The judges avoid making a decision for the finale.
Last week’s episode came to a tearful close. This week had the Project Runway: Junior designers hysterically crying all the way to New York Fashion Week.
When Tim Gunn tweeted how difficult the new episode would be hours before the episode aired, the Project Runway community knew we’d be in for a crazy but predictable ride.
Tonight, find out who goes to NYFashion Week on #ProjectRunwayJunior! It's a tense and stressful episode -- for me! pic.twitter.com/8MgKIDgSGW — Tim Gunn (@TimGunn) January 21, 2016
In "Make a Statement," Hannah Davis comes out to explain the designers’ last challenge and brings out a special guest Kyemah McEntyre. The 18-year-old became a viral sensation with her self-made dress for her prom and is now designing red carpet gowns for celebrities. The designers must create a piece on their personal journey just like Kyemah. A successful look can secure a spot in Fashion Week. Not Fashion Week: Junior — actual Fashion Week.
The catch is they must use Rowenta irons to iron on a custom textile as an innovative addition to their garment.
They stop by Mood with a budget of $400. The visit was so fast that I found myself stepping onto the NYC pavement saying “thank you Mood” like a Tim Gunn underling.
With this one-day challenge, Zachary is becoming quite the tortured soul. He’s giving into his old soul aesthetic with an evening dress, but even with this strength, he’s doubting himself. He’s scrapped three different bodices and two different skirts and still has nothing.
Another concern is Samantha. She is creating a T-shirt dress, which is commendable because it’s not a pair of cargos, but it’s plain even with a long coat overtop of it.
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When Tim comes in for the last runway critique of the season, he is floored by the young designers. Maya creates an all-powerful woman that’s ready to kick ass. She makes a black, down-to-the-floor, flowy vest with textiled boning. She tells Tim it represents a rib cage that protects vital insides. She’s not sure what to do underneath yet, but Tim is wowed by her.
Peytie’s story is she wants the shy person she used to be in middle school on the inside of the look and the outside who she is now. In middle school she says all of the cool girls had these “you can’t sit with us” T-shirts, but to still fit in she designed her own shirt that said “you can sit with us.” Spoiler, she became popular. Her look, however, is completely colorful and her.
Samantha’s idea is to express what a leader is. She’s ironing on an African symbol that means leadership on the pocket. Tim told her to cut the coat length so you can see the dress. She is open to all of Tim’s ideas and is willing to push herself. For a designer like Samantha who has such a strong idea of what she can do, it’s refreshing to see her take risks.
When Tim reaches Zachary’s workspace, he immediately sees Zachary’s apprehensiveness. Zachary works off of his “old soul” style and is inspired by early Christian Dior and Coco Chanel. Tim wants him to stay on track with his confidence.
Tim puts his heart on his sleeve by saying they are four of the most talented designers he’s known and he is glad he is not a judge. I’d be glad, too, Tim, because you have a Tim Gunn Save. Don’t think we have forgotten.
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The next day they are all still working diligently before they send their models onto the runway.
Maya shows us what a powerful warrior princess looks like with her look. After she’s done explaining the anatomy of who she is, Kelly Osbourne says it’s a "wow factor." Aya Kanai says there’s a balance between hard and soft in the garment. The inside of the dress has a lot of rippling because of her fabric choice, Christian Siriano says regardless, there is no way this girl learned how to make this outfit on YouTube. Christian also says he know his sewers would have to attempt this three or four times.
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Aya notes to Zachary that he was the one person who used the iron ons in the most successful way. However, the the black skirt was unable to show any detail on the runway. Christian says he wished Zachary had more of an editing eye when covering up the chiffon in the skirt. We see Tim already sticking up for Zachary saying he resented himself in the workroom and he was lost in this challenge.
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Samantha first goes on to say how grateful she is for the judges’ feedback and took it to heart this time with a dress. She’s never made one before, so when she makes a casual T-shirt dress, the judges love it. Aya likes that it still has a bit of a menswear element. Hannah is not letting this slide though, for she wishes the dress had more femininity to it. She says it’s the same thing Samantha has been creating and wants a wow factor. Kelly calls her out for a bad hemline but likes her heat transfers on the pockets — they’re African symbols that denote “power.”
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Hannah is obsessed with Peytie’s ability to use print. It’s a challenge in itself, and she pulls it off every time. At first Christian does not like how short the dress is underneath, but when Peytie corrects him that it’s a romper, he adores it. It looks expensive.
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The deliberation shows us that no one knew they made the right decision on who is going home. Aya’s shaking her head and clenching her teeth.
Maya and Peytie are in the finale. They let Samantha in the finale as well after they tell her to push herself more.
Zachary is out, and everyone starts crying. All of the judges get up to give him a hug as Christian gives him a promise that he’ll help Zachary out in the future.
After that whole sob fest, Tim tells Zachary backstage that he isn’t going anywhere. Tim uses his save.
This show has absolutely no relation to the season 14 Project Runway that aired in the fall, except for this ending. Lately, the Tim Gunn Save has been a last resort to have a final four instead of a final three. If he doesn’t use it before the finale, then when would he? It’s not the worst thing in the world.
Project Runway: Junior airs Thursdays at 9 p.m., on Lifetime
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