Next In Fashion is a high-stakes competition series coming soon to Netflix featuring some of the world’s best and quietly innovative designers who compete for a chance to become the next big name in fashion. Project Runway who?
Hosted by fashion designer and TV personality Tan France (Queer Eye) and designer, model and global style icon Alexa Chung, Next in Fashion begins with eighteen designers who face challenges revolving around a different trend or design style that has influenced the way the entire world dresses. These talented contestants have worked for major brands and dressed A-list celebrities, and will now compete head-to-head to see who has the skill, originality and determination to win the grand prize: $250,000 and an opportunity to debut their collection with luxury fashion retailer Net-a-Porter.
What really drives the entire first season, which counts 10 x 50 min. episodes, is its hosting duo. Tan and Alexa are fun, quirky and so full of life, you’ll even forgive their horribly awkward styling tips segment in the middle of each episode. Unlike other fashion designer competitions, Next in Fashion is very focused on showing exactly what goes on into designing and making each garment, without too much “reality-drama”. Sure, on two occasions there is some drama with one of the contestants, and on another episode a guest judge’s elimination indecisiveness seems a bit scripted, but this doesn’t take away from the main subject – fashion.
The workroom and styling room is next level. Everything takes place inside the studio, with all the equipment and fabrics present. When the time has come to finish the challenge, the studio gets transformed into an incredible runway, that breathes life into the room with graphics and visuals that go above and beyond. Incredible, yet simple production design.
Knowing that all of the contestants have a background in fashion, some even run very well known brands or work for them – take Marco Marco Underwear owner Marco Morante, or Kianga “KiKi” Peterson, New York City-based designer who helped launch Fubu – everyone’s on some sort of a level that is far beyond that of a beginner’s, and the contestants are from all over the world. What’s fun is that we get to see very mixed runways in regards of sexual fluidity and genders, and so many flawless designs, that don’t look crafty and instead, exude luxury. From having to design a red carpet look, to designing a suit and activewear – for which Tan gladly dresses up like Ariana Grande – high ponytail included.
Next in Fashion is a welcome fresh breath of air in regards to competitive design series. The stakes are high, with different motivations for each contender and guest judges such as top model Adriana Lima and Public School-owners Dao-Yi Chow & Maxwell Osborne, push everyone into a design frenzy they rarely experience in their day-to-day job. Netflix has a hit on their hands. Highly bingeable, great to watch with a group of friends and informative while never becoming boring. Keep the hosts, change up the challenges and contestants and you have a successful formula that can’t be beat. THIS IS FASHION!
Netflix Review – ‘Next in Fashion’ Season 1
Reviewed on Netflix, Jan. 10, 2020. Australian Classification: PG. Running time: 10 x 50 min.
PRODUCTION: A Netflix release of a Netflix Worldwide Entertainment, The Old School production. Executive producers: Robin Ashbrook, Yasmin Shackleton.
CREW: Director: Ivan Dudynsky. Backstage camera (color, widescreen): Markos Alvarados. Editors: Ryan Dawson, Jay Gammil, Brian Kim, Karl Kimbrough, Aimee Durrant, Masa Matsuda, Ryan Tanner, Brian Forbes, Greg Cornejo. Music: Jeff Lippencott & Mark T. Williams.
Hosted by: Alexa Chung, Tan France. Contestants: Adolfo Sanchez, Claire Davis, Angel Chen, Minju Kim, Ashton Hirota, Marco Morante, Charles Lu, Angelo Cruciani, Daniel Fletcher, Carli Pearson, Hayley Scanlan, Julian Woodhouse, Isaac Saqib, Nasheli Ortiz-Gonzalez, Kianga “KiKi” Peterson, Farai Simoyi-Agbede, Lorena Saravia Butcher, Narresh Kukreja. Guest judges: Eva Chen, Monique Lhuillier, Elizabeth Stewart, Prabal Gurung, Jason Bolden, Phillip Lim, Kerby Jean-Raymond, Jason Bolden, Adriana Lima, Beth Ditto, Christopher Kane, Josefine Aberg, Dao-Yi Chow, Maxwell Osborne, Tommy Hilfiger, Elizabeth Van Der Goltz.