems suspicious. The person who started over with an hour left has the best dress today? Sure Jan. Law says this girl has somewhere to go, and that's fair. It's a solid look. Heidi and Law fake fight over who gets the dress. The winner is Joseph. He's very pleased with himself, and he has immunity for next week.

The immune designers are sent off, and the eliminated designers do the math. Because there was no overlap between the immune designers and the top three, that means there are seven designers left on the runway, and five will be eliminated. Oof. Time for everyone to complain that some of the immune designers sent out garbage and someone deserving will go home instead and it's not fair but that's how reality TV works.

Octavius made a good coat, but the suit is not good. It's not executed well, and the tailoring is not where it should be. Ice Spice likes the colors, but Tyra says that the half-and-half suit in two different colors is something common in fast fashion so it's not original. Law is like, well I didn't pick up on that because I don't visit fast fashion sites. Look I know everyone hates that Law is mean but that was funny. Law loves the coat, but the suit is unnecessary.

Dani's look is a little McQueen, but in a knock-off way and not an inspired way. Like a “Look for Less” way. Tyra is all oh so you know those sites now. Anyway, the styling is a problem, and this is why I was initially excited to see Law on the panel, is to have a stylist explain shit to them. It's a black leather look, kind of punk, and she's put the model in peach ballerina pumps. Imagine a ballerina flat, with the little bows on the front. Now make that a stiletto heel and put ribbons up her calf. They don't go at all. Heidi says she already has this jacket, so it's not original either.

Bi gets some praise for how much work he put in, and Law seems to really love the whole thing. But the pants are the wrong volume. They're straight-legged, and they either need to be skin tight or super wide. Tyra calls it “formidable” and Bi kind of simpers. Ice Spice says she loves his personality, but it's “Project Runway”, not “Project Personality.” OK someone fed her that line, come on. Also we all know it's not “Project Runway”, not anymore.

Ice Spice loved Naheim's look. It's a strong look and Tyra likes that it's menswear but it's pushing boundaries. Heidi says “Robin Hood meets Sherlock Holmes but street style.” Also the hat is dumb. Bao's look comes out, and we can finally see that there is sheer illusion netting holding up the bottom part of the skirt at her knees. You can't see that at all unless you're right there, that's impressive. Law says you can see the seam in the back of the mesh, but the camerapeople don't get any good shots of this seam, so the claim that on the red carpet it's super obvious doesn't really work for me. Heidi references Borat, just to be obstinate. It is nowhere near that swimsuit, Heidi.

Yangyang didn't line her look, so as the model walks you can see the back of the fabric, which is white. They also show another shot, and you can see that there is a vertical rectangle panel on the back, over her butt, and then the sides of the dress wrap around from the front. But the sides and the vertical panel are not attached anywhere, so it looks like she forgot to finish sewing seams. Aaron did a decent job, or at least Heidi likes it except for how the skirt looks like a scrunchie. Aaron talks about wearability, I guess to explain the elastic. Law tries to be disappointed to lose Aaron because he has so much knowledge and it's a shame this is what he put on the runway. Why disappointed? No one is getting advice from Aaron. He's not teaching.

Naheim and Aaron are the two designers who are in. Nice. So Octavius, Dani, Bi, Bao, and Yangyang are out. Well, for now. Heidi pretends she's upset to eliminate people. Everyone heads back to the workroom. Christian appears to run this nonsense. The 12 designers with votes are going to go into the lounge and discuss. They have five minutes. Damn.

Lré says she knows she doesn't want to vote for Octavius and Yangyang, because they wasted this chance to challenge themselves. No one seems to want to argue that either of them should stay. I did like Octavius's coat though. Chloe wants to save Dani, because it was a good look. I guess they did really get her for styling, which can be fixed. Plane likes Bao's look. Andriy feels Bi is better than Bao. Jude wants to keep it about the work, and I think he's kind of trying to shame everyone else for not doing that, even though no one said that's what they're doing. Bryan admits (in confessional) that Bi did actually do well from a technical standpoint, and he should probably put aside his personal feelings. Of course he does this by telling everyone, AGAIN, that Bi was his intern. But then he starts talking about how amazing Bi is, a great technician, will be there if you need him, and he's crying. This makes no sense based on how much of a dick Bryan has been to Bi this whole time. Plane is like “Girl.” No one seems to be buying it.

So Christian has the votes but of course we will not know who because fucking cliffhangers.

Next week: I need previews y'all. Come on.