Next in Fashion Review (TV Series, 2020)
Netflix is really investing heavily in the reality TV genre. These shows typically run on a lower budget than scripted series. They don’t require traditional screen writers; they use story editors and producers instead. The cast of contestants is usually non-union, so they’re paid a per diem for appearing onscreen without any points on the back end. The competitive shows are only obligated to give out prizes to the winner; anything beyond that is just being generous with prize money.
Next In Fashion is a fashion designer reality series with excellent production design. It’s a gorgeous show. It’s well lit with state of the art equipment available to every contestant. Fabric and notions are provided in a supply room revealed with dramatic lighting after each challenge is announced and restaged with fabric and supplies selected for the new challenge. Designers also have all the planning supplies they could ever want, included product placement tablets and smartphones to sketch off of.
The runways are even more of a spectacle. The contestants are shifted from the main workroom to the backstage area to finish their designs so the runway can be built each show. This is a convertible structure filled with LED screens and lighting that displays gorgeous, high quality moving backdrops inspired by the theme of the challenge. The runway is typically in that T shape you expect, though it does take on other forms. Sometimes, those cubes become tables for the guests to sit at and the models walk on a designated path around them. It’s impressive design worthy of recognition.
Obviously, these details have nothing to do with the competition itself. Great shows have spawned from a basement studio and awful shows have flopped with literal Hollywood studios providing feature length film budgets to production. Reality shows live or die on concept, casting, and editing.
Conceptually, Next in Fashion mostly works. Designers are challenged to create garments in two days inspired by real commercial markets, like active wear, denim, lingerie, and suits. They are judged by hosts Tan France and Alexa Chung, a rotating fashion editor/buyer/stylist, and guest designers. In addition to judging the runway, the judges meet with each designer and their model to discuss and examine the garment up close before making their final decisions.
The only problem with the concept of Next in Fashion is the decision to start the first half of the show in teams. Netflix has a habit of doing this on their reality shows (Rhythm + Flow had group challenges or paired eliminations for most of the episodes, The Final Table has professional chefs stay in pairs until the finale). It’s a cost saving measure, for sure, as you can have more contestants with big personalities compete on your show and get rid of them 2+ at a time, but it rarely works out fairly.
On Next in Fashion, some of the teams clearly have an advantage. Two teams quite literally work together in the real world versus the six teams who were paired for the show. The remaining team was friends for years before competing together and clearly knew each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The show did their best to try to claim connections when they could (these two are both streetwear designers; these two went to the same college) but it’s a level of unfairness that was covered up with some shady decision making.
There is an episode of this show that ends on a cliffhanger. The guest judges are so utterly confused by the reaction to one team (one of the two teams that professionally works together) that they choose to leave the set and refuse to participate in an unfair elimination rather than let the show continue unchecked. Both of the teams that worked together professionally were marked with unfair criticism for being two niche or not having really finished clothes in the first few episodes. This was blatantly set up as an obstacle to their success considering how many other teams consistently produced very familiar work or had finishing issues without knowing each other beforehand. The producers on this show decided to break the narrative of how unfair the team concept was by staging a shocking elimination of a team with a real working relationship early on and it blew up on them.
Had the competition just been an individual affair, this would have never happened. Next In Fashion could have eliminated two contestants per episode based on their individual designs. If they wanted a team challenge, they could have created teams at random each episode like any other talent-based reality show. Let all of these amazing designers on, but have them compete on a more level playing field.
The contestants across the board are great. Mercifully, only two of them cannot sew a stitch, but at least they are able to come up with design concepts and help in other ways. The contestants mostly get along and the ones who really seem to be there just to weigh down the mood in the room don’t last too long on the show. It’s refreshing.
All of that being said, the smart contestants play up the team angle for the camera and get great edits throughout their runs on the show. Angel and Minju (the designers who were friends for years) give themselves a team name (Dragon Princess) that stands out from the pack. Daniel and Carli (designers who went to the same prestigious school) stress how similar their approaches are whenever asked and feel like a dominant force in the contest. Farai and Kianga and Marco and Ashton (the pairs who work together professionally) shine onscreen, having a great time while not being afraid to confront each other when they do not agree on the direction of their work. Those who can’t find that dynamic don’t have as clear a voice on the show.
The editing is strong. Aside from that one episode I mentioned above, the editing feels fair. There are clear justifications for eliminating contestants. Are other factors taken into consideration? Of course. It’s reality TV. Are we supposed to realize there are other behind the scene reasons why someone goes home? Nope. Do we? Only that one time, and it’s actually edited to be an issue discussed in many ways by the show.
I will say I appreciate the gameplay of the contestants. There are people who go very far on this show who downplay their real achievements in the design world to their benefit. They show off their skills, but hold back on sharing their accomplishments. They put on a very humble act about their abilities and background and the judges eat it up when they over-deliver. Then they just casually slip in that they also graduated from that prestigious design college or that they’re an internationally recognized business owner and the judges love it even more. Savvy reality TV contestants know how to work with their story producer to create a more compelling arc; naive reality TV contestants start at a 100 and get asked to turn into cartoon characters.
Next In Fashion is very watchable. The quality of the designs is high. It’s a rare episode where someone actually produces something that just looks terrible, and even then the judges don’t go all in to destroy them. They compliment what they can, ask questions, point out their criticisms, and end with more compliments. It’s refreshing. The focus is on the designers and the work they do in these circumstances and that mostly makes for a good show. Mostly. There’s this one episode…
Next In Fashion is currently streaming on Netflix.
