The show had taken steps toward solidifying Brooke Lynn\u2019s legacy, most notably the Season 4 Rusical<\/a> (or rather, Broosical) about her life. But the Season 5 design challenge felt like a real step forward: something unique to her, utilizing her skills as a runway presentation specialist. Season 6\u2019s premiere<\/a> took that a step further, putting Brooke Lynn back on stage for a Lip Sync Just for Fun against the episode\u2019s challenge winner. Again, this was an application of her particular skill as a Lip Sync Assassin, and felt like something only she could, or certainly would, do among the various hosts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flash-forward a year, and the problem I described feels like a thing of the distant past. Brooke Lynn has fully come into her own, and is even being voted best international Drag Race<\/em> host in fan polls<\/a>. (Personally, I would vote her best host period, but that\u2019s just me.) So it\u2019s delightful to see the \u201cdesign for Brooke Lynn\u201d challenge return\u2014\u201cby popular demand,\u201d Sarain Fox says in the werk room\u2014and give her another chance to show her prowess in this particular medium. The fact that, for most of the cast, this is their first chance at a design challenge, means the stakes are even higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s right, if you\u2019ll recall, because of the split \u201cSnatch Game or design challenge?\u201d structure of the third episode<\/a> in this season, four of the remaining six queens haven\u2019t had to create a new garment in the werk room yet. (And of the two that have, only Van Goth actually wanted<\/em> to; PM did not get a choice.) For us as viewers, that adds a level of intrigue to this challenge: Can anyone out-design Van? The answer, sorry to spoil, is no\u2014but the other queens put up more of a fight than you might expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sarain Fox directs the queens in their mini-challenge<\/span> Credit: Courtesy Bell Media<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n The premise of the challenge, other than being just an excuse to design for Brooke Lynn, is that the queens are creating show-closing looks for a collection at Paris Fashion Week\u2014sorry, that\u2019s Paris, Ontario<\/em> Fashion Week. The queens will each get a chance to consult with Brooke Lynn and Slaysian Royale<\/em> returning legend<\/a> Suki Doll, plus get some actual construction help from Suki after the consultation. This helps safeguard against any abject disasters on the runway\u2014but of course, Suki can only work so much magic in 10 minutes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Eboni La\u2019Belle plans to rely on another source of support during this challenge, though: Van! Last week<\/a>, part of Van\u2019s pitch for Eboni to use the Golden Beaver on her was that she would help her on a future design challenge. That chicken has come home to roost, and Eboni expects a lot<\/em> of help. Almost immediately, Van backs away, insisting that she needs to do her own work before helping her Scissor Sister. When Eboni asks for assistance with a jumpsuit pattern, Van basically doesn\u2019t respond, leaving Eboni to try and get one from Saltina Shaker or PM, to no avail. Van gets annoyed with Eboni in confessionals: \u201cIt\u2019s literally an individual challenge,\u201d she says. Eboni, meanwhile, is more directly confrontational, calling Van a \u201cconniving cunt\u201d in the werk room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s hard to tell who\u2019s most at fault here. True, Van did promise the assistance, and backed off at basically the first opportunity. But at times, it does feel like Eboni is asking for an unfair amount of labour from Van. Design advice and guidance feels like a reasonable ask, actual construction work, less so. But Eboni\u2019s design is ambitious, and she simply does not have the skills to accomplish what she wants to without Van\u2019s assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In general, the group just seems stressed this week, which Sami Landri notes in a confessional. No one but Van knows what they\u2019re doing as designers, and the Slay-Offs double elimination has made the werk room feel small. With only two eliminations to go before the finale, you can tell the cast is feeling the pressure. It\u2019s a testament to this cast, then, that they turn out as many impressive garments as they do. A friend of mine (who sadly passed two years ago and was a huge Canada\u2019s Drag Race<\/em> fan\u2014miss you always, Tony) used to talk a lot about the \u201cGPA\u201d of a Drag Race<\/em> cast: basically, how well they performed as a group on average. This group\u2019s GPA is much higher than Season 5\u2019s, and so it\u2019s little surprise they do better on the whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suki Doll makes another werk room appearance for a design challenge consult\u2014plus some construction assistance<\/span> Credit: Courtesy Bell Media<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Before we get to the queens\u2019 designs, we have a runway for them, and \u201cParis Spring Summer\u201d is the category. The queens seem to mostly interpret this as \u201cflorals\u201d (for spring? groundbreaking<\/a>), and the results are \u2026 mixed. There are a couple of high-concept swings, including Sami\u2019s blossoming look (unusual but I don\u2019t like it) and PM\u2019s \u201cfloating skirt\u201d look (unusual and I like it!). Karamilk puts forth the strangest look of the whole night, a black bodysuit covered in carnations and dragonflies<\/a>. It stumps the panel, and I gotta say it stumps me too. Saltina\u2019s \u201corchid petal monstrosity,\u201d as she calls it, is exactly that, while Eboni and Van knock this category out of the park. Eboni\u2019s floral reveal from a maxi-coat looks rich as hell, while Van\u2019s pastel watercolour look is both a real departure from her usual garments and still a natural fit with her drag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then we\u2019re onto Brooke Lynn\u2019s runway presentations, and there are a clear top and bottom three in the crop. Sami goes first in a vampy animal print look in red and black. There\u2019s a fit issue in the bust, but overall? This is pretty good! It feels distinctly Sami, but also like a good fit for Brooke Lynn. (The fact that she\u2019s wearing a black wig and dark makeup this week, when all the queens primarily used dark tones for their looks, is a true blessing.) Van comes next, and she is simply on another level. Her garment looks like something Brooke Lynn would wear to host an episode of this show. It is jaw-dropping. You will not be surprised to hear Van wins this challenge, and it\u2019s really not close, but there\u2019s at least one more look that stands up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That look isn\u2019t Saltina\u2019s, which she describes when watching it come down the runway as \u201cnot as bad as I thought.\u201d I will grant Saltina that this is technically true, and it\u2019s not that<\/em> bad, sure. But it is bad! More than anything, it feels half-baked\u2014Saltina had a whole concept that she simply could not execute. I don\u2019t fault a queen for not being a sewer by trade, but it was up to Saltina to judge her abilities and plan accordingly. She did not do that, nor did PM, whose trashy ballerina look is all tulle and fury, signifying nothing. I will give them this: It is a better effort than their last design challenge offering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a reversal of fortune from previous weeks, it\u2019s Eboni who struggles this week, while Karamilk nearly scores her first win of the season. (Well, \u201cnearly\u201d is relative; she technically is the runner-up, but there was never a real contest with Van.) I think the difference between them is one of scope: Eboni goes with a very high-concept boa look that she does not have the technical capability to execute, while Karamilk wisely pivots when she realizes her initial idea\u2014a see-through garment that Suki sounds the alarm on\u2014was not something she could technically achieve. Instead, she just produces a simple, sparkly black gown that may not win any technical achievement awards, but nonetheless makes Brooke Lynn look fucking stunning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Designer Erdem Moral\u0131o\u011flu joins the judges’ panel this week, and quickly draws the thirsty eyes of the cast<\/span> Credit: Courtesy Bell Media<\/span><\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/xtramagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CDR_606_A.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/xtramagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CDR_606_B.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/xtramagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/CDR_606_C.png\")