The reality show Project Runway is the longest-running and one of the most original fashion reality show competitions out there. It’s been quite popular over the years, and, while the show might have changed a lot with Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn leaving the show, there have been many iconic moments over the years.
For people who love fashion and design, seeing how the styles have evolved with time and watching people come up with amazing outfits under high pressure is really enjoyable. However, just as with most reality television, the show isn’t perfect. While it has many positives as it’s been fairly diverse in casting from the start, there are also some things about it that haven’t aged well.
The judges sometimes play favorites
In earlier seasons, the judges already knew which designer had designed which outfit, so the judging wasn’t always fair. It’s hard to know exactly what the judging system is as this is never really revealed to viewers, but it does seem like certain contestants receive favoritism.
Over the years, certain judges have enjoyed certain contestants and their style, or even because they were attractive or flirty individuals, and this has made it seem like some of the outcomes weren’t always that fair.
There was a lot of body shaming early on from the designers
In many seasons of Project Runway, there has been a challenge where the designers have to make clothing for everyday people instead of models. In most seasons, this has left some of the contestants complaining.
Many of them made comments about how hard it was to design for people who don’t have perfect model bodies, and this always came across as uncomfortable body shaming. It’s not a good look for a designer to say they can only make clothing for super skinny people.
The judging is often all over the place
Once again, one of the biggest frustrations for many viewers when watching the show is how inconsistent the judges can be. Take a staple for many challenges: a black dress.
It seems like sometimes a simple black dress can lead to great scores from the judges while other times it leads to getting ripped to shreds in the judging, and sometimes it’s hard to see what the difference is to garner which outcome.
The insistence that fashion needs to be about showing skin
While in years past people might associate fashion with showing skin, things have evolved somewhat past this. There are many different styles out there that range from being more revealing to more modest.
However, a lot of the judges insist that for something to be high fashion it needs to be sexy, and this doesn’t seem fair or true.
There’s a lot of subtle ageism
Another issue with both contestants and judges is the insistence that things don’t look old. While it makes sense that the judges would want things to be on-trend or ahead of trend--there is a lot of subtle ageism.
Older contestants were often met with a lot of criticism or judgment as it was assumed they wouldn’t be able to make interesting clothes.
Team challenges have led to some unfair moments
One of the most annoying things about the show is the team challenges.
While working together as a team is something people would have to do in the real world, the way the challenges are set up often leads to good designers going home. While these challenges lead to drama, this seems to be the only thing they designed to do.
The fashion
While this is more of a tongue in cheek point that isn’t necessarily a problematic thing, it is funny to think about. Since the show premiered in 2004, there are many old seasons with fashion that looks laughable now.
While they might still be fun to rewatch, it does go to show just how quickly styles can change.
There is some subtle misogyny that plays out even from the gay male contestants
It’s not surprising that many of the contestants are women or gay men, but what is surprising is how sexism sometimes creeps in.
Even amongst the women or gay men, there are many comments made about women’s bodies or somewhat derogatory comments about women who have bigger bust sizes. This kind of thing is never a good look.
There have been instances of bullying on some seasons
Given that the contestants come from many different places and backgrounds, they aren’t all always going to get along. During season 8 of Project Runway especially, there was a lot of bullying done by a group of designers toward another designer, Michael Costello.
While some seasons have been more wholesome, this one was rather hard to watch.
It took them until season 16 to regularly include models with different body types
One of the best things the series ever did was to finally include models of all different body types. This was an important statement to make, and it pushed the contestants to be better designers.
Seeing the talented models of all different shapes and sizes was a positive thing, and it’s something that pretty much all design competitions should be doing. However, it’s unfortunate that it took so long for this to happen.