'Project Runway' Season 20 All

The denim challenge results in more tears than Christian Siriano bargained for.

This week’s denim challenge accomplishes what the “single bolt of red fabric” challenge, inexplicably, could not: It shows off the individual style of each remaining designer. When our (by this point, thoroughly exhausted) cohort arrive in Westport, Connecticut, to tour Christian’s latest outpost, he informs them that “every major designer”—himself included—is “doing denim.” Naturally, then, episode 8’s one-day challenge is to craft a head-to-toe look using only recycled jeans. To make matters even more exciting, the designers will be facing off in head-t0-head battles, with the losers up for elimination and the winners carried through safely to the next round. Oh, and the winner amongst the winners will haul away $5,000 from Gloria Vanderbilt. How’s that for incentive?

Kara Saun gets first choice of whom to fight, and she picks Anna—a strategic move, considering the latter has never worked with denim. Brittany then picks Laurence (a mystifying choice), while Rami opts to spar with Korto, leaving Bishme and Prajje against each other. In Westport, they all scramble for denim scraps, then drag them back in a sprinter van to the workroom. Each face-off starts off genial, so Christian tries to stir up some drama about why so-and-so picked such-and-such for war. (Laurence supplies the best response: “I wasn’t surprised, I was shocked that Brittany chose me. That, to me, didn’t make any sense. But, hey—I’m definitely gonna miss her.”)

At the first model fitting, it’s already obvious just how innovative some of these designs will be, at least in comparison to those of earlier challenges. But not all goes smoothly: As Korto bleach-dyes her jacket, it dawns on Anna that her bleached-white look is already a doomed venture. She forgot to wash the material after bleaching it, making the fabric dangerous for her model’s skin. With only five hours left to sew, Anna decides to re-create her original design, from scratch, using un-bleached denim. It’s a ludicrous risk, but it’s either work like hell or send her model out naked.

Thankfully, all the models are clothed by the time the runway opens. This episode’s guest judges are fashion designer Willy Chavarria and actress and model Julia Fox. (Again, Nina has other obligations. Bless her.) A few thoughts on the week’s line-up:

At the end of the show, Julia announces, “I would wear everything that I just saw come out.” This isn’t exactly a surprise given the contents of her personal wardrobe—but it’s nevertheless a kind compliment, one I’m sure the designers appreciate. The judges then select Bishme, Korto, Kara Saun, and Laurence as the winners of their respective battles, with Prajje, Rami, Anna, and Brittany at risk of going home. Although Laurence is quick to claim the highest spot on the podium—and that sweet stash of Gloria Vanderbilt pocket change—the judges bicker over whom to eliminate. Nor do they all agree by the time they land on a final casualty: Rami.

Thankfully, Christian Siriano has a heart, and he swoops in to Siriano Save his old season-4 friend and competitor. He’s actively fighting back tears as Rami hugs him, and he puts his hands on Rami’s shoulders, pleading, if not actually insisting, “You’re going to show them, okay?”

So Rami—beautiful soul that he is—makes a promise to the audience: “I’m coming back swinging, so you better watch out, y’all.”

Lauren Puckett-Pope is a staff culture writer at ELLE, where she primarily covers film, television and books. She was previously an associate editor at ELLE.

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