PS: Being a show judge is all about sharing your opinion, but how do you maintain objectivity?
Elaine Welteroth: Fashion is subjective. It's emotional and about making you feel something. So there are times when maybe the perfectly sewn and constructed look may not win. There are times when the most creative work wins. There's times when it is about what's personal to us and how it resonates. That's the beauty of art and how we take it in. I don't think we can be completely objective because we are all bringing our experiences and a certain lens to how we're judging each of these designers.
Quoting Brandon on one of his famous quotes from season 17, "lean into who the hell you are." We want these designers to lean into who the hell they are, not who we think they are, not who the world expects them to be. Our job as judges is to get to know them through their work, really start to understand, to see and pull out the through lines and help them lean into where they shine. It's about understanding their context, where their strengths and weaknesses are, and helping them hone in on what makes them special.
