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Project Runway<\/a><\/p>\n Designing with the Stars<\/p>\n \n Season 22<\/p>\n Episode 8\n <\/p>\n \n Editor\u2019s Rating<\/p>\n 4 stars<\/p>\n ****\n <\/p>\n \n Another synergistic crossover episode with Dancing With the Stars feels (mostly) like vintage Project Runway. Is it just that my expectations were lowered? It\u2019s probably just that my expectations were lowered. But for two weeks in a row, I\u2019ve enjoyed Project Runway. Put aside how annoying Bryan is! Put aside the impossible-to-understand decision-making that led Julianne Hough to be a guest mentor with no real feedback on the clothes when she should have been a guest judge! \u201cDesigning With the Stars\u201d feels like a flashback to earlier-era Project Runway in its synergistic crossover with the Disney property Dancing With the Stars, and the models were all professionals, and the clothes were mostly fun. I had a good time. We have only two weeks left. Is it too much to hope the season will close out stronger than it started?<\/p>\n Also, is it too much to hope Bryan is gone after this episode\u2019s cliffhanger gets resolved next week? Get him out of here! Every time he says \u201chaute couture,\u201d an innocent dress dies. I\u2019m imagining a Who Framed Roger Rabbit? or Coyote vs. Acme scenario in which an animated dress hears Bryan\u2019s extremely affected French and collapses, crumpled on the floor, never to be worn again. Bryan keeps putting models in clothes that make me think he has never encountered a real woman before, and I can\u2019t believe his seemingly reasonable model went along with a dress that made her look like a hot-dog bun cinched up with shoelaces. It\u2019s wild to me that Law Roach\u2019s feedback on Bryan\u2019s monstrosity of a gown was reduced to \u201cit\u2019s too much,\u201d while he went in on Joseph McRae and accused him of being on the show only to \u2026 sell his own clothes? I\u2019m sorry, isn\u2019t that what Project Runway is for? The series has always featured designers who have already started selling outfits and building their brands before being on the show. If the show is now being repositioned as just for people who are fresh out of design school or who have made just one or two gowns before (like, cough, our beloved Jude), then say that. But what another weird way for Law to attack Joseph. Did he not see the same dress from Bryan that I did? The one that looked like it was covered with giant farfalle pasta bows? Come on.<\/p>\n All the drama from last week\u2019s showdown<\/a> with the season-21 designers is resolved by season 22 winning the unconventional-materials challenge. Okay, sure. Wrapping duct tape around models and calling it a dress is acceptable now, I guess! That means all seven season-22 designers get to stay, but it also means this week has a double elimination \u2014 and from this point on, no more immunity. Bi deservedly pockets the $20,000 for winning the challenge with his keyboard-covered dress, and, no surprise, Bryan makes this all about him. \u201cBi choosing not to pick sides really triggers something in me. When he needed saving, I made sure to stick up for him. But when Jeffrey Kelly decided to come for me, Bi was silent,\u201d Bryan harrumphs, and here is what I wrote in my notes: \u201cWho CARES!!!!\u201d How did Bi work for Bryan for any length of time without absolutely losing his mind? Bryan is an albatross, and he has a chip on his shoulder heading into the next challenge: to design a fashion-forward look inspired by a particular dance style that a Dancing With the Stars professional will model on the runway. How do the designers get to choose their dance styles? Via a dance-off, of course, because why not? The Shards did it<\/a>; how about Project Runway?<\/p>\n All the designers are good sports, but here\u2019s a special shout-out to Jude for getting a little Magic Mike XXL with it, Naheim for moshing around and proving he would kill it in a hardcore pit, and Jeffrey for going full Pose. Depending on their dance scores from Heidi, Christian, and Julianne, the designers get to pick their dances in descending order based on how well they did:<\/p>\n Jeffrey, salsa, with pro Britt Stewart<\/a> Approaches vary around the workroom. Joseph looks to the history of jive and how it was danced by Black servicemembers for a military-inspired look of various greens with a big overcoat. I thought this was very thoughtful! Samba has ties to the Brazilian Carnival tradition, so Anna picks out a floral fabric and designs a skirt with feather-style panels that will move around with the dancer. Jeffrey, bless his heart, is going very costume with a ruffled red skirt and a red sheer polka-dot top for his salsa outfit. Naheim\u2019s is very street-style-inspired with an asymmetrical leather jacket and pants that have what I can describe only as Georgia O\u2019Keeffe\u2013evoking front slits. Bi\u2019s mimicks a matador with an all-red top and pants, while Jude also does a jacket and pants but with far more volume in the bottoms; they\u2019re both great tailors, and their outfits look perfectly fitted. And Bryan is wrapping his model in gray and pink chiffon because \u2026 there is no because. He\u2019s calling it sculptured and \u201cpure haute couture,\u201d he\u2019s sucking up to Julianne when she walks through, and I\u2019m with Jeffrey in wondering, \u201cWhat the fuck is going on in this workroom?