Who Will Win Project Runway Season 22? The Frontrunners Before the Finale

Project Runway Season 22 has reached the point where challenge wins matter less than whether a designer looks capable of presenting a convincing final collection. After Episode 8, Jude Mikulencak has the strongest overall case to win, with Bi Pham looking like his most dangerous challenger. Anna Molinari remains close enough to upset either of them, while Joseph McRae and Naheim Muhammad have both produced winning-level work without matching the same consistency. One more designer will survive through Christian Siriano’s save between Bryan Barrientos and Jeffrey Kelly Abess, although Episode 8 deliberately withholds that identity. With the wedding challenge serving as the final test before the finale, the competition is still open, but Jude currently has the clearest combination of momentum, construction and a recognizable point of view.

Jude Mikulencak has the strongest case right now

Jude enters the final stretch with exactly the kind of record Project Runway tends to reward. His work is rooted in tailoring, and even when viewers disagree about whether a particular garment is exciting enough, his clothes generally look considered rather than hurried. That becomes increasingly valuable late in a competition where poor construction can destroy an otherwise strong idea. Episode 8 provides another example when his quickstep look for Alan Bersten wins the Dancing With the Stars challenge. The garment communicates movement without becoming a literal ballroom costume, which is exactly where several other designers struggle.

Related: Who Did Christian Siriano Save on Project Runway Season 22: Bryan or Jeffrey?

Jude had already won the animal-inspired challenge earlier in the season, and current recap coverage counts the DWTS victory as his third challenge win. More importantly, his recent success does not feel like a sudden streak from someone who spent most of the season at the bottom. Jude has been treated as a serious contender for weeks. His strongest advantage going into Episode 9 is that the wedding assignment demands elegance, versatility and a clear design vision, all areas that could naturally fit his tailoring-heavy approach.

The concern is repetition. Jude frequently returns to structured garments, suits and precise tailoring. If the judges decide they need to see a completely different side of him before giving him a finale spot, the wedding challenge could expose that limitation. Still, if the winner were being chosen today, Jude would be my first pick.

Bi Pham may be the designer Jude should fear most

Bi’s path through Season 22 has been much less straightforward. He was technically eliminated during the brutal early stages of the competition before receiving another opportunity, but his later work has turned that shaky beginning into one of the season’s strongest recovery stories. By Episode 7, Law Roach is openly describing Bi as the designer the others need to beat.

His keyboard-key dress in Battle of the Seasons confirms why. Bi transforms materials that could easily have looked like a gimmick into something polished enough that the unconventional source almost disappears. When House Season 22’s victory is finally revealed in Episode 8, Bi is also announced as the individual winner and takes home the $20,000 prize.

That makes Bi dangerous because he is peaking at exactly the right time. Jude may have the cleaner season record, but Bi’s best garments have an obsessive level of detail that can become extremely effective in a finale collection. His question is consistency. He has also experienced weaker judging and has not looked unbeatable every week. If the final runway rewards ambition and craft over pure consistency, however, Bi can absolutely beat Jude.

Anna Molinari is closer to the top than her win record suggests

Anna might be the easiest contender to underestimate if the conversation focuses only on weekly victories. She has repeatedly placed near the strongest designers without always receiving the final win, and Episode 8 may be the clearest example. Her samba outfit for Jenna Johnson earns enough praise to put Anna alongside Jude at the top of the challenge. Some viewers and recap writers even preferred Anna’s work to Jude’s winning design.

That matters because Anna’s aesthetic offers something different from Jude’s. Her work can feel softer and more expressive while still displaying enough technical control to survive a competition increasingly populated by strong constructors. She has also generally avoided becoming defined by the season’s interpersonal drama, allowing the clothes to remain the main argument for keeping her.

Episode 9 may suit her especially well. Two wedding-day looks require a designer to show range without losing identity. If Anna can deliver one look with the emotion and fluidity she handles well and another that demonstrates a sharper technical side, she could enter the finale with more momentum than her season statistics imply.

Joseph McRae has survived every attempt to write him off

Joseph is the hardest contestant to rank because his Project Runway story has become inseparable from the arguments surrounding him. He returned after being eliminated in Season 21, won the Season 22 redemption challenge and then repeatedly found himself criticized for relying too heavily on a recognizable silhouette. His fellow designers identified him as their weakest competitor during the paper-towel episode, while Law Roach has frequently challenged both his work and his confidence.

Yet Joseph keeps surviving because the clothes do not support the idea that he is obviously weaker than everyone around him. His unconventional-materials look in Episode 7 becomes a particularly important redemption after the same challenge type contributed to his Season 21 exit. Even Law acknowledges the strength of the result.

His biggest obstacle is now obvious. The judges want evolution. A finale collection built entirely around the same exaggerated shapes could confirm every criticism made against him, while a successful expansion of that vocabulary could make his persistence look like artistic conviction rather than repetition. Joseph has enough talent to win, but he has more to prove in Episode 9 than Jude or Bi.

Naheim Muhammad remains the quiet threat

Naheim has been less central to Season 22’s drama, which occasionally makes his competitive record easier to overlook. His paper-towel look ultimately earns the challenge win after Episode 5’s judging is completed, and he has repeatedly demonstrated an ability to produce thoughtful fashion rather than merely survive on construction.

He also has something that could matter greatly in the final stretch: flexibility. Naheim has not been boxed into one storyline or one exact silhouette to the degree that Jude and Joseph have. That gives him room to surprise the judges during the wedding challenge.

His problem is momentum. Episode 8 does not position him among the top designers, while Jude, Anna and Bi all leave the week with more obvious reasons for viewers to see them as finalists. Naheim needs Episode 9 to become his statement challenge rather than another safe week.

The Christian Siriano Save adds one final wildcard

The field is not completely settled because Bryan and Jeffrey are both eliminated in Episode 8 before Christian reveals that he can save one. Project Runway cuts away before identifying his choice. Whoever returns will join Jude, Bi, Anna, Joseph and Naheim for the final pre-finale challenge.

A saved designer winning the entire season is not impossible. Christian’s intervention would give either Bryan or Jeffrey immediate momentum and a powerful comeback story. But both would also enter Episode 9 knowing they had already been eliminated once and were competing on borrowed time.

That makes the wedding challenge unusually important. Freeform describes it as the last challenge before the finale, with the designers required to create two looks for a fashion-forward bride. Unlike some of Season 22’s stunt-heavy assignments, this challenge should expose whether each contestant can build a coherent mini-world rather than produce one clever garment.

Right now, Jude is my frontrunner, Bi is the strongest alternative, and Anna is the contestant most capable of disrupting that two-person race. Joseph and Naheim remain credible, while Christian’s saved designer is the wildcard. But with one challenge left before the final collections, Project Runway finally has a test where consistency, taste and point of view should matter more than the season’s endless twists.