Project Runway’s Thursday, October 19 episode, “Driving Miss Unconventional,” challenged its designers to use unconventional safety materials, such as seatbelts, hard hats and reflectors, to create unique creations. The theme was to “think outside of your safety zone and deliver looks that do not conform to the rules.”
Designer contestant Michael Bramblia put an…interesting…twist on the challenge to say the least, and chose ace bandages, bungee cords, oxygen tubing, a harness and netting to create a “sexualized” and “fetishy” look. So, he definitely made the challenge out of the model’s safety zone.
Michael: I'm working very fluidly with the bungees at this point, seeing how I can manipulate them to make them interesting.
Ayana: Ooh, that looks cool.
Kenya: Those are really cute.
Michael: Well, I can't have her just wear ropes and a thong.
Kenya: Hey, you know...
Michael: I want to do something bondage-inspired and sexualized, but in a very, very sophisticated way. I know I want to do something, like, fetishy. Like, when I do my menswear, there's such a, like, underground, like, fetish sexuality, and I haven't shown that at all.
Kenya: Well, all these chains and ropes-- I mean...
Ayana: Michael wants to create this fetish-inspired look. The judges don't like things that are too scandalous or are too, like, trashy. It's risky, but we're here to take risks, so... Go for it, Michael.
He definitely went for it. And seeing his female model have to wear his “sexualized” creation was cringeworthy:
Michael: I'm gonna try so hard not to poke you or stab you.
Christina: Okay.
Sanita: Wow. That's sexy.
Christina: Sanita, stop flirting with me.
Sanita: Your booty.
Christina: I've been dying to work with Michael as a designer, so I'm really excited that finally I get to wear something that he created, but I'm wearing the bungee outfit, and it has nothing underneath. I'm telling you, I'm naked, guys. I'm, like, naked. So grab some pizza and some popcorn, 'cause you're gonna see a naked girl on Project Runway.
Thankfully, Michael decided to add a dress underneath of the bungee cords and ropes, but apparently, that disgusted him. “This is awful…It looks like a stripper outfit,” he said. “It's disgusting...But the top part is nice. Disgusting. By the end of the day, I'm definitely seeing that I have a lot of issues with my look, in particular with the dress underneath. I don't know how to make it interesting enough or bring it to the next level. I hate it. I hate it.”
Bring it to the “next level?” What would that even be? I think he’s pretty much at the highest level of outrageousness and shock possible. We do know, based on his comments, that “next level” for him doesn’t look anything like his fellow designer Ayana’s creation.
“Looking at Ayana's look, it's just so beyond over the top in, like, the worst way possible,” Michael said. “She might be in trouble with this one.”
Michael, this is Project Runway, not Projecting Runway. I think you need to take a look in the mirror before you start judging anyone else as “beyond over the top in, like, the worst possible way.”
Christina was happy to not have to walk naked on the runway, though. “Now I have an outfit,” she said. “With no clothes, it was ‘sexy,’ but with all of this, everything fits, it-it goes together, and I'm not naked, so I'm pretty happy about that.”
But what we really want to know, Christina, is how you feel knowing that your look was created by a male designer who wanted it to look “fetishy” and who likes to work his sexual fetishes into his usual designs outside of the show. If I were modeling an outfit that a man made for me based on his sexual kinks, I’d feel a bit creeped out.
At a time when women are (thankfully) speaking out about being sexually harassed, objectified, treated as sexual objects and even worse, raped, with the “Me Too” movement, which went viral as a response to the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal, it just feels very wrong to have a man designing a look for a woman based on his sexual perversions. Complete with a ball gag as a necklace. That gives new meaning to a “statement piece.”
I’m sure there are plenty of powerful Harvey Weinstein type designers in the modeling world. What kind of overall message is being sent to victims of such abuse when a female model is made to wear a dress that was created for her from the sexual fetishes of the male designer?
Stand here and look pretty while this perverted male designs a look for you that gets him off sexually and make sure your smile is big and bright above that ball gag necklace he chose for you, too! Isn’t he so creative and clever? *shudder*
Thankfully the judges weren’t happy with Michael’s design, calling it “trashy” and “hookerish.”
Heidi Klum: Michael, tell us about your look and the materials that you used.
Michael: The majority was bungee cord. I did the interior bralette out of the harness strapping. The skirt was all out of ace bandages. But my basic inspiration was kind of beautifying bondage.
Nina Garcia: Yeah, Michael, unfortunately, this is not one of my favorite looks. It lacks drama. This was the unconventional- material challenge. This is about freedom. This is about creativity. And this feels like a bandage dress. She looks like a backup dancer for a music video.
Carly Chaikin: To be very blunt, I think she... It's very hooker-ish. Looks a little, like, tacky and cheap. Yeah, I'm not a fan.
Heidi: I do kind of think she looks kind of hot, but when you do compare your look to everyone else's, it looks like you didn't work as hard.
Michael: Yeah.
Zac Posen: The blue color pops. I like that color and that texture, and that's kind of about it. And that line that's, like, smooshing her boobs across, it's pushing it down, and it's making this bralette not fit. I'm pretty disappointed here.
But when the designers went backstage while the judges got a closer look at their creations, fellow designer Kentaro told Michael that he thought, “[Christina] looked really beautiful.” Michael emphatically agreed saying, “I think so. I still really like it.”
Fortunately, Michael doesn’t get to decide. The judges do. And they had a lot more to say while Michael was backstage:
Tim Gunn: And we have Christina wearing Michael.
Christina: The hooker has arrived.
Zac: She said it.
Carly: Streetwalker.
Christina: This is the second time I've been called hooker.
Nina: It's not personal.
Carly: I will say, the lips, that blue there...
Nina: You really like. Let me guess.
Zac: I don't know. It looks uncomfortable.
Heidi: See, I'm not hating it.
Zac: I am. I hate it.
Nina: I do hate it. I don't like it very much. I just don't think there's an interesting vision here. This is just crazy. And it's not so revolutionary. Haven't we seen these bondage dresses...
Zac: By everybody.
Nina: By everyone.
Carly: This is the only thing that interests me. It's your butt.
Christina: Thanks, girl.
Heidi: I wonder, has he given up?
Tim: He was working very hard. He was.
Heidi: Really?
Nina: But you can't see it.
Heidi: Doesn't look like it, right?
Nina: No, you can't see it.
Zac: Well, I think he struggled with elements of it, but it is about the end result.
Yes, it is about the end result. And despite Michael projecting his own issues onto fellow designer Ayana, she won the challenge with her creation. Ironically, Ayana is the one who creates modest designs in honor of her Muslim faith. So, it was nice to have her win over pretty much the opposite of modesty.
Although the judges called Michael’s look “trashy” and “hookerish,” none of the them discussed the sexual fetish aspect of his design, or the creep factor of making a female model wear it. I think that was important to talk about, especially in light of the “Me Too” movement and Harvey Weinstein scandal.
Thankfully, though, Michael ended up in last place and was sent home where I’m sure he’ll continue to design sexual fetish wear for men as he’s used to doing. But at least in the world of Project Runway, purity won over perversion this time. And none of the models need to worry about donning a creation based on a male designer’s desire to sexualize his clothing designs ever again.
At least this season.
