Designers Partner With Influencers Stephanie Moka, Nidal Kabashi And More In Project Runway...

This week's episode opens at Casa Loma, Toronto's beloved castle-on-a-hill and the city's go-to stand-in for anything that needs to look vaguely grand. Here, it functions mostly as a picturesque backdrop for the judges as they inform the designers of their next task. Everyone is in a cheery mood except for Charles Lu, who was positioned as one to watch in last week's premiere but failed to make the top three in the elimination challenge. He's shaken yet determined.

Host Coco Rocha introduces this week's assignment: inspired by L'Oréal Paris (the show's title sponsor) and its annual Le Défilé show during Paris Fashion Week, each contestant must design a glamorous eveningwear look for an influencer under the guise of celebrating all kinds of beauty. It's presumed that these influencers represent inclusivity, but we're oddly missing anyone visibly over the age of 35.

It's the first time this season that the designers are creating clothes for real clients, which sparks understandable nerves. What if the influencers, assigned to the designers at the start of the challenge, aren't picking up what the contestants are putting down? They've got two days in the workroom to make it all happen. But first, it's off to the fabric store, where they must select materials in L'Oréal's brand colours – black, white, gold and red – and stay under their $600 budget.

When the influencers finally arrive for their fittings on day two, feedback is inevitable. Toronto's Little Feather Migwans has crafted a one-shouldered gold top for creator Jaclyn Forbes, who promptly asks for something symmetrical instead, sending the designer into a spiral. Awale's too-simple linen dress is all Kabashi wants to wear, proclaiming that the accompanying cape looks like something her mother would wear (she's not wrong). Meanwhile, Montreal's Catherine Préfontaine, who made the unfortunate call to guess the skin tone of her client, Stephanie Moka, discovers that her feathery nude bodice is reading as dark brown. She's forced to scrap the look and start over in the eleventh hour.