‘Project Runway’ Is Back on Bravo and Y’all Have No Excuse to Miss It

If you meet me IRL and get me talking about reality TV (a likely topic of conversation considering how stressful it is to talk about anything really real), I’m going to bring up Project Runway. I’ve watched the show nonstop for 15 years and chunks of the run are on a constant loop in my household. I can talk about the show’s groundbreaking legacy, gag-worthy moments, behind-the-scenes drama, and jaw-dropping looks for hours. Every time this happens, though, I’m met with the same response from you, the person that’s now trapped in a conversation with a very intense Project Runway superfan: “I loved Project Runway, but I stopped watching when they moved to Lifetime.”

Every. Time. Without fail. I’ve heard that string of words as many times as I’ve heard “one day you’re in, the next you’re out.” Appropriate, because for a lot of viewers, Project Runway was in one day and out the next. But now? I’ve had it. There are no excuses. Project Runway is fierce, has always been fierce, and all of y’all need to pick up the pace and catch up.

I’m fuming like Season 12’s Ken, throwing a hotel tantrum while in full nighttime facial mode, and I’m over it, like when Tim Gunn didn’t even dignify Season 14 slacker Swapnil’s exit with any emotion. (Tangent: I’d use more references from the first Bravo run if it was available to stream anywhere, nudge nudge Bravo) Twitter seems to only care about Project Runway when an eliminated designer throws major shade at Karlie Kloss. I’m not here for a bunch of people jumping into the ProjRun fandom for a news cycle and then hopping right back out, especially because you’re all missing out on Season 18, airing right now on Bravo. It’s among the best the show has ever produced, and that was true even before The Kushners Incident!

This season is a ride. Last year’s Season 17, the first Bravo season in 11 years, was a solid start but very much a transition season. Season 18, though? It’s holding nothing back. A season lives and dies by its designers, and this batch is serving looks and personality. There’ve been health scares (protect Dayoung at all costs), emotional breakdowns (you will cry when you watch Geoffrey meet Cyndi Lauper), sweet culture clash moments (Moldovan designer Victoria’s loose grasp on idioms is so endearing), complete shenanigans (Delvin literally hiding from Christian during critiques), real moments of triumph (sleeper star Chelsey finally getting the attention she deserves!) and real moments of shock (the aforementioned Kushners Incident). The editors were given a lot to play with this season thanks to the shadiest designers (Tyler read everyone for filth) and the most confident designers (Oh, Saint Sergio) in the show’s history.

They’re also turning out killer designs!

But a reality competition show is nothing without strong personalities to guide, or really corral, them. Mentor and Project Runway Season 4 alum Christian Siriano is now the master of this—and he wasn’t at first. I clocked that in my review of the Season 17 premiere, and watching him come into his own has been a true reality TV joy. Whatever hesitancy he had in the first half of Season 17 is gone, and he entered Season 18 fully formed and ready to read. This is the Siriano you remember, but a leveled-up version with the maturity of a designer that has worked harder than, like, anyone.

Reminder: this is the role defined by Tim Gunn, a towering icon of the reality TV canon, and Siriano has made it his own. Where Gunn guided designers like a sartorial Dumbledore, Siriano really mixes it up with them. He’s blunt, not afraid to express frustration, and knows how to develop almost sitcom-like relationships with the designers (I love his exaggerated annoyance at Nancy’s loudness and lateness).

But all of his interactions with the designers are sprinkled with a Siriano magic that makes what could be soul-crushing critiques totally welcome and warm. He’s exuding the exact same vibe as Tim Gunn, but he’s getting there in the completely opposite way. It’s hella entertaining and hella heartwarming!

The judges are also going in this season, now that journalist Elaine Welteroth and designer Brandon Maxwell are sophomores. Their critiques are straightforward but fair, with Welteroth often taking the more magnanimous approach and commending designers for their ideas while critiquing their execution. Maxwell, a more worthy successor to Michael Kors and Zac Posen’s catty quips you could never find, is often the voice of dissent. His no-prisoners POV, delivered with a Texas twang, makes great TV. And Kloss is coming into her own as well! If you watched the first few seasons of Project Runway All Stars, you know that you can’t just drop a model on the Runway stage and expect her to be the host with the most. Kloss has what Heidi Klum had: a natural stage presence with a disarmingly playful energy.

Nina Garcia, the lone Project Runway mainstay, remains the undisputed queen. That’s it. Them’s the facts.

Yeah, you’re missing all that by not watching more than a viral clip of Project Runway. “I stopped watching when they switched to Lifetime” is no longer a valid excuse! For one thing, the Lifetime seasons are fantastic and exactly the show you remember loving on Bravo. But now the show isn’t even on Lifetime anymore! It’s back on Bravo, apparently the only channel that you want to watch a design competition show on!

I’m inclined to make the case that Project Runway is exactly the show you need to binge while you wait for a new season of RuPaul’s Drag Race to shantay onto VH1, but that’s doing a disservice to this legendary series. Project Runway is the originator when it comes to highly stylish, catchphrase-filled, queer-centric reality competition shows (and I know America’s Next Top Model debuted a year before PR, but Runway really upped the volume of queer rep on a single show both on the contestant and judge side of the runway). This is a legendary franchise that is still out there, living its best life in Season 18. Y’all need to get caught up, because I personally need to finally have a two-way conversation about this show at a party!

Fortunately for y’all, there are a lot of seasons to binge on Hulu and one of the best seasons of the show airing on Bravo right now. I envy the journey you’re about to go on. Project Runway airs Thursdays on Bravo at 9 p.m. and you’re gonna watch.

Where to watch Project Runway