Inspired by the military, Project Runway All Star Josh heads to Paris

It’s awesome when competitive reality shows do the right thing at judging.

Last week, Joshua—who’d been failing throughout the season—bounced back with a strong win. The designers were challenged to create a special dress for four women military veterans.

Josh’s veteran was a woman who’d lost part of her leg after she’d served a tour of duty and caught a bad infection. Josh’s brother served in the military and Joshua was inspired by his military vet and the inspiration served Josh with a win.

He designed a black, cocktail, two-piece for the woman soldier who proudly displayed her prosthetic leg and high heels on the runway. Josh created the design for the veteran soldier to wear at her next formal military function.

This season on Project Runway All Stars, Josh has landed in the bottom three more than once. He didn't win any challenges until last week, the final stretch. It looked so gloomy for Josh that his elimination was a sure bet.

But at judging the judges couldn't deny the simplicity and the beauty of Joshua’s little black dress. He laced his skirt in a leopard design that he'd dipped in dye. Joshua won the challenge hands down and that was a great thing.

Except it looked like Uli, Emilio, or Anthony Ryan would go home. And they've all done a great job! We can forget every single one of Uli’s white dresses, but remember that we’d love to see them again. We can’t forget Emilio’s bold suit with the androgynous models. The suits were fierce and so were the models. If Emilio tastes that runway show, what would his designs look like?

It’s a show that a designing eye would have to see. So what if Josh hasn’t produced but one or two hotly interesting designs? Isaac Mizrahi has staunchly defended him. Heck, Mizrahi is vouching a compact Chevy car in the United States. It would sheer backstabbery if Mizrahi decided tonight no. Josh can’t do a full runway show. The runway would bleed.

So Anthony Ryan is destined for the runway show because he’s made the most A’s. It is only moderately excited to see what he'll bring. We have seen it all. What can Anthony Ryan do better? His collection on All Stars is a wrap.

In the Project Runway series, a final runway show is a bust because the designer fed off challenges and competitors during the season. Or it’s a hit because the designer took time to reassess the story he or she told during the season. And after they made that assessment they were able to bring their true and meaningful story to life on the runway.

It hasn't happened in a long time on Runway, but the All Stars may get it like gold.

Tonight the four (Uli, Josh, Emilio and Anthony Ryan) head to Paris.

photo credit Lifetime

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