Next in Fashion

I liked it and agree with the other reviewers - it was nice that it was more positive than the other fashion reality shows we've seen already. It was also nice to see work from already experienced designers who can actually sew really well, so the quality was definitely there in their work. I think eliminating 2 people every time I suppose sped up the show but didn't give us a sense of who these designers were really. I also think the show tried to be "woke" and mitigate any race cards being played as is common these days to garner sympathy.... so they had designers from all over the world, very multicultural. But alas, the race card was pulled, I'll let you find out for yourself when. And it didn't have grounds to be honest. Overall this was fun.

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.

I loved how it shows new and fresh eyes to fashion and wearability. As you have probably read in other reviews, I disagree with a lot of the decisions made in this show. Judging is not good and very biased and influenced by various elements which makes it really frustrating and can't imagine how designers who were unfairly let go would feel.

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.

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.