\u201d<\/p>\n All the dancers are incredibly professional and good-natured, but they don\u2019t exactly provide critical feedback on the looks, and neither does Julianne. We\u2019ve all seen how useful Christian has been in the workroom throughout the season in guiding some of the designers away from their worst decisions, and his absence (he\u2019s on a business trip for the first workroom day) is really felt. There\u2019s no way Christian would let Bryan keep doing what he\u2019s doing. (Bryan\u2019s model, Emma, does say, \u201cI don\u2019t feel like this is a very accurate depiction of the waltz,\u201d but she says it to a producer, not Bryan.) Christian would probably tell Jeffrey he\u2019s being too literal when he references West Side Story. And he would definitely question the side flaps and vaginal architecture of Naheim\u2019s pants. I do appreciate that a lot of the designers are trying to think about movement with these looks and to visualize the rhythms of the specific dance styles or musical genres, but some of the outfits end up too wacky. By the time Christian arrives in the workroom for the second day, the only thing he can really change is to have Christian get rid of a burgundy sash belt he had paired with his outfit. Naheim\u2019s \u201clittle vagina pant,\u201d as Christian dubs it, is too far gone.<\/p>\n Runway time! Niecy Nash-Betts, who competed on DWTS back in 2010, is the guest judge, alongside Heidi, Nina, and Law. It\u2019s a real mixed runway! Anna\u2019s and Jude\u2019s looks move beautifully, and their models really sell the garments. Bi\u2019s look is very well made but a little one-note with the all-red palette. Jeffrey\u2019s is also very well made, but in no way is it fashion-forward. And then there are Naheim\u2019s, which doesn\u2019t read as jazz to anyone; Bryan\u2019s, which Nina correctly insults as \u201cBridgerton\u201d; and Joseph\u2019s, which I think has some really cool pieces (like that oversize green leather overcoat) but also his typical flourishes, such as an unnecessary beanie. Anna and Jude end up in the top, and Jude scores his third win. I do think Anna was robbed of this because it felt to me like her two-piece outfit had more thoughtful touches: the corset-style back, the shredded skirt, the muted abstract floral. But more and more it feels as if the judges want Jude in the finale, so fine. Bi is safe, and Naheim, Bryan, Jeffrey, and Joseph all line up for judgment.<\/p>\n Naheim\u2019s look comes down to a muddled idea. He couldn\u2019t communicate how his look represented jazz. But it\u2019s not detested; he\u2019s safe. Joseph is in a trickier position. Niecy loves the look, and Heidi likes that she can tell it\u2019s Joseph\u2019s work. But Nina calls it \u201ccartoon supervillain,\u201d and Law says, \u201cI really don\u2019t think you\u2019re here to win this show. There has really been no evolution of the clothes you make over two seasons. It\u2019s unfair to other people on this stage that\u2019s pushing themselves every week to move forward.\u201d I can\u2019t help but feel Law is engineering his response to Joseph\u2019s clothes based on what he thinks Project Runway should be versus what it actually is. And again, wouldn\u2019t you rather wear Joseph\u2019s look than Bryan\u2019s? I certainly would. Bryan is out \u2014 and unfortunately, so is our beloved Jeffrey. His is a beautifully made look that is also, as Heidi clocks, the salsa-dancer emoji<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely perfect; it\u2019s just tacky,\u201d Law says, and I can\u2019t argue. It\u2019s not a \u201cfashion-forward\u201d look, and it doesn\u2019t meet the challenge.<\/p>\n But a final twist: Christian still has his Siriano Save left, and he\u2019s going to use it on an eliminated contestant who has produced \u201cincredible work\u201d and has a \u201ccreative mind.\u201d We won\u2019t know who until next week, but until then, I worry that Christian\u2019s going to save Bryan. I worry very much.<\/p>\n \u2022 Quotes of the episode: Jeffrey saying of Bryan\u2019s dress last week, \u201cI want to play with the best. I don\u2019t want to play with duct tape.\u201d And Naheim, after he grabbed the shirt Jude threw to the designers during his runway dance: \u201cI caught it like a fangirl!\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Bi and Jeffrey checking out the male dancers when they arrive in the workroom \u2014 relatable.<\/p>\n \u2022 Why wasn\u2019t Julianne a guest judge? I\u2019m not a fan or anything, but having her stand backstage with Christian was awkward. At least put her on the runway so she can provide some context about the looks if asked.<\/p>\n \u2022 It\u2019s kind of incredible how Law is rude to every guest judge; he insulted Niecy when she said she liked Joseph\u2019s look. Do we think Tyra actually quit the show in protest after their last argument<\/a>? I can\u2019t imagine her taking a stand. (Sorry to Tyra.) We have only two episodes left to see if she returns.<\/p>\n \u2022 When Alan flashed his abs for way too long under the guise of showing the judges the waistband of Jude\u2019s pants? He knew exactly what he was doing.<\/p>\n \u2022 Thank you to @jennamariekittycat.bsky.social, who shared with me this video<\/a> of Liris breaking down her total shock about how Bryan treated her last week.<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Vulture Newsletter<\/p>\n Entertainment news, for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n
\n Photo: Spencer Pazer\/Disney\n <\/p>\n
\n Naheim, jazz, with pro Brandon Armstrong<\/a>
\n Anna, samba, with pro Jenna Johnson Chmerkovskiy<\/a>
\n Bryan, waltz, with pro Emma Slater<\/a>
\n Bi, paso doble, with pro Val Chmerkovskiy<\/a>
\n Joseph, jive, with pro Ezra Sosa<\/a>
\n Jude, quickstep, with pro Alan Bersten<\/a><\/p>\n