'Project Runway' Finale: Elaine Welteroth says final runway show reflected 'strong caliber' and 'inclusivity'
'Project Runway' is gearing up for an exciting finale but not with all of their chosen top four - Geoffrey Mac, Nancy Volpe-Beringer, Victoria Cocieru and Sergio Guadarrama. The previous episode ended in a cliffhanger with the judges almost announcing who they were eliminating.
The designers were tasked to present three samples from their collection for the New York Fashion Week (NYFW) and if they fail to impress the judges one or two contestants will be asked to leave the show. All four were criticized equally and informed about their areas of improvement. The judges - Brandon Maxwell, Elaine Welteroth, Nina Garcia - were to-the-point with their comments and made sure none were spared.
Sergio was asked to move on from the issues he tends to associate with his clothing, while Victoria was told that she could go easy on the self-branding (the garments had her label's name in bold). Geoffrey's attempt to create large, bold jackets was appreciated but the problem area was silhouettes that went missing underneath those outerwear pieces.
Nancy's theme was all about inclusivity and so her model wore a multi-purpose dress, a part of which transforms into a cape with ease. She even stepped out of her comfort zone to create a well-tailored pant and jacket. The star of her show was the shiny full-length dress that came with a matching cowl. The panel wasn't impressed with the cowl and thought the dress looked much better without it.
One might think this would discourage and demotivate the designers who put in their all in the five months they had to prepare for the show. But, it turns out they did a fabulous job during the finale, at least that was what Elaine said on 'Live Kelly and Ryan.' "It is the most... like New York Fashion Week show I've ever seen from Project Runway. It was that elevated. The caliber was that strong and the runway was so inclusive!" she told hosts Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest.
Of course, no names were revealed but Nina said that the judges were in tears upon learning the winner's name. In the preview, we get a glimpse of Chelsey Carter, an ex-contestant, jump with joy when she first hears the name of the winner. She never had any beef with any of the designers and was generally friendly with everyone, especially Nancy. So, could Nancy be the winner of the show?
Catch all the new episodes of 'Project Runway' on Bravo every Thursday.