'Project Runway' Season 19, Episode 12 Recap: The Model as Muse
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Perhaps I'm biased (I'm definitely biased), but I believe one of the best tests of good fashion is if it catches your eye on a magazine page. There are so many competing images among today’s magazines that only the most arresting visuals will capture your attention from more than a few moments. Those outfits are the ones that sing, and they're the ones that say the most about the designer who made them. Knowing how to stitch together clothes is one thing; knowing how to make them the centerpiece of a photoshoot is another.
So it's not shocking that, in this week's Project Runway editorial challenge, some designers slipped into the creative director role with aplomb, while others fumbled between the props and lighting. It's not as if they had much time to prepare themselves before Christian led them from the runway lounge to a next-door warehouse, where supermodel Coco Rocha was waiting in a gown and ombre yellow capelet. Welcome to the editorial challenge! The designers have two days to dream up a gorgeous look fit for a magazine shoot and for the supermodel herself. The looks “definitely don’t have to be practical or functional, although I think I could go grocery shopping in anything,” Rocha stresses with a grin, and Christian follows up with another twist: There will be no runway this week. Instead, the judges will select a winner (and loser) based on a singular photograph from each designer's shoot.
Before they have the chance to pick out props, our remaining competitors get a whopping $800 to spend at Mood, where Christian urges them to pick quality fabrics that “catch the light.” Immediately, they rush for bold colors: Shantall wants a vibrant scarlet dress that symbolizes the “powerful passion that I have inside of me,” while Kristina is incorporating elements of her earlier designs, including transforming her infamous crumpled paper bag into neon green pants. Chastity wants to do a villainess ballgown with—judging by her sketches—a red Regency-inspired bodice, while Bones opts to use pearlescent blue fur and Coral reaches for canary-yellow lace.
Back in the workroom, Chasity learns she gets first pick of the props, thanks to her win in last week's styling challenge. In one of her most perplexing moves yet, she selects a wooden palette, supposedly because it matches the ruggedness of the surrounding brick warehouse on set. She then chooses Bones to go next—he grabs the theatrical poi balls—and Bones passes the baton to Kristina, who selects a blue recycling bin before giving Coral her turn. Coral picks a massive industrial fan, leaving Shantall the fifth and final choice. Somehow, she's the only one clever enough to nab the ladder, though she's miffed about the other contestants' snubs.
Finally with scissors and sewing needles in hand, the designers get busy. Bones is overflowing with ideas for his poly-brocade fur gown and denim jacket, inspired by the helter-skelter of a tornado. Christian, thankfully, reins him in on a few concepts, the scariest of which was giving Coco fake “bangs” with a piece of fringe. Meanwhile, Coral is trying to elevate her “dressmaker-y” lace gown into something audacious, something that can work against the headwinds from the fan. Chasity, too, has some worries over the modernity of her look; she insists the “grunge” vibe of her princess-turned-villain dress will make it sufficiently contemporary.
The next morning, it's clear Shantall is running on a ferocious shot of confidence. After hearing her son say “mama” for the first time over Zoom, she's unstoppable—and not even the lack of assistance from her teammates seems to sway her. “This situation opened my eyes to remind me that I came to this competition alone, and I’m leaving this competition in the final, hopefully, alone,” she tells the camera, while Chasity and Kristina bustle around trying to complete their looks. Coral has ample time at the end of the day, once she's nailed the addition of ruffles and a cape to her dress, and Bones, too, feels confident in the layered column gown he's fitted on Coco. But Kristina is, by her own admission, “not even thinking about the photoshoot,” and Chasity runs so close to the wire that she has to enlist both Bones and Coral to help her finish the details of her dress. After returning to their apartments at the end of the day, everyone's so exhausted that Coral and Shantall flush Bones's cocktails down the toilet in favor of an early night.
