Reality competition shows push contestants to prove their abilities across fields like cooking, fashion modeling, or performance; but not every participant nails the challenge.
“Project Runway” stands as a prime example, consistently pushing designers to unleash fresh creativity through weekly tasks.
However, one challenge reduced a Black model to tears after she became the butt of many jokes.
Barrientos, a Season 22 designer, recently fell out of favor with both viewers and judges. His controversial creation appeared in the August 20 episode titled “Battle of the Seasons.”
The challenge called for looks fashioned from unconventional materials. Barrientos fulfilled the brief by constructing a dress from electrical cords and a trash bag.
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But it was clear his design missed the mark.
Even her model, Liris Crosse, expressed dissatisfaction.
On Aug. 25, Crosse opened up about why she was let down by Barrientos’ look and how it affected her emotionally.
She told People that her heart was broken that day, though the outpouring of support from Project Runway viewers has since warmed her with kind messages and encouragement.
Barrientos initially planned a bubble-wrap dress. But after notes from mentor Christian Siriano, he abandoned that idea and returned to the drawing board.
He ultimately used electrical cords and a trash bag, which he spray-painted to complete the final look.
Crosse noted that she has seen plenty of “lackluster designs” throughout the season. However, Barrientos’ dress struck a nerve with viewers, coming across as thoughtless, unintentional, and lazy.
As a plus-size model, Crosse said Barrientos overlooked her needs, designing something that served his own vision instead of hers.
She added that the incident sparked a broader conversation about whether designers can find inspiration and craft looks for fuller figures under any challenge. If not, she asked, can you truly call yourself a designer?
In a YouTube video posted on Aug. 24, Crosse elaborated on her disappointment, explaining she expected a designer who would consider her curves given his own fuller silhouette. Yet after the challenge, she learned that “not all thicker folks share the same perspective.”
Crosse said she was initially glad that Siriano redirected Barrientos when he proposed the bubble dress; she couldn’t see how the outfit would flatter her body.
Barrientos struggled to find materials after the other contestants had used most of them, eventually spotting a supply of electrical cords.
“So he starts playing with the cords, trying to figure out what to do with them. Then he claimed he’d apply some technique,” she said.
Crosse couldn’t recall the cultural technique, but she described the final dress as resembling a simple halter—“almost like a noose around my neck.”
She told Barrientos she wasn’t sure it would work, yet he insisted the dress would be adjusted overnight. That promise, however, did not fully materialize.
“I came back the next day,” Crosse recalled, “and saw basically the same thing, only more knots added.”
Barrientos initially wanted Crosse to model in her bra and underwear with the cords layered over them. She refused, forcing him to pivot.
She had an emotional moment and later urged Barrientos to style the cords to resemble a Herve Leger–inspired bandage dress, a silhouette the French house is famous for.
Meanwhile, he struggled to figure out what to place underneath, thinking the challenge rules forbade fabric.
From there, the look worsened as Barrientos used a trash bag as makeshift fabric, and the origin of the bag—the floor—upset Crosse.
She later learned that the bag had been picked up off the floor; she had no idea at the time.
In response to fans who said she looked “grumpy” on the runway, Crosse confessed that she was crying.
One commenter on Crosse’s video argued that the display felt disrespectful—to her as a model, to the other contestants, and to the competition itself.
Another wrote that Barrientos’ self-importance was astonishing and that what he “created” for her was a disgrace.
A third noted, “The fact that he said he did a GOOD JOB really baffles me.”
The judges did not withhold their critique of Barrientos’ look. Even supermodel Heidi Klum warned him that he was fortunate to have immunity that week, or he might have faced elimination.
Crosse has been a model on the show since 2015 and later became the first plus-size model to win the modeling portion.
She is also the author of Make the World Your Runway: Top Model Secrets for Everyday Confidence and Success.
