Next In Fashion & Making The Cut - Fashion's New Reality TV Programs — East & West post - East & West

Within the first quarter of 2020 fashion lovers had their fare share of choices when it came to reality shows and design competitions. Not only did we get to watch the revamped yet always classic project runway return for it’s eighteenth season but we were also introduced to two brand new programs search for the fashion world’s best new designer / brand.

Next in Fashion:

After the release of Next In Fashion’s official trailer in late 2019, I was extremely excited to watch Alexa Chung and Tan find the fashion’s next big designer. The show spans for nine episodes and features a total of eighteen designers from across the world who are split up into teams of two for the first half of the competition.

Each week, the teams are given a theme they must create a mini collection around. Themes include but are not limited to red carpet, streetwear, activewear and denim. After each challenge / runway show the designers meet with the hosts and guest judges to talk about their looks, design techniques and inspirations. This conversation and presentation gives the judges a better idea of which designers should be eliminated.

The winner of Next in fashion receives $250,000 from luxury online fashion retailer Net-A-Porter and the opportunity to retail their collection on the platform. At first I found Next In Fashion refreshing and more serious than its American counterpart due to the caliber of guest judges and the focus on global retail. I liked how each challenge theme related to a past or present trend and provided a bit of fashion history for viewers. This being said, one thing that really irked me about Next In Fashion were their corny comedic cutaways that felt really out of place, unauthentic and took the seriousness away from the show.

Next In Fashion is available on Netflix. Check out the trailer below

Making The Cut:

Making The Cut is my favorite fashion program. I find the show more serious and focused on who is behind the brand they hope to discover. Making The Cut is hosted by former project runway host Heidi Klum and Tim Gun who join judges Naomi Campbell, Joseph Altuzarra, Nicole Richie, Carine Roitfeld and Chiara Ferragni. The show sees 12 designers from around the world compete for USD $1,000,000, a mentorship with amazon fashion and the opportunity to sell their collection on amazon.com.

Each episode the designers are given a themed challenges based on the country they are currently visiting. After each challenge the winning designer of that week will have their design sold directly in Making The Cut’s Amazon store. The show starts in New York and quickly moves to Paris and then Tokyo. My favorite aspect of the show is that it is not a sowing competition and the designers must prepare tech packs for their seamstresses to work on their designs. I also like the fact that the judges tell designers that a conversation with them can decide their fate in the competition.

Throughout watching the show one thought kept popping up in my head. Is the show really going to make a global brand ? Unlike Net-A-Porter that can be accessed from almost any country in the world, Amazon’s E-commence platforms have still yet to establish a large presence in many Asian countries with the exception of Japan. That being said, amazon’s large presence in North America, Australia and in Europe will surely allow the winning designer to establish themselves in multiple markets.

Making The Cut is available exclusively on Amazon Prime video. Check out the trailer below

Project runway:

The reason I chose to not cover project runway as extensively as the other shows in this post was because I feel it is a very domestically focused show. The show perfectly serves its purpose by giving a designer the exposure and foundations to build their brand in the US market before making it global. Project runway is the OG fashion show that I will always and forever love despite the unnecessary drama that takes place in the work room and the presence of celebrity guest judges who for the most part, know nothing about fashion and parrot what one of the other judges says.