Project Runway

Complimentary Couture

Season 21 Episode 5

Editor’s Rating 3 stars ***

Project Runway keeps the holistic judging going by asking the designers to expand on their unconventional-materials look. Photo: Spencer Pazer/Disney

Can you believe we’re already halfway through this season? It’s now episode five of ten, and I’m wondering: Which of these designers do I really want to see an entire collection from? Yuchen’s tendency toward nudity is not my thing, and I worry about his taste level, but I think he has a strong individual perspective. The same goes for Ethan, who knows how to play with shapes, and Veejay, whose ability to work with challenging materials is impressive. But do we think either of the twins could deliver an individual collection, without help from the other? Jesus and Antonio dig their heels in on being a package deal in “Complimentary Couture,” and I’m not sure that’s going to work out with them. Not if Nina has anything to do with it, because guess what, she’s back, and she’s disgusted with the quality of the work she’s seeing. Furious! Nina, maybe you should also level some of your complaints at the producers who keep forcing one-day challenges upon the contestants, I’m just saying!

Let me back myself up; I got too hyped up by Nina in “ugh” mode. We get it so rarely we need to treasure it. “Complimentary Couture” begins by picking up on the cliffhanger vote from the previous episode. The contestants write down whom they want to vote out, then hand their votes to Law and Christian. “It feels like you’re crushing someone’s dreams, and there’s blood on your hands,” Veejay says, and yeah, you kind of are! It sucks! Law then reads the votes out to the amassed designers and shows them each a card; I’m hoping some Project Runway megafan will do some zoomed-in handwriting analysis to figure out who voted for whom. It plays out like this: One vote against Joseph, one vote against Miss Joan, a second vote against Joseph, one vote against Antonio, and then a third vote against Joseph, meaning he’s out. (I’m so sorry, but I did laugh when Law finally used the full “Joseph McRae” name as he was reading the votes out; now is when you respect this man’s preferences, Law? Damn.) Christian tells Joseph, “I know who you are,” which was clearly the name recognition Joseph wanted out of this season — and Joseph gives the weeping Madeline and Belania good-bye hugs before heading out. His final words, “I’m about to be famous. Still iconic, bitch!” dripped with so much attitude and fuck-y’all energy that I felt like I was watching a Faithful get voted off The Traitors. (This is praise.)

Because this season of Project Runway is making the designers work so hard that I wonder if we’re actually experiencing meta-commentary on fast fashion’s use of sweatshop labor, Christian tells the designers their next challenge starts right now. (Ethan accurately sums up the breakneck pace: “This competition is a challenge, a runway, a one-day challenge, sewing, a runway, a club, a challenge, no time, no sleep.” But um, where is the footage from the club? We’d like to see that!) The next challenge is to create a “runway-worthy version of your unconventional-materials look, completely out of fabric,” which I think is actually a little misleading, because Christian tells them they shouldn’t make a copy of the existing look. They should make a look to pair with it, and this one should use traditional fabrics instead of the materials they collected from faux Abbott Elementary; the two outfits will walk the runway together. Get to sketching!

As the designers sketch in their loft, the contestants’ growing resentment toward the twins bubbles over when Antonio admits he doesn’t sketch — he has Jesus sketch for him. I am not saying you have to be an illustrating genius to be a fashion designer, because some artistic skills don’t always translate between mediums — but also, what the hell? What would he do if Jesus weren’t there? That revelation leads to Veejay and Madeline basically losing it and confronting the twins about how the fact that they’re constantly working together is a huge and unfair advantage. (Again, they are right, and again, these are actually complaints against the series’ casting team and producers, who knew that exactly this type of drama would spin out of the twins’ casting.) The twins get a little nasty in return — “Let’s shut this bitch up,” they agree about Veejay — and take Veejay’s bet that they work “completely solo” for this challenge. But is there even any tension to this wager when, the next morning at Mood, Jesus and Antonio are consulting each other about which fabrics to buy? There is not. Poor Veejay tried, but unless someone from the series itself tells them they can’t work together anymore, there’s no way they’re going to split up.

