When it comes to picking the Project Runway winner, we’re on a bit of a hot streak, but that could easily come to an end during tonight’s season-seven finale. Sure, we’ve got our guesses as to who will emerge victorious — Seth Aaron, Mila, or Emilio — but we’re way less invested in that than we are in whether Tim will deliver a bracing bitch slap to Emilio, whom he appears to dislike with a fervor usually reserved for Crocs. We suspect that Our Lord of Erudition is too classy to get out his claws, so here’s hoping the odds we’re about to lay on the contestants’ chances are more accurate than our daydreams. (Warning: If you aren’t planning to peek at the finale collections yet, look away! This contains spoilers.)
Seth Aaron Henderson: 3 to 1.
Though parts of Seth Aaron’s collection remind us faintly of Jeffery Sebelia’s winning looks from 2007 — with a hint of Gwen Stefani’s Plaid Period tossed in for good measure — his clothes are beautifully constructed, and his work in black and white feels younger and more modern than Mila’s does. We must admit that we’re not sure what the deal is with the proportions on some of his dresses and we’re super tired of people showing latex leggings as tights, but Seth Aaron’s collection boasts something valuable the others lack: It actually looks like it’d be fun to wear.
View Seth Aaron’s complete collection.
Mila Hermanovski: 6 to 1.
Mila’s retro aesthetic sometimes seems like less of a signature than a crutch, but frankly, it’s tough for any designer to get this far without SOME discernible trademark. That said, to us, Mila’s line veers toward being too familiar and even a tad stodgy, with some pieces resembling a theoretical Narciso Rodriguez for Talbots collection, and others looking like forgettable, incidental items in an ad for tights designed by Lindsay Lohan. And her only foray into color, while a lovely enough hue, seems perfunctory, with the whole effect being as if her model’s boobs are in traction. Still, the judges loved the pieces they previewed when advancing Mila into the finals and didn’t even seem to think the fingerless gloves looked desperate. Can’t say we agree, but hey, maybe fingertips are the new black this year.
View Mila’s complete collection.
Emilio Sosa: 10 to 1.
It’s hard to be unbiased here. We still feel like Emilio should have been auf’ed for that insane, hideous bathing suit he made from metal washers and hot pink twine back in episode seven. Also: Emilio is so dismissive of and jerky to Tim, which makes us root against him automatically. However, we do have legitimate reasons for thinking he’s unlikely to win. His collection’s royal-blue-and-red color palette is nearly identical to the color story Rami Kashou showed several seasons ago, for which he was raked over the coals by the judges. Worse, Emilio’s clothes are kind of snoresville: perfectly acceptable for something you’d buy at Macy’s for a last-minute job interview, but lacking the creative verve you’d expect to see in a winning collection. Also, what’s with the prints he makes using his own name? You’re not Louis Vuitton yet, dude. Maybe try to aim for Christian Siriano first.
View Emilio’s complete collection.
