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'Project Runway' Season 19 Finale: Tommy Hilfiger slammed for favoring 'dollars' over originality

'I'm not a fan how Tommy Hilfiger is only worried about the retail-ability of the designers looks. Yes that should be considered but not the only deciding factor. #ProjectRunway,' wrote a fan

The long-awaited season finale of 'Project Runway' Season 19 finally aired on Thursday evening, February 3. Fans eagerly tuned in to see which of the top four designers- Chasity Sereal, Coral Castillo, Shantall Lacayo, and Kristina Kharlashkina, would be crowned the winner and take home the grand prize of $250,000.

Considering the designers received a budget of $10,000 and six months' time to put together a collection for the finale, the expectations were pretty high. Nina Garcia and Brandon Maxwell donned their usual judges hat, while Elaine Welteroth sadly couldn't make it to film the finale. Guest judge Tommy Hilfiger filled in for Elaine. While Tommy is definitely a well-respected designer, unfortunately 'Project Runway' fans didn't feel he was the best choice of judge for the fashion design competition.

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During the judging process, Tommy paid a lot of emphasis on the marketability and retail value of the pieces put together by the designers. He believed that a design that has high retail value and could survive the many market trends was the winning design for him. This meant that designers like Kristina and Coral who chose very different themes were automatically eliminated from the running. While Kristina's modern and fluid aesthetics intrigued Tommy, he however felt that the print morifs that she had on her outfits would at best be in trend for a season, and after that would lose its appeal. While Coral's indigenous inspired designs' crafting techniques impressed the fashion mogul, he wasn't entirely sold on the commercial side of it.

Tommy however felt that Chasity's designs were pretty stunning. He believed that she should focus on designing costumes for celebrities, leaving Shantall's designs as the one with most commercial value. So, Shantall was crowned the winner of the season. After watching how Tommy placed such high value on the sale of pieces over creativity and originality of the designers, fans were left feeling upset. Several fans took to Twitter to express their displeasure with his judging style.

A fan tweeted, "I'm not a fan how Tommy Hilfiger is only worried about the retail-ability of the designers looks. Yes that should be considered but not the only deciding factor. #ProjectRunway #tommyhilfiger." Another fan wrote, "I don’t think Tommy Hilfiger was the right judge to bring in. #ProjectRunway." "So Tommy Hilfiger is basically just about dollars and same stuff for multiple seasons rather than originality ... Please stop sir with all due respect this is project runway let the designers express creativity #ProjectRunway," commented a fan.

Another fan shared, "I’m really irked right now. Where the hell was Elaine??? Why was Tommy Hilfiger able to talk about sales instead of the runway??? Why did the judges encourage Coral to represent her heritage just for them to allow TH to dismiss her ideas? What just happened??#ProjectRunway #Bravo." "Not Tommy Hilfiger insinuating that an indigenous aesthetic in fashion is not commercial. #ProjectRunway," expressed a fan. "#ProjectRunway Who buys Tommy? Who ? Discount shoppers on clearance racks. I’m disappointed @CSiriano," declared a fan.

'Project Runway' Season 19 is available for streaming on Bravo and Peacock.

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