Project Runway Season 22 Premiere Recap: How Did Tyra Banks Do?

As we all know, one day you’re in and the next day you’re out. On this day, Tyra Banks is back in the fashion world as she joins the “Project Runway” judging panel in Season 22 — but are we all rooting for her? Or should she be sent home to pack her bags and leave the competition? Let’s recap!

Thursday’s premiere begins with a twist: Host Heidi Klum announces that in the first challenge, the 22 designers will send a previously prepared look down the runway. They created the designs at home, with no budget or time restraints, and judges want to see the designers’ best work. Six contestants will win and earn immunity in next week’s challenge, while six different designers will lose and be sent home before the competition really even kicks off. 

Contestants this season include a couple of familiar personalities: Season 21 contestant Jospeh McRae, who returns with a higher beanie stack to try to put a lid on his lovable — if not slightly egocentric — personality, and Plane Jane, who competed on “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Season 16 and “House of Villains” Season 3.

In the end, the six winners are new contestants Elizabeth, Jude, Bobby, Bryan, Chloe, and Andriy. Meanwhile, Jennifer, a former model on the series, Andrea, and Lre are sent home. The remaining losing designers will be revealed in next week’s episode.

Now that the details have been divulged, let’s get into the Tyra of it all. 

Ever since it was announced that Tyra Banks would be joining the “Project Runway” judging panel, we wondered: why? Her reputation has been complicated by new impressions of her former reality series “America’s Next Top Model,” which is now widely seen as toxic and exploitative. The show’s messy legacy was even examined by Netflix in “Reality Check: Inside America’s Next Top Model.” (Banks recently filed a lawsuit against the streamer for the docuseries, accusing it of creating “a false and defamatory narrative.”)

Amid all that ongoing drama, how does Banks do in her “Project Runway” debut? She appears as fierce as ever and she smizes her way through the runway show. She comes across as buttoned-up and media-trained — she doesn’t provide the entertainment of Law Roach’s witticisms, nor the value of Nina Garcia’s editorial perspective. 

Banks’ history as reality TV host, however, is definitely on display. At times, it feels like she is taking ownership over the judging panel. Is she stepping on Heidi Klum’s toes? Not totally. But does it feel like Tyra is trying to assert her dominance as a veteran TV emcee? Absolutely. 

“I know this is challenging for you, but aren’t you curious about what they’ll do next week?” Tyra Banks says at one point during the runway show, trying to convince veteran judge Law Roach to go soft on the look before them. As a host, this kind of comment makes sense. Like a jury foreperson, the job of a reality TV host is often to rally together the troops and keep the peace, or sway the tides of the competition. But as a mere judge, shouldn’t one simply state their own opinions?

Take Law, for example — he is unapologetic in his feedback. He tells designers what does and does not work for him, but he doesn’t try to square off against the rest of the judges. He doesn’t deliver his feedback as if it’s representative of the entire panel.

At one point, Tyra delivers a long monologue to R’Bonney, a designer at risk of going home: “What we’re looking for is great. What we’re looking for is breaking out of something that is safe … There are 21 designers that are coming and they’re coming hard, and we felt you came good, which is not good enough.”

I was half expecting the former “ANTM” judge to pass out the final photo in her hand, announce that R’Bonney would be heading back to the house to pack her belongings and go home, and tell the remaining contestants they’d be heading to Thailand for go-sees. Finally, Heidi chimes in, saying, “For me, it’s boring, too,” signposting that this is in fact “Project Runway” and not “America’s Next Top Model,” and that Tyra hasn’t spoken for the group. (Though the group does agree with her.)

Plus, much of Tyra Banks’ feedback seems to be rooted in back-handed, slightly negative comments camouflaged as enthusiasm. 

When Law expresses disinterest in Anna’s look, which incorporates chain-linked soda tabs, Tyra takes a a jab: “She’s gonna whip you with those chains.” To which Law retorts: “She ain’t gonna touch me with them chains.”

Tyra even tells Bryan, who is among the top six designers of the day, that his look reminds her of a marshmallow, albeit “one that I want to devour.” It feels unfair to compare Bryan’s hard work — his winning work — to a bland, spongy blob.

In the end, it’s simply hard to take Tyra’s feedback seriously. This is a woman, after all, who has dedicated the last few years of her career developing “Smize Cream,” which is described as “a hot, velvety drink and an ice-cream-style sundae moment — without being frozen.” Come to think of it, if Tyra’s life mission is to rebrand hot chocolate, might her feedback for Bryan — which invoked the beverage’s favorite sidekick — be less about fashion and more about brand synergy?! We may never know. 

What’s your take: Did Tyra show up and show out in the “Project Runway” Season 22 premiere? Or could you have done without? Grade her judging debut — and the premiere overall — in the polls below, then hit the comments with your reactions!