Which … might happen eventually? After the challengers head to the workroom to start their one-day challenge, Christian loses it a bit with the twins, too. When Antonio interrupts Christian’s conversation with Madeline, who seems to be spiraling after losing Joseph and struggling to translate her silver-star outfit into something more birdlike (Girl, why!?), Christian tells him, “You can wait.” When Jesus is suddenly hit with a wave of exhaustion that leads to him collapsing on the floor and admitting to Antonio that he’s not sure if he can keep going, Christian has no sympathy: “Suck it up … get it together.” Everyone here is dealing with the same absurd expectations, and at least Jesus has his brother for emotional support, Christian basically says. It’s not exactly an empathetic moment toward Jesus and Antonio, but I could see it as empathetic toward everyone else, who don’t have the luxury of a hug and an assisting hand from someone they love when they’re feeling down. And when Christian says to the twins, in his particularly playful yet barbed way, “Maybe you two need to separate … I’m gonna separate you two,” I wonder how much we should take that as foreshadowing.

Elsewhere in the room, certain people are doing surprisingly well: Miss Joan’s black-and-gold suit is chic; Christian looks the most excited he’s seemed all season when he spots Veejay’s black boning corset. Some are correctly taking Christian’s advice (Ethan ditches a sheer scarf dress he was designing to go underneath a second dress when Christian tells him the layered effect isn’t working); others are not (Yuchen’s flag skirt looks too basic). And then there’s Madeline and Belania. Madeline is self-taught, and she’s having a hard time translating her vision (she wants a look that evokes a “snowy egret”) into the actual work. Her gray top and miniskirt with frayed accents look deflated, and when Madeline describes the look as being more like a “dirty, dirty little pigeon,” I unfortunately had to agree. Meanwhile, Belania’s size-20 model has called in sick with only 90 minutes before the runway show, and Belania has to hastily refit the dress to her replacement model, who is a size 14. When Madeline said of her outfit, “There’s never enough time … I just need it to be clothes,” it really applied to both of Joseph’s former allies. I feel bad for them!

And then I felt worse for them, because it was runway time, and Nina did not return to this show after two episodes away to be nice. (I will take any theories as to what Nina was doing while away, although you cannot suggest her actual job running Elle magazine. Here’s an interview you can use for clues; this is how I learned, to my disappointment, that she watches Yellowstone.) Everyone’s paired outfits walk together before Heidi, Nina, Law, and guest judge Jenna Lyons, who once upon a time made J. Crew hip and then joined The Real Housewives of New York City. The new looks are:

Yuchen and Miss Joan are safe, which I’m sure must be a comfort to the latter after two episodes being in the bottom. That leaves Ethan, Veejay, and Jesus in the top three and Belania, Madeline, and Antonio in the bottom. Let’s talk about the favorites first. The judges are unanimous in their praise for Veejay (Nina calls the look simultaneously fragile, strong, and unexpected) and Ethan (the judges love the surprise side boob in his look, and how the butterfly fabric on his bra cups evokes his unconventional-materials dress). But when it comes time to talk about Jesus’s look, the judges split. Earlier in the episode, Ethan had shared in his confessional that he thought Jesus’s black gown, with its single stripe of cardinal-red fabric in the back, was aping his athleisure design — and Nina makes the same critique! Law had been gushing about how Jesus’s gown “could be on any runway in Paris,” and Nina just comes right out and says the red stripe is “called plagiarism in my book … Ethan did that same stripe.” Shots fired! And not everyone agrees! Law agrees that it’s “a little bit” of plagiarism, while Heidi tries to be diplomatic and says, “I think they inspire each other a lot.” That would be the case if, say, Ethan were copying a design element of Jesus’s, too, but that’s not what happened here, Heidi. Interestingly, even Ethan says he thinks “plagiarism is a little harsh,” which, my dude, then what did you want out of this callout? Maybe Ethan is just happy that Jesus didn’t win — instead, Veejay gets that honor. Her looks absolutely made the most sense as a pair; good for her.

