Jeffrey Kelly Abess Keeps Getting Close to a Project Runway Win. Is He Season 22’s Frontrunner?

Six episodes into Project Runway Season 22, Jeffrey Kelly Abess has one of the strangest records in the competition. He nearly went home before the season had properly begun, rebounded into the top group immediately afterward, and has since come within reach of a challenge victory several times without actually winning one. Episode 6 makes the pattern especially difficult to ignore: Jeffrey finishes as a top designer in both the paper-towel judging completed at the beginning of the episode and the new Devil Wears Prada 2 challenge, yet Naheim Muhammad and Bryan Barrientos take the respective wins. That does not officially make Jeffrey the frontrunner, but his repeated strong placements have made him one of Season 22’s most credible contenders.

The more interesting question is why those strong runways have not translated into a win. So far, Jeffrey’s problem has not usually been that the judges dislike his work. It is that another designer has narrowly matched the specific thing each challenge rewards.

Jeffrey Nearly Left Before His Run Had Even Started

Jeffrey’s current position is striking because his first runway goes badly.

His signature garment lands in the premiere’s bottom group, with the judges concerned that his maximalist approach reads more as costume than fashion. When Episode 2 resolves the premiere cliffhanger, however, the panel keeps Jeffrey over R’Bonney Nola Gabriel, Plane Jane and Robert “Q” Crone. Vulture’s recap describes the judges as seeing enough potential in Jeffrey’s ambition to give him another opportunity, and Jeffrey promises to push his aesthetic toward fashion rather than pure spectacle.

He responds immediately.

During the redemption challenge, Jeffrey’s sharp-shouldered look with a dramatic open back lands in the top three alongside Anna Molinari and Joseph McRae. Joseph wins, but Jeffrey has already moved from nearly eliminated to one of the best-scoring designers in a single challenge.

That rebound is an important part of his Season 22 story. Jeffrey is not dominating from the opening frame. He adjusts.

The Shark Challenge Shows How Close the Judging Can Be

Episode 4 puts Jeffrey directly against Naheim Muhammad in the animal-inspired head-to-head challenge. Both draw the shark as inspiration and both dress Season 21 winner Veejay Floresca.

Naheim wins the matchup by two votes, but Law Roach sides with Jeffrey. The result is not a formal second-place finish for the entire challenge, yet it establishes something that becomes important later: Jeffrey and Naheim are capable of producing very different designs that divide the panel rather than producing an obvious winner and loser.

The episode also shows why Jeffrey’s flamboyance can work both for and against him. His background includes creating statement pieces for drag performers, and Freeform’s official cast material describes his brand as combining couture craftsmanship with modern glamour. That gives him a recognizable visual language, but Project Runway repeatedly asks whether that language can be adapted to different clients rather than simply repeated.

So far, he has been doing enough adaptation to remain competitive.

Related: Nina Garcia Is Still a Project Runway Judge, So Why Is She Barely in Season 22?

Jeffrey Comes Closest to Winning With Paper Towels

The unconventional-materials challenge may be his strongest case for a win so far.

Episode 5 asks the designers to transform Viva paper towels into high fashion. When the judging is finally completed at the beginning of Episode 6, Jeffrey and Naheim are revealed as the top two. Jeffrey creates a flowing ombre look built around layers of ruffles, while Naheim manipulates the material to resemble denim.

Naheim wins the challenge, immunity and a $20,000 prize.

It is not difficult to understand the judges’ choice. Naheim’s trompe-l’oeil treatment makes humble paper towel look convincingly like another textile, giving the challenge a strong transformation story. Vulture critic Roxana Hadadi nevertheless preferred Jeffrey’s design, praising its movement and arguing that it was the more memorable of the two.

That disagreement is useful because it illustrates why “robbed” is too simplistic. Jeffrey produces a legitimate winning look. Naheim also produces a legitimate winning look. The final decision comes down to what the panel values most in that particular challenge.

Then Jeffrey Loses Again on the Same Episode

Jeffrey has almost no time to process the paper-towel result before Episode 6 introduces a completely different assignment: create a red-carpet gown Heidi Klum can wear to The Devil Wears Prada 2 world premiere.

This should be ideal territory for Jeffrey. He creates a hot-pink, asymmetrical gown with strong construction and a lace-up back, and both Christian Siriano and costume designer Molly Rogers respond positively while visiting the workroom. On the runway, Jeffrey joins Bryan Barrientos and Bi Pham in the top three.

Once again, he does not win.

Heidi chooses Bryan’s loose seafoam gown, even after Law questions whether its open-sided construction will provide the support Heidi needs. Jeffrey’s dress receives broad praise, and guest judge Winnie Harlow is enthusiastic enough about the look that Vulture jokes she should buy it.

For Jeffrey, that makes Episode 6 unusually frustrating. He enters the hour as runner-up to Naheim and leaves it having lost another top-three decision to Bryan.

Why Hasn’t Jeffrey Won a Challenge Yet?

There is no single weakness preventing him from winning.

The evidence so far points to something subtler. Jeffrey is consistently giving the judges designs they want to discuss, but the winner of each challenge has delivered a more exact match for that week’s deciding criterion. Joseph’s redemption look gets the Episode 2 win. Naheim’s material transformation wins the unconventional challenge. Bryan’s gown aligns most directly with Heidi’s personal preference because Heidi is the actual client.

Jeffrey’s aesthetic also tends toward high-impact statement fashion. That is an advantage when the challenge rewards drama, movement and craftsmanship, but it creates a narrow margin for error when judges start worrying about costume, commercial relevance or the precise taste of a celebrity client.

The encouraging part for Jeffrey is that the judges have already seen both sides of that issue. They nearly eliminated him for leaning too far into spectacle in the premiere, then repeatedly rewarded him after he recalibrated.

That is real progress inside the competition rather than a static designer simply presenting the same idea every week.

Is Jeffrey Really the Season 22 Frontrunner?

He is a frontrunner, but calling him the confirmed frontrunner would be premature.

Naheim has actually converted strong work into wins. Bryan now has an important challenge victory and the Heidi premiere dress. Jude has impressed with tailoring and already secured a challenge win. The remaining field is also small enough that one poor week can radically change the hierarchy.

What Jeffrey has is a compelling consistency argument.

After surviving an ugly first round, he has repeatedly returned to the upper end of the judging. Fan discussion has increasingly framed him as somebody the judges are overlooking, while at least one major episode critic came out of Episode 6 arguing that Jeffrey deserved both available victories.

That does not prove the judges made the wrong decisions. It does prove that Jeffrey has reached the stage where finishing near the top is no longer surprising.

There may actually be an advantage to that trajectory. Winning early can mark a designer as dangerous, but sustained praise without becoming the obvious target can allow someone to keep building momentum. Jeffrey has already demonstrated that he can survive harsh criticism, adjust his presentation, make judges disagree over him and compete closely with very different designers.

With four episodes still remaining after Episode 6, a win would finally give his record the result that his recent placements seem to be building toward. Even without one yet, Jeffrey Kelly Abess has gone from nearly being part of Season 22’s opening purge to becoming one of the designers whose name belongs in any serious discussion of the finale.