Once back in the workroom, the designers have mere moments to wrap up their ensembles before shuttling everything over to the warehouse on a set of flimsy racks. We'll treat the ensuing photoshoots like a runway and break down each look, while also taking a closer examination of how everyone handles their shoot with Coco. Let's go:
Shantall is in full control. Even in the midst of the stress of a shoot, she seems to know exactly which angles are best to capture Coco's languid movements, and her instructions for Coco to display “passion” or anguish are equally entrancing. I'll admit that I don't find her asymmetrical red chiffon dress to be particularly original—it's a riff on a dress we've all seen before—but there's no denying that, on camera, it's a stunner.
Coral’s dress is much more interesting in the way it plays with shapes and weights. Combining the heavy ruffles of the hem with chunky platform boots, an airy cape and that light, soaring yellow fabric, the juxtaposition is gorgeous in a photo. Coral as a director, however, seems easily thrown, as she struggles to command the attention and gravity she needs.
The beaded black bodice of Chasity's gown turned out more modern than I'd anticipated, but by far the best detail is the boning of her high-low skirt, which, backlit by the warehouse windows, appears almost like a spider-web beneath Coco's waist. Chasity seems like a delightful creative director to work with; she's energetic, exciting, and full of vision. That being said, I question which photos she selected from the shoot—I think there were much better editorial options than the final image she decided to show the judges.
Bones' dress is one of the most creative I've seen all season, and certainly one of the most objectively cool. That silky, almost viscous blue fabric is stunning on film, and the addition of the fur tiers creates a silhouette that stands out from his competitors'. (Coco herself loves it.) But the full beauty of the design fails to come through in the images, either because Coco struggles to move within the constricting fabric, Bones isn't giving her the proper freedom to pose, or because she's being distracted by the poi-ball props. I suspect it's a combination of all three.
As usual, Kristina's design is oversized and languid, like lounge-ready resort-wear for the runway. The paper-thin, crumpled green pants are a delight. Paired with the bubble sleeves of her coat, Coco looks almost amoebic, or like a flashy sea creature. The problem is, she's perplexingly pushing around an empty recycling bin. Plus, so much of her body is covered in yards of fabric, you don't get to appreciate the artfulness of her poses! I'm not sure what Kristina's look or shoot is meant to emulate. “What's it doing, aesthetically?” Brandon poses to the other judges, and I agree: The message is lost amidst all the elements.
Afterwards, Coco enjoys a seat on the judges panel, where she lends her opinion on each shoot. We get a lot more judge feedback this time around due to the multiple components, including the design itself, the shoot, the experience of the shoot, and the final shot. Shantall is an immediate front-runner; the judges, Coco included, are floored by her gorgeous final image, in which the supermodel is draped along a ladder, one yard of fabric spilling to the floor as the other lofts into the air. Coral's image, too, is praised for its surprising ferocity, and Brandon gives my ultimate stamp of approval, saying her photo is something that would make him “stop on the page and look more.”
But the others earn the judges' ire. Elaine and Brandon feel that not only did Chasity fail to pick the best image of her bunch, but she also created a design that was “leaning too heavily on this theatrical inspiration versus translating that theatrical inspiration into capital-F fashion,” as Elaine puts it. Nina has big problems with Kristina's awkward blue recycling bin. But many of the criticisms are directed at Bones, who realizes too late that his photo direction was too aggressive. Most of the judges adore his dress—Nina calls it “gorgeous”—but neither the lighting nor the prop execution of his photoshoot worked, and unfortunately the dress is a casualty in the process.
Ultimately, Bones is sent home, much to the surprise and sorrow of the other designers, who struggle to accept the new reality: They're in the final four, and it's women versus women. “To have such a brain and such a mind as you have, it’s so rare to meet,” Kristina tells Bones as they embrace, and even Christian dons one of Bones's beloved durags to commemorate the moment. But there seems little time for memories as Kristina, Coral, Shantall, and Chasity face the mounting pressure. We've finally come down to the wire.
Next episode, they'll each have the chance to establish their “brand” by creating a look representative of that brand. That might sound easy enough, but with such open interpretations comes frequent misdirection. With these designers mere moments away from the final, the workroom's about to get even spicier.
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