Next in Fashion

When dealing with something like Rock n' roll, you're talking about decades of history and entire subcultures. It's a delicate subject. The judges and hosts clearly didn't do their homework and their idea of what constituted rock n roll was almost comically warped - Alexa's tips were straight up offensive and contribute to the persistence of untrue stigmas. They should probably refrain from themes like these on the future. That being said, the rest of the show is very entertaining and watchable. If you're expecting fairness, though, you're not getting it. Some doubles have worked together for years while others met on the show and have completely dissonant styles. With some necessary tweaks here and there, Next In Fashion will be heading down the right path.

I enjoyed this show a lot. It was more positive and upbeat than your average reality TV competition. For once, the contestants supported each other instead of stirring up catty drama. The challenges were fun, the fashion was fresh, and the runway shows were well-done. Even the range of diversity in both the contestants and the models they dressed was refreshing. Alexa Chung and Tan France as co-hosts was my dream come true and they got a good set of guest judges to add some interesting perspectives.

I also liked that it really showcased the talents of the contestants rather than how well they faired through unrealistic challenges. Time was their only constraint and they had limitless materials to help them realise their designs. They were told that if a fabric or item they wanted was missing, the show would provide it for them. It was a welcome contrast to Project Runway where you can see good designers struggle when forced to only use items from a hardware store or pieces of candy.

I did think there were a couple first-season kinks in the format. First, I wish I had a little more of an introduction about how the show was going to work at the beginning. I couldn't tell if the initial groups were paired up by the designer's choice, if they applied with each other, or if it was a surprise when they arrived. It wasn't clear from the beginning where the show would be heading. I also really didn't like the elimination system. Why did they need to pull out a bottom two if the judges already decided who was going to be eliminated? I felt like there should have been some sort of elimination challenge or the judges should have deliberated after a bottom two was chosen. Or just say who was voted out instead of having them make a futile attempt to save themselves. Hopefully a second season will work these things out!

I found it fresh and interesting at first, but only made it through 2 full episodes before just skipping through to the runway sections for the rest. It was because of the chaotic editing and noisy nonstop talking that felt like filler before the good stuff.

Also, the whole teaming system in the beginning made zero sense, with some teams having unfair advantages (knowing each other for over 20 years) over others who were strangers and clearly ill-paired. One of the designers got all the way to like episode 6 or 7 without having any technical skills, but got to that point because of his much more talented teammate. There might have been some missed potential in some of the earlier eliminated contestants.

The judging also felt messy and biased at some points. They always emphasize "pushing the envelope", but then go for the safe designs at other times.

Overall, still a good show because the designers are very skilled and the runway shows are fun to watch. Some more cohesion and better editing would make this one to watch.

I can remember just couldn't wait for each episode of season 1 but the vibe for Season 2 just wasn't the same. It seemed very rushed and each show or challenge was rushed giving designers for example coming up with designs and fully making their projects in 4 hours is just insane. It seemed low budget - no trips to the fabric store in New York Mood Fabrics like in the past. I did pick the winner from the very beginning so happy with the final results. I thought the gender mixing wear such as the male in the off the shoulder gown was over done, didn't care for some of the themes such as childhood etc.

Tan France and Alexa Chung are delightful hosts but we needed to see less of them. Same goes for the designers' backstories which are laboured rather than engaging. It's be so much more interesting to see them at their craft rather than seeing their primary school photos. The production is over engineered. The jump edits, the fake 'three, two, one, GO!', the confected judging conversations - are all unnecessary distractions. Frankly, I don't even understand the need to start the competition in teams of two and finish as individual competitors. Kudos though to the runway stage designers; their work looks great. The heavy handed, host-centredness of the show is particularly galling because the fashion is so good. The design sensibility and, in most cases, construction seems so elevated compared to its OG - Project Runway and its infinite spin-offs. By the last few episodes I was fast forwarding to the runway segment because it's bookends were completely tedious. I hope Netflix finds a way to recraft the show so that the design work (not the hosts, the guests, the editing or frankly even the designers) gets to be the superstar. Five of my seven stars is for the fashion.