‘Project Runway’: Top 4 reasons Bishme Cromartie could win season 17
Bishme Cromartie is in the final four on “Project Runway,” but he doesn’t call as much attention to himself as his three rivals. He doesn’t have the outlandish, instantly identifiable aesthetics of corset king Garo Sparo or candy-colored Hester Sunshine. And he’s not as fretful in the workroom as Sebastian Grey. But going into the final challenge of the season, I can’t shake the feeling that he might peak at exactly the right time and win the whole thing. Here are my top four reasons why.
He has the most artistic range — In “The Art of Fashion,” guest judge Linda Fargo praised Cromartie for his wide variety of looks. That will come in handy when putting together his 10-look final collection. He has perhaps the greatest potential to wow the judges with a wide array of looks. You don’t necessarily want too much range, though, or else your collection won’t feel cohesive, but …
Bishme has Baltimore on his side — He won the “High Fashion to High Street” challenge for a look that celebrated his Baltimore background. Then he won “What Do You Care About?” for a vastly different look that also celebrated Baltimore. And in “The Art of Fashion” he took it a step further by creating a Baltimore blooming rose in an art installation. Those looks were all markedly different from each other, but they were connected by his hometown. If he’s smart he’ll follow through on that with his final collection. With Baltimore as his muse, he has the potential to tell a moving, cohesive story on the runway.
He’s one of the most consistent designers of the season — Out of 12 previous challenges, he only got a low score once: he was nearly eliminated in “Elegance is the New Black.” but that turned out to be a fluke. All five challenges since then have resulted in high scores for him. The only designer who has been more consistent is Grey, who never got a single low score, but even he hasn’t notched as many total high scores as Cromartie.
He won’t have a costume problem — Garo Sparo and Sunshine are gifted designers with clear creative visions, but they’re also the two designers with the most divisive style approaches. The judges have periodically criticized them for crossing the line from couture to costume, but Cromartie has never had that issue. He could turn out to be the consensus choice if his rivals’ collections prove controversial.
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