Still a life highlight
So believe me when I say I'm a genuine fan of the show. But around season 8 it started to break my heart and get bad. And then it just got stale. I have to admit that I haven't seen it since it moved back to Bravo so I can't speak to those seasons. But I recently watched Next in Fashion on Netflix and was amazed how good it was and how it highlighted what has gotten so dull about Project Runway.
But while thinking about it, I realized that all the "bad" things about Project Runway had started as strengths. Let me break it down:
But while thinking about it, I realized that all the "bad" things about Project Runway had started as strengths. Let me break it down:
1. Next in Fashion has more experienced designers than Project Runway
Why inexperience was good at first on Project Runway: Project Runway is all about watching a group of scrappy, unknown designers be put through their paces and seeing which ones come up with exciting looks each week. These are people for whom a showing at Fashion Week is a dream, and winning "a mentorship with Banana Republic" would be considered a prize (that actually something you could win on the first two seasons). Season 1 came to a thrilling conclusion when lovable weirdo Jay McCarroll won with a collection that felt like a genuinely fresh point of view.
Still Iconic
Why it got stale: There was a period where Project Runway was growing in popularity and attracting people with more experience. But as so few winners found success in the industry, savvy designers stopped signing on for the show. Instead it filled up with a lot of clueless dreamers who didn't know much about the fashion industry at all. There were people who didn't seem like they could name any current designer or trend and would put a peplum on a dress and think they invented fashion. And the show sometimes rewarded them. It was embarrassing.
Should you be allowed to win Project Runway if you can't make a sleeve?
NO
What Next In Fashion got right: Oh hey it turns out designers with more experience know a lot about the industry, what is on trend right now, and what might actually be new and different and fresh.
2. Time is limited but still within reason
What was good at first: Again, part of the joy of Project Runway was seeing what creative people could come up with when given limited time and resources. Some results were amazing!
Made in two days by Christian Siriano and Chris March season 4
No "Avant-Garde" look on the show has ever lived up to this
Why it got stale: The producers started to think that the less time given, the more "exciting" it was. They started having designers make gowns in half a day and a few times even forced designers to go head-to-head and design something in an hour. But it turns out the less time you have the less ambitious you can be. The time crunches caused a lot of drama but not very many interesting looks.
*Snore
What Next In Fashion got right: Two days for every challenge means actual time to plan, and execute a design.
3. No gimmicky challenges
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE
What was good at first: Project Runway started with a gimmicky challenge. Season 1 episode 1, Tim Gunn took the designers to a grocery store instead of a fabric store and they had to "Make it Work." Challenge winner Austin Scarlett made a dress out of corn husks and the world was never the same.
ICONIC
From then on, the show tried to replicate that magic with surprising, unexpected challenges.
Another highlight: The car parts challenge in season 5
Why it got stale: Each season had challenges that were increasingly wacky, incorporated strange product placement, or simply didn't make any sense. The stilts challenge in season 9 was memorably bad.
WHY
Now, occasionally magic still happened, even with terrible challenges. Season 13 had this one where Tim Gunn began by talking about a great new Samsung TV and how innovative it was and then there was a sound of thunder and he announced they would show "innovative" avant-garde garments on a "rainway." Umm...what? Contestant Sean filled the seams of his white dress with dye and so the dress burst into color when wet. It was genuinely jaw dropping.
You can watch the clip here
But 90% of the time the gimmicky challenges were just bad. It was like "make an avant-garde look inspired by the zodiac but you have to collaborate with an eliminated designer who you hate and then the two of you have to sell it to some random people at a cocktail party."
HIDEOUS
What Next in Fashion got right: Make a gown. Make streetwear. Make something out of denim. Make a suit. It was amazingly refreshing to have very clear, simple parameters for designers to work within.
AND THE RESULTS WERE STILL INTERESTING
While drafting this post, I started watching Amazon's new show Making the Cut with Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn. And while it made some of the same improvements as Next in Fashion, I found myself immediately annoyed by Tim and Heidi's same old schtick. I feel like a monster saying anything bad about Tim Gunn, but on TV he has started to become a parody of himself. And his dynamic with Heidi has gotten cheesier and cheesier.
Every Project Runway season he tearfully tells the designers that this is the strongest group he has ever seen. Every season Heidi jokingly flirts with Tim and acts like they are a couple.
And every season they constantly remind the designers how EXCITING each challenge is and what a HUGE DEAL this is and CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT AN EXCITING HUGE DEAL THIS IS. And basically all of that happened in the first episode and I was immediately exhausted.
TO BE FAIR the schtick between Tan and Alexa on Next in Fashion frequently borders on obnoxious. But at least it was different. I think the moral of the story is that good things can become bad things if they go on long enough.
Hmm, kind of like how a month ago staying in to sit on the couch and watch TV seemed like some kind of treat and now it is ALL THERE IS.
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