Project Runway Season 21, Episode 8
"Threads of Confidence"
Director: Ramy Romany
Host: Heidi Klum
Mentor: Christian Siriano
Judges: Law Roach, Christian Cowan, Joan Smalls
Cast: Belania Daley, Antonio Estrada, Jesus Estrada, Veejay Floresca, Ethan Mundt
And once again, I start a recap with an apology for missing last week. The truth is: running a website with a small, small, small team involves a lot of wide-ranging work — and my own writing has to take a backseat. If you'd like to help Pop Heist, if you'd like to help take a little off my plate, you can always subscribe for as low as $7 a month. The more subscribers we have, the more staff we can hire, the less I have to do, and the more recaps I can write.
Consider that paragraph my version of "Wow, these Frixion erasable pens are a lifesaver!"
Last week, we saw Joan eliminated for a look that deserved more flowers, and we saw Yuchen land in the bottom for one of the most Party City looking disasters we've seen this season. This week starts off with Yuchen told "auf wiedersehen," back to his hotel room where a copy of Dolly Parton's Behind the Seams: My Life in Rhinestones is hopefully waiting for him.
This week, it's time for the real world client challenge — and it's ... all about eczema. The five designers are paired with five real people who live with eczema, a chronic skin condition that can flare up and cause red, itchy, dry skin. And, where Project Runway comes into play, certain fabrics can cause those flare ups, which has led to the fashion industry to take notice. This challenge is about creating garments that soothe and give confidence to those who have otherwise have a complicated relationship with their appearance. It's a good cause.
However — this episode has the unfortunate timing of coming out the same week as Drag Race Philippines: Slaysian Royale's own makeover episode where the subjects were OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers). These are women who, in order to provide for their families, take jobs far away from home — jobs that can be abusive, as one story told on the main stage illustrated. And since many of the Filipino queens are children of OFWs, there was a lot of healing that took place in the Werk Room. I'd never heard of OFWs before, and I was moved.
So ... eczema! Overall, there was just more Project Runway could have done with this theme. Like, they weren't limited in their fabric choices beyond their own common sense. Why not give them a few bolts of eczema-proof fabrics to work with? Why not give some screentime to designers or runway shows that featured skin-conscious (Is that a thing?) fabrics? Why not show a picture of someone with an eczema flareup? I left the episode with about as much knowledge of eczema as I entered with. So, there's that.
Only one of the designers seemed to glide through this challenge, smooth as silk. The rest of them all crumpled under the pressure of nonstop one-day challenges in one way or another.
Ethan struggles with the "show-stopping reveal" portion of this challenge, which really feels like a monkeywrench thrown into the assignment to specifically trip him up. He's been talking about reveals all season! Ethan has to pivot a few times, especially after being told his look is serving graduation ceremony.
Veejay and Belania both have similar problems: clients whose taste doesn't align with their own. By that, I mean that neither client really has taste, neither good or bad. Veejay's working with a 19-year-old straight guy, all the demographics that are allergic to reveals. Belania's girl, a cool-looking girl who seems like she would absolutely vibe with Belania's aesthetic, turns out to not like patterns or even color, really. They each handle these problems in drastically different ways.
Can we talk about Jesus? What in the hell? I've seen roughly 20 real client makeover challenges on this show. I've never seen a consultation turn into a first date before — complete with flirtatious thigh touching! And as can happen with first dates, Jesus was too wrapped up in his idea of this man. He wanted to turn this handsome man into his personal ... swashbuckling disco pirate ... despite his client saying repeatedly, "That's not my vibe."
Antonio, however, had his shit on lock. He said that he works with clients often, and it showed. He was clued into what his client wanted from the jump, and, the results speak for themselves.
Let's talk about this runway show!
Antonio crushes it, producing three layers of impressive garments: an oversized coat with bubble sleeves that doesn't get nearly enough time on the runway; a smart-looking jacket/dress, executive realness; and a show stopping, beaded, strapless cocktail dress — all of this in a rich, dark emerald green. It's impressive, and considering some of the bonkers stuff Antonio has shown this season, it's incredibly tasteful and restrained.
Veejay responded to having a shy client by just eschewing the reveal entirely. Instead, she focused on making some impeccable separates: a killer leather jacket, jeans with leather patches and accents, and a quarter-zip sweater in (as Christian points out) Christmas green. No reveal, but it ultimately doesn't matter. This was a gamble for Veejay, to just not do part of the challenge, but she maybe calculated that other designers were flailing so hard that there was no way she'd end up in the bottom.
Enter: Belania! Sigh. Wow. At the crossroads of not what the client wanted and not what the designer wanted stands this garment. I ... don't know. The coat, a foggy night duster in plaid wool, is fine. The actual ... dress / skort? A ruched liquid metal dress that's actually a reverse-mullet top, over some shorts? Oh, my god, Belania.
Ethan gets the runway back on track with an inkblot-inspired design reveal, under a pure white, sleeveless coverup/jacket. The look itself, a mini skirt and bustier moment covered in hand-painted "ink stains," is good. Considering the struggles he had, he pulled out something just elevated and intriguing enough to keep him safe (even if Heidi hated it). And I have to disagree with the judges, who said Ethan should've put the print all over. If the outside of the jacket had the blots, then what would the reveal be? The inkblots were the reveal, and the reveal was part of the challenge!
And then, lastly, Jesus' boytoy. This is not giving magician, as Nikki Glaser says. My X-Men fans know, this is giving Summers family Hellfire Gala realness. I mean, it's Cyclops — the mutant son of a space pirate — in a high fashion look at Marvel Comics' ode to the Met Gala. This is about as far from what Jesus' client — who wasn't into flashy — wanted as possible.
Antonio wins, clearly, as he's the only designer who both earns unanimous praise from the judges and provided a reveal. Veejay comes in second, her gamble to focus on executing a flawless design, reveal be damned, paying off. Ethan squeaks by simply by Heidi being outvoted. That leaves Belania and Jesus, two frontrunners and the only designers with two wins each, in the bottom.
And, in a shocking twist, Heidi declares them both out. Do I think this is real? Absolutely not. The show has yet to nix a designer before the credits roll on an episode. I don't know why they would start now. And there are two more episodes left this season, so unless they plan on having two people in the finale or not eliminating anyone next week, someone has to stay. My guess: both Belania and Jesus are "out" and they'll have to compete in some sort of challenge to get back "in." Maybe they'll have to rework their losing garment into something good in 60 minutes. We'll have to wait and see! And hopefully I'll have the time to recap it. Please subscribe!
If you haven't already, consider supporting worker-owned media by subscribing to Pop Heist. We are ad-free and operating outside the algorithm, so all dollars go directly to paying the staff members and writers who make articles like this one possible.
