Project Runway Season 21, Episode 6
"Hit the Streets"
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, Yuchen Han, Joan Madison, Ethan Mundt
Yes, I missed last week. If you need my quick take: Josephmcrae, gone too soon; Veejay, easily coasting to the finale; attitude checks from Law Roach, very "do as I say, not as I do"; welcome back, Nina Garcia; Madeline's look felt very Leanne Marshall, winner of Project Runway Season 5 ... in 2008; and the twin drama is getting old — especially (you're getting tired of hearing this) if you watched Season 16 and saw those twins. This week's episode starts off with the most obvious of outcomes: we say goodbye to Madeline, a designer who's had one foot out the door ever since she set one foot in the workroom.
This week's challenge: streetwear! That's it! Just ... streetwear! Streetwear challenges are as common on Project Runway as a Rusical on Drag Race, and every time they're presented, it's always in the context of, "Know what's in fashion right now? Young, hot people wearing oversized, mismatched, kooky clothes while sporting a smoldering, deadpan expression. Streetwear! They're clothes, for the street, but on the runway!" It's not new, it's not even cyclical. It's just streetwear, and while "streetwear" feels like a very broad challenge, we'll soon see that the judges have a very narrow idea of who wears streetwear.
The drama this week begins at Mood, where an M.I.A. Christian sets Joan down a dangerous path. That's what you get when you have the most in-demand designer as a mentor. Christian has a schedule, people! So Joan, following her instincts, chooses the loudest fabric in Mood — a patchwork, jewel-tone, fringe-infused, splatter-paint brocade (?) fabric that costs $150/yard. But the fabric speaks to her — and Antonio, too! Oh, how their paths diverge here, when Joan sticks to her guns and gets this fabric.
I'm just going to say it right now, though: the fabric is cool. The fabric is insane, but it's cool. It's absolutely the loudest, most unhinged fabric in all of Mood — but this is the streetwear challenge. This ain't the challenge where you grab some khaki and white cotton and whip up a winning garm— oh, wait ...
When Christian gets to the workroom for his walk through, he is, as predicted, a bit aghast. His main concern is that it doesn't look like streetwear right now, which, I dunno, what does streetwear look like right now? Shouldn't Joan go for a look like what streetwear is going to look like tomorrow? And considering that the winning look is very Gap 1998 by way of New York City 1961, who's to say what is and isn't now? Joan's inspiration as a 60-year-old designer is going to be more seasoned, more directly influenced by the origins of streetwear — because she lived through the trends that other designers are pulling from. She's going way back to Harlem, she says, and I think it's clear that she's inspired by the zoot suits of the 1930s. A zoot suit for a boss bitch in that fabric? How is that not streetwear?
Whatever.
To transition away from Joan's narrative, let's talk about her dynamic with another designer: Ethan, a.k.a. Utica, who is absolutely alive on Project Runway in a way that he never was on RuPaul's Drag Race. Ethan was depicted as the conservative one on their season — not politically, just personality-wise. I mean, she was on a season with Kandy Muse and Tamisha Iman — and then Gottmik and Symone got all the flowers for their fashion, leaving Utica/Ethan under appreciated. But on Project Runway, in a room full of fashion designers? Ethan has to explain the adjective "cunty" to Joan, and it's a truly precious moment. And later, while Ethan's having a panic attack over unfinished pants on the morning of the runway, Joan is there to grab him, hold him tight, and talk him through it. I love this.
All of that, the whole "Can Ethan Mundt, avant-garde drag queen, design clothes for the street?!" storyline, ends up being kind of a red herring, because the answer is, to quote Heidi Klum, "Wow, wow, wow." Not that Ethan ends up winning or even in the top — !
While Ethan proves they can take it to the street, Yuchen — a streetwear designer — finds himself adrift. Yuchen might as well be on a life raft in the ocean off the Jersey Shore, chasing after a rum ham he'll never catch. He's won a challenge and impressed the judges every week. He even knocked out a safe design on the morning of a runway. Knowing this should be his week, he wants to really lean into his brand, Alien Ant, which feels so close to being trademark infringement. The kids don't know MC Hammer. Maybe they also don't know Alien Ant Farm?
Also, Antonio: you are 36 years old. You know who MC Hammer is, man. You have absolutely heard the term "hammer pants" before.
Anyway — Yuchen's big idea is a hoodie that zips all the way up, enclosing the head and making the model look like an alien ant. It's like one of those Marvel Comics hoodies you'd buy at Journeys, for casual Venom or Deadpool cosplay. But the thing that goes unsaid, when Yuchen's model puts on the look, is that it's not giving alien ant, nor is it giving cosplay.
It's giving ... white hood. You know what I mean. Things are not looking good for Yuchen.
Time for the runway! Heidi intros the guest judges, streetwear designer Christian Cowan and supermodel Joan Smalls. The shady editors, putting Ethan saying, "It is not every day that you get a supermodel in your presence ... unless I come visit," when he is in the presence of Heidi Klum every day.
Jesus: A decent look, a giant houndstooth (?) overcoat with neon pink lining, and a zipper stripped mini skirt. Veejay made a point earlier about Jesus' construction being basic shapes that she could knock out quickly — and I see it in this look. It's safe.
Veejay: She comes out swinging with a menswear look, expertly tailored trousers with leather patches and a killer jacket with strong, broad shoulders. It's not pushing forward but it's so well done.
Antonio: No one clocks his crazy fabric, which looks like if the Roseanne quilt went to Burning Man. And I don't know, I'm not charmed by his Ugly Dolls bag either.
Ethan: "Wow, wow, wow." Yeah, Heidi! Ethan's model comes out looking like the CEO of an S&M corporation, but on her day off ... which she spends at the strip club. It's insane, in the best way, and features so much piping and ribbing and quilting (?) — she looks like the wealthiest, most together bitch at the rave. Winning look.
Belania: A sequin corset over a white button down and some oversized khaki cargo shorts. It looks good. The girl looks cool. But I feel like this is a look that we've seen many, many times before?
Joan: I'm sorry, but this is exquisite. The tailoring is impeccable, and marrying that tailoring with this bonkers fabric? That's what makes this edgy! Law said she looks like she's going to church. Okay, she looks like the HBIC of the choir. Heidi came at this with the most frustrating, ubiquitous critique on the show: "Where is this girl?" Half the time, designers respond, "An art gallery opening" — and y'know what? This time it would make sense. She's going to an art gallery, or a church — pick one. They are both located on streets.
Yuchen: The cat got locked in the hallway closet and took out their frustration on your Walmart hoodie. It's bad. The pants, with all the straps and rings, are Hot Topic clearance. The hoodie is, I repeat, Walmart level. Quite possibly the worst look of the season to date.
Ethan is somehow called "safe," which makes me think producers are trying to wrestle a story out of him because, left to his own devices, he'll sail to the finale. Belania and Antonio earn high praise, with Belania winning despite her ... attitude problem? Who made Law the body language police? Like, Law's not wrong, and he has the kind of experience that demands attention. But Law knows how to make actual advice sound like a threat.
Yuchen and Joan end up in the bottom, which ... Joan Smalls said that this comes down to "taste vs. talent," and from my POV, only one of these two designs has both: Joan's. Where is the taste or talent in Yuchen's skate park look? We'll find out which designer gets cut next week! TO BE CONTINUED!
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