The first part of Project Runway's eighth season finale is tonight, and with it Movieline brings you a bolt of nefarious nostalgia. Though we all love the clothes, the judging, and even the nice-guy designers on Runway, the show has always depended upon its villains' incredible bitchiness. They deserve respect too! We've ranked our 10 favorite Project Runway villains of all-time after the jump. And no, Gretchen, you can't explain yourself.
10. Emilio Sosa
Usually the phrase "I've chosen not to listen to Tim Gunn" is an informal way of saying, "I'm going to be eliminated this evening," but with Emilio Sosa, his petulance seemed to pave his way towards the finals. Though his final collection suffered because he failed to heed Tim's advice and ditch some of its dowdy colors (Karma, yo), he managed to cruise into a runner-up spot next to the season's winner, Seth Aaron Henderson.
Zulema didn't survive long enough to achieve maximum deviousness, but she helped make season two the show's most magnetic to date with two big evil feats: Taking Nick Verreos's model, Tara, after winning a challenge, and telling tearful teammate Kara Janx to get her emotions together and cut her fabric faster. "I don't care if you cry and cut," she said. "But you better cry and cut." Sublime.
8. Vincent Libretti
We could always tell when Vincent Libretti, season three's schmoozing connoisseur of horn-rimmed glasses, liked his own work. "It turns me on," he'd coo. "I get off on it," he'd announce. But sleaze wasn't all that qualified him for "villain" status: His abysmal, unfinished paper dress was voted "in" over frontrunner Alison Kelly's unfortunate gown made of baby-yellow recyclables.
7. Irina Shabayeva
"Villain" is an inappropriate term for Irina, who established herself as season six's premiere designer almost instantly. She was a sorceress -- a smug fan of her own aesthetic and a non-fan of all her fellow designers. When she won the season handily, we could only applaud her self-satisfaction. That's a real villain.
6. Ivy Higa
You can attribute season eight's rebound in quality to one thing: Outright cattiness. Though (potential winner!) Gretchen Jones is the year's spinelessly self-important cast member, Ivy is a bratty rabble-rouser of the highest reality order. She accused Michael Costello of cheating -- apropos of nothing -- and even claimed he spread rumors about her. Word to the wise, Ivy: It's strange to call people out on their professionalism when you can't even act like a grownup.
Jeffrey was loud, cocky, antisocial, covered in tattoos, and spontaneously emotional. He was easy to abhor. He regularly fought with season three favorite Laura Bennett (and even anointed her with the nickname "Bad Mommy"), but he really earned his villainous stripes when the three other competing finalists suggested that he cheated. Their cries were useless, of course, and Jeffrey walked home the season-three winner.
Poor runway behavior is always a treat, and Kenley Collins made her every exchange with Heidi Klum a heated, defensive back-and-forth. She stuck to throwback prints and some silhouettes that some have described as too referential of Alexander McQueen, which made a real ruckus at each judging. She's also the one designer to further her bad reputation after the show, thanks to an arrest in which she allegedly threw a cat at her boyfriend Zak Penley.
She's ranked third here, but Gretchen Jones is actually the most enraging villain in Runway history. She judged others' garments with provocation; she pretended to defend a collection before blaming her teammates for their sloppy execution; she actually uttered the line, "I'm just glad the judges gave me the same second chance you guys all got." She is ruthlessly two-faced, and no amount of editing could have manufactured it. Plus, Tim Gunn himself actually criticized her teammates for allowing her to "bully" and "control" them. Unreal and unforgettable.
Season one's designers weren't quite sure what Project Runway was all about. Wendy Pepper guessed it had something to do with Survivor machinations, and throughout the season she appealed to models, other contestants, and judges with her strangely malleable character. I'll say this about Wendy: When she made it to the finals and called out Kara Saun for her flagrant amorality, she redeemed herself with the finest evisceration I have ever seen on reality television. "I just heard you on the phone equate a shoe at a sample sale for five dollars to a shoe you custom-designed and had made to your specifications," she said. "That, my dear, is not fair or above board, Miss Perfect." Spectacular.
He was charming, hilarious, a sometimes-excellent designer, and a total pest to his competitors. Santino Rice is Project Runway's ultimate bad boy, a relentlessly dismissive blowhard who infuriated the affable Nick Verreos, the consummate diplomat Daniel Vosovic, and even Tim Gunn. When a jumpsuit he designed started falling apart on the runway and Nick Verreos was still sent home, he became Project Runway's official dark lord. Still, you have to love (read: adore) a man who can do a Tim Gunn impression better than Tim Gunn.