Project Runway Recap: Season 16, Episode 11: Warrior Fashion

This episode of Project Runway was near and dear to my heart. The designers were brought to a boxing ring and met breast cancer survivors, who told their stories of survival. As a breast cancer survivor myself, I was teary three minutes in to the episode and couldn’t wait to see what they would create.

The challenge this week was to create a “warrior” look, inspired by these stories, as an editorial piece. Here we go!

After a little boxing lesson, the designers took to their sketchpads and got busy at Mood, choosing fabrics they thought exemplified a powerful woman. Lots of bold red, blue and black was purchased. Brandon went with his signature dull pink mixed with white…again.

Margarita’s sketch has some serious potential. I liked her story–and she had a personal connection with her grandmother having breast cancer. The story of her look was that cancer causes chaos and uncertainty, exemplified by the billowing fabric at the bust and hips. Her gold leather corset was supposed to contain that chaos, symbolizing how a woman keeps it together and powers through to survive.  I really thought she was going to take this one…until she started sewing.

I thought it was a neat look, actually. But the corset wasn’t long enough to conceal her skirt upper edge, which ended up looking messy. It was well constructed, but I agree with Nina that it was a tad costume-ish…she had a Wonder Woman thing going on…but wasn’t that what this challenge was about?

Kentaro had a cool look going on in the beginning, but it didn’t end up fitting his model. So he had to create an entirely new piece at the last minute.

You can see by his sketch that he didn’t give it much thought (he didn’t have time to) and it turned into a complete mess. The model has a priest-vibe going on and she’s completely covered up. I hated this look and was sure he was going home.

Kenya also had a tough time with this one. Inspiration just wasn’t coming for her. But she managed to focus with Tim’s critique and get it done. Her look was quite possibly my favorite this week. I thought she might just get a win after all these weeks of being safe.

She sketched at least four ideas and came up with one that was a combo of them all. Her petals at the shoulders are starting to be her signature look, and one that really defined the silhouette. Her model looks powerful, strong and sexy–completely what they asked for.

Ayana made an innovative, fashion-forward take on a power suit. She made three pieces: a blouse, pant and mini skirt that almost doubled as a vest. Her attention to detail was impeccable and that blouse is killer! Her concept was executed flawlessly.

She’s my favorite now and I hope she takes the whole thing. Remember–I loved her from episode one!

And then we have Brandon…yawn. I’m sorry, but this is the exact thing we keep seeing from him. I understand the point of view now, but can we see something different? I don’t understand how this look is “warrior” at all. And what’s up with the bonnet?

As expected, Brandon takes home the win…again. He even said something like “Can I just win and go home now?” Guess he’s getting a bit cocky. Though, he still seems geniune and everyone likes him…

Nina wasn’t so sure about it, though she did call it “innovative.” Judging by how much Heidi fawns over his looks, he’ll probably win it all.

In the end, Margarita came out on the bottom. I cannot believe Kentaro was safe. Margarita at least had a story, which made her look more editorial. While she was digesting her loss, she still managed to look fabulous herself. Check out those shoes!

However, Tim loved the look and brought out the TIM GUNN SAVE! Margarita would live to sew another day!

Huzzah! Now we’ll see what next week brings!