Trailer for the series "Next in Fashion" season 2 (Netflix)
The second season of the reality show "Next in Fashion" landed on Netflix as a pleasant surprise for viewers who love design competitions, after we had already pretty much given up on it.
The first season went up sometime in early 2020, a second before the whole world shut itself down for two years.
Even so, everything that happened before the plague feels like a century ago, and in addition, later that year Netflix canceled it, and we already managed to dismiss it as a failed reality series, after it claimed to do so much.
After all, she announces in her title that she not only intends to discover the next hot fashion designer, but to actually mark what's next in the world of fashion - What's Next in Fashion.
Although the winner of the first season, Minjoo Kim, did go from a name known only to people in the fashion industry to a name known to the wider fashionista crowd, and her brand exploded in sales after the show (the brand's Instagram jumped from 10,000 followers to half a million), "The Next Fashion" As a brand in itself it simply faded away and lost the power it might have had if it had continued.
For those who don't know, it is a reality show in which 12 talented fashion designers from all over the world compete with each other in a series of difficult-to-impossible design challenges under a crazy deadline, and in each episode issue a complete look that walks the runway in a fashion show in front of an audience.
This season is co-hosted by Tan Frans (fashion expert of "Queer Eye") and supermodel Gigi Hadid, and they also judge the models created by the competitors, along with guest judges who are designers or other influencers in the industry.
All the competitors already come to the program with some kind of status in the fashion world, they all have a proven brand, a working studio or designs worn by celebs, but they are small fish in a huge sea of the sector, and the program claims to change that and make them a household name.
Still not at the level of Heidi and Tim.
Gigi Hadid and Tan France, "Next Fashion" season 2 (Photo: Spencer Pazer/Netflix)
"Next Fashion" took advantage of the vacuum created when the big mother of fashion reality, the excellent "Project Runway", began to falter and lost its superstar status.
After the Harvey Weinstein scandal exploded and caused the collapse of the Weinstein Company, the producer of the series, the departure of its iconic hosts Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn was not long in coming (they simply moved on to lead another fashion reality show, "Cut and Sew" on Amazon Prime Video).
For viewers who have been following the prestigious product presented by "Runway Project" for years, it is impossible not to engage in comparisons to it when watching "The Next Fashion".
Although France and Hadid certainly have status and influence in the field, mentors on the level of Klum and Gunn are hard to come by, not to mention the A-list judges that "Project" brought in each season.
Netflix's programming has differentiated itself from that established brand in several ways, most notably the freer, more personal delivery style.
The professional seriousness of the "Runway Project" was replaced by moderators who exchange jokes and lovable visual gags, and by frenetic photography that did not begin to be dirty on purpose, showing us from time to time glimpses of behind the scenes, corners of the studio that are not usually photographed, here and there production personnel.
In the current age where every fashionista has an Instagram mini-brand, we all feel that we already know exactly what it means to produce fashion and what it entails, and there is no need to continue to keep Fason with us.
As part of the more relaxed atmosphere, the distance between the competitors and the moderators also decreased, and not necessarily for the better.
France and Hadid accompany the creative process of the contestants, express an opinion during the creation of the models, and then sit on the side of the runway, watch the final piece and judge it - sometimes based on the expectations they had when they saw it unfinished in the studio.
This is a problematic decision in such a format that must convey credibility and professionalism that puts fashion above all other considerations.
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"The Next Fashion" Season 2 (Photo: Spencer Pazer/Netflix)
In the first season, there was a feeling that the format had been reduced to a no-nonsense base, and as befits a show that already starts with established designers, they tried to stay as close as possible to the experience of designing in the real world.
Until the middle of the season, the contestants worked in pairs, won together and also flew together, and only in the second part did they switch to individual work.
The production eliminated any sense of disrespect or ugly competitiveness between the contestants, and did not delve too much into personal stories or interpersonal interactions.
So on the one hand, a reality show free of dirt and drama that is produced and amplified by the production is always a blessing, and on the other hand, the first season felt restrained and lacked the more personal element, despite the liberated feeling that the director tried to convey.
In the new season we got back some of the cornerstones of reality competitions and it is more balanced.
Competitors' collaborations are no longer understood in the format, and returned to being used as a kind of gimmick in certain episodes, just like the vegetation design challenge or swimsuit design in four hours.
Every now and then we are left with a cliffhanger at the end of the episode, and to find out who was eliminated we have to go to the next episode.
There is still only wall-to-wall support for the colleagues, but we hear more than the background story of the competitors and the difficult path they have gone through, and when they get excited and burst into tears, they receive a hug and encouragement directly from the judges, within the thin objectivity of the program.
"Project Path", which advocated the separation of powers, would never have allowed this involvement.
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"The Next Fashion" Season 2 (Photo: Netflix)
What's beautiful about this reality show is that you don't have to be an expert in the field, an Instagram fashionista or those who don't miss the fashion week to enjoy it.
If you like to see very talented people create, design and get stressed because time is running out and they can't convey their visual vision, this is the type of reality show for you.
If the thing you crave in reality is intrigue, messes and "I didn't come here to find friends" - just watch old episodes of "The Next Top Model" for all the yellow-in-the-disguise-of-a-fashion-production you can bear.
It is also not a program to put in the background while washing dishes (perhaps laundry), because it is a visual medium and the interesting thing about it is the creation and design process.
So although it is not as glamorous as "Runway Project", "Next Fashion" is connected enough to people who really influence and decide what Next in Fashion will be to convince of its importance within the field it promotes, and also maintains some element of cordiality and positivity that brings it closer to Phil Good and mental health series Like "queer eye".
Now all that remains is to see if there will be another season, and if the little sister will succeed in becoming a serious actress, one that the industry will really see in her as capable of crowning kings and queens and marking the "next fashion".
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