And then there were three. Following Thursday’s episode of Project RunwayAll Stars, which required the remaining designers to create avant-garde looks inspired by NYC’s Summit One Vanderbilt, we now know which trio will return to compete in next week’s season finale.
Project Runway Season 20: The Final 3
The 90-minute pressure cooker of an episode found Bishme Cromartie, Brittany Allen, Laurence Basse, and Rami Kashou fighting tooth and nail — er, needle — for one of the few spots in Project Runway‘s legendary New York Fashion Week presentation.
Looking at the finalists’ track records, it was nearly impossible to predict how this week’s challenge would turn out. Rami, for example, has been on fire the past few weeks, but only after narrowly escaping elimination via the Siriano Save. Would his hot streak continue? Or would someone like Laurence, with three wins under her belt despite receiving a low score last week, bounce back and redeem herself? Bishme and Brittany have also had consistently strong showings all season, but the latter seemed especially nervous about designing an avant-garde look. All said, this could have gone in any number of directions.
In the end, Brittany and Rami found themselves on the chopping block. Just as Brittany feared, the judges told her that her look “isn’t avant-garde at all,” basically concluding that she “missed” the point of the challenge entirely. Guest judge Steven Kolb threw Brittany a very small bone, suggesting that her look’s extra-long sleeves could be considered avant-garde, but it was of little comfort.
Rami was also given the business by the judges, even if their words didn’t feel quite as harsh. Nina Garcia noted that Rami veered from his “usual perfection” but was still impressed that he “pushed the boundaries.” And while guest judge Law Roach pointed out that it was “not flawless,” Kolb called it a “tall, strong look.”
After announcing Bishme as the winner of this week’s challenge, Elaine Welteroth pivoted to the bad news: the designer being sent home this week was… Rami.
“It’s been a long journey, it’s been a lot of hard work,” Rami said in his farewell confessional. “Nobody wants to be in the position where they’re about to be handed something, which is the opportunity of going to Fashion Week, and then it being slipped away from you. I set an intention to challenge myself creatively and technically, and I feel like I accomplished all of those. I have no regrets.”
He continued: “I have had the honor to compete and to befriend and to become intimate with a lot of these people, and learn about their stories and their backgrounds. And it’s been such an honor just being with you guys.” Fighting back tears, he added, “It’s an honor. And that’s it. That’s all I’m going to say. That’s it.”
And just like that, we’re down to our final three: Bishme, Brittany and Laurence, all of whom will compete for the grand prize in next Thursday’s finale.
Which designer are you rooting for? And was Rami the right one to go this week? Weigh in via our poll below, then drop a comment with more of your thoughts.
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