When Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum (hallowed be their names) parted ways with Project Runway after something like 84 seasons, it opened a divine portal in the realm of fashion competition series, allowing for new and (potentially) exciting possibilities. While Karlie Kloss and Christian Siriano try their best to hold down the fort on Project Runway, Amazon and Netflix are launching a pair of fashion competition shows that could outdo the Bravo stalwart. Netflix has enlisted Queer Eye’s Tan France and model Alexa Chung to host Next In Fashion, a series that will test designers’ abilities to craft “visionary looks that work for everyone.” The streamer has debuted the first trailer for the new series, which hits Netflix on January 29 and definitely looks like Project Runway with a fancier workroom.
It took the Bravo series until its 16th season to introduce plus size models and, as had already been evidenced by the annual challenge to design clothes for “normal” women, nothing makes a designer show their ass faster than a body that refuses to conform to sample sizes. While the description of Next In Fashion promises to challenge designers to make clothes that “work for everyone,” and Tan France has advocated for embracing bodies of all shapes and sizes, there’s nary a plus-sized model in sight—though rocker Beth Ditto is featured as a guest judge on the flagship season, implying there must be some recognition of the fact that the average American woman is a size 14-18, a far cry from the sample size 4.
ANYWHO. There’s still hope with Amazon’s forthcoming fashion competition series, hosted by former Project Runway beloveds Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum. As announced this week, that series—titled Making The Cut—debuts on April 4.