Project Runway Canada Episode 9: Hometown visits, final collection previews and lots of stress | Canada Voices

On last week’s cliffhanger ending of Project Runway Canada, we were left wondering who the third and last designer to join Charles Lu and Curtis Matysek in the finale would be.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s camp costumer Leeland Mitchell, who is armed with two challenge wins and a talent for speedy, miraculous construction. Dressed in head-to-toe Elvis drag, Mitchell receives a warning from the judges along with his win: Chill out with the pop culture references! If not for the King of Rock and Roll and the flashy girl from Flushing, what kind of designer would he be? We’re about to find out.

Foster Siyawareva is understandably dejected, but making it to top four has buoyed his confidence after joining the show as a test of his own mettle. He’s proved to himself (and viewers) that he’s a sophisticated designer with plenty of promise.

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The final challenge: Designing a 10-look collection in seven weeks, with a budget of $10,000. Easy, right? Distilling their visions into a single collection – one that will be scrutinized, judged and compared with others – is something the designers will have to get used to if they want to make it in fashion.

A month later, Aurora James visits the designers at their home studios. In Toronto’s garment district, Mitchell’s maximalist workspace (think taxidermied hyenas) is located a hop, skip and a jump away from the dry-cleaning business his parents have owned for decades. The area is steeped in personal lore for him, so much so that he has printed “Save Queen Street West” on one of his corsets, a clever nod to Vivienne Westwood’s punk origins and the neighbourhood’s legacy as a fashion hub.

We meet Mitchell’s mother and grandmother, who are both incredibly chic and proud. For his collection, the designer is going for “Chinatown Punk” with colourful Scottish plaids embroidered with pink cherry blossoms. There are also plans for a bagpipe dress and another made to look like a Chinese dragon. James implores Mitchell to add a few non-costume elements, but we all know that’s the furthest thing from his mind. “Leeland’s going to Leeland,” she says.

From there, we’re off to Matysek’s period-inspired Toronto home studio, where they’ve laid out patinaed metalwork that will ultimately form a suit of armour in the collection’s closing look. It’s a pointed metaphor for Matysek’s newfound power in embracing their non-binary identity. There’s also a gown incorporating football shoulder pads, and what Matysek calls a “historic BBL” (otherwise known as a bustle, a padded booty extender that gained popularity in mid-to-late 19th century, pre-empting the Kardashians by roughly 175 years). We meet their parents, who beam with pride. The only thing Matysek must fix, according to James, is their use of white underneath black lace, which to her looks cheap.

Finally, we land in Hamilton, where Lu is working out of a top-secret studio in his parents’ basement. They may pay the mortgage, but his parents are strictly forbidden from peeking at the collection – a beautiful tribute to them and their journey as Vietnamese refugees. Lu recently travelled to his parents’ hometown, where he met his grandmother for the first time, sparking a creative breakthrough and what he considers to be his strongest collection yet: A series of show-stopping streetwear-meets-couture looks, including one inspired by an orchid. It’s truly gorgeous stuff, but the pieces are very, well, large. James wonders how any of them would fit in her closet. Lu must scale it back a bit.

The designers spend the next few weeks wrapping up their collections – each of which, I think, has the potential to play an important role in shaping the future of Canadian fashion. The workroom has been relocated from Toronto Metropolitan University to the dearly departed Hudson’s Bay Queen Street flagship. It’s likely the space was offered to producers either for free or for peanuts, but as a metaphor for the future, it’s an uncomfortable one. If we can’t keep a legacy retailer afloat, what chance do these emerging talents have of selling their wares at home? As a reminder, the competition prize is $100,000 and a spread in ELLE Canada. But Mitchell, Matysek and Lu are going to need a heck of a lot more than that to make it.

At last, the designers unveil their collections. Matysek has removed the white, Lu has added a few wearable pink satin pieces into the mix and Mitchell has stuck to his guns. James isn’t thrilled, but we might as well give it up for the latter’s uncompromising, over-the-top vision. Is a wearable bagpipe dress a little bit nuts? Yes. But what would our reaction be if it was shown as the work of someone like lauded designer Jeremy Scott?

We’ve spent a lot of time this season wondering whether the designers have what it takes to make it in the competition, but the real question might be: Do we, as a country, have what it takes to support them?