Then it’s time for the bottom three, and wouldn’t you know it, Antonio is furious to be here again. Earlier in the episode, Antonio said, “The only complaint in my life is Law Roach,” and that was because Nina hadn’t gotten to him yet. She is brutal in judging his look, tearing apart the barely asymmetrical top, the crotch-baring pants, the styling, and the construction. I honestly think Nina’s “I don’t know how you made it this far. There’s a lot of problems here” is more casually cruel than anything Law has said because it’s clear Nina really, genuinely means she doesn’t think Antonio is good enough to be here, and whew, that’s cold.

But Nina’s not alone. All around, the judging panel seems extra mean this episode. They tear Belania’s dress apart for being old-fashioned and looking cheap because of the shiny material, and Law says she’s “coming off really, really rude” when she refuses to engage with their negative comments, which is a jerky thing to say when Belania is clearly holding back tears. Most irritating to me is when Jenna tells Belania that she thought too much about what her size-20 model would want and didn’t stay true to her own design aesthetic, which feels slightly fatphobic and also confirms something I already thought about Lyons. When I used to shop at J. Crew, a decade or so ago, a stylist I befriended there apologetically told me once that it was policy to not stock any sizes larger than 12 in stores because they didn’t want a certain clientele. That clientele being, like, me? I’m laughing at the absurdity of it! Finally, there’s Madeline, whose look Heidi really seemed to hate. She calls it “somber” and says the skirt looks like a napkin. She’s not wrong, but man, they really went all in on these poor competitors.

After the judges dismiss the bottom three, Nina keeps firing off zingers — calling Madeline’s clothes “sad and poor” and Antonio’s aesthetic “smoke and mirrors.” The judges may disagree on Belania (Law’s deepest cut this episode is when he scoffs at Nina’s praise for Belania, “You think that’s great personal style?”), but I think her look, even if it felt like a Carmen Miranda copy, had a personality that Madeline’s didn’t. And let’s be honest, don’t you want to see Belania’s look for next week’s streetwear challenge rather than Madeline’s? I’m sorry to her, but I think we know who is getting Heidi’s next “auf Wiedersehen.”

• Uh, the use of complimentary in episode title “Complimentary Couture” is incorrect, right? Should it not be … complementary?

• The outfit I most wanted to wear this episode: Miss Joan’s suit! I loved the textile and the sassy deep-V front.

• Highlights of the episode for me: Nina refusing to use the term “cameltoe” while describing Antonio’s look and saying “wedge” instead, which I’ve never heard before. So genteel, our Nina. I also totally agree with Law that Antonio’s look was actually a great stripper costume — if we were ever going to remake Showgirls, which we don’t need to because it’s a perfect movie, that outfit would fit right in. Finally, I’m on the record as finding the twins’ whole deal annoying, but Antonio quietly asking the freaking-out Jesus, “Should we go home?” broke my heart a little.

• Heidi calling Antonio’s outfit her favorite … this woman’s ability to embrace any and all tacky fashion is one thing we can count on in this cruel and unjust world.

• I wanted to learn more about Miss Joan. Now I know she strenuously objects to visible thongs (understandable) and that she is four years cancer-free after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, which kept her from appearing on Project Runway when she was first cast. I will now be rooting for Miss Joan in both this competition and in life overall.

• Thank you all for commenting on these recaps, and I’m glad that we basically seem to agree: We’re not spending enough time in the workroom or on the runway! I struggled taking notes during this episode’s runway because, since twice as many looks were walking as normal, we spent a shorter amount of time with each outfit. My fingers are slow compared with the briskness of this pacing. I really wish there was an official behind-the-scenes package for each episode that let us spend more time watching the designers work, like how HBO Sunday night shows have “Inside the Episode” bonus content. This is what the Project Runway website should be for: Upload each designer’s sketch, upload a picture of the final look, upload some lightly edited B-roll — give the people what they want!  

• And finally, a question for commenter swellcattnew: Should I watch Dress My Tour?