With the elimination of Ciara Chyanne Morgan in episode two of “Making the Cut” for her activewear looks that looked more like they were going to the office, there were eight designers left competing to become the next great global brand: Curtis Cassell, Rafael Chaouiche, Georgia Hardinge, Sienna Li, Jeanette Limas, Markantoine Lynch-Boisvert, Gabriella Meyer, and Yannik Zamboni. So who kept up their hot streaks in “Winter Wear,” which premiered on Amazon Prime on August 26?
It was a pretty straightforward task this week: the designers would create two-look winter wear collections with one high-fashion runway look and one accessible look, the latter of which would be sold in Amazon’s “Making the Cut” online store for the winning designer. Here’s the less straightforward part, though: they only have one day to complete the whole challenge. So we’ve gone from two weeks for the first assignment to two days for the second assignment, to a single day for the third assignment. At this rate the season finale will be to design a full collection in 30 minutes or less or your pizza’s free.
At this stage of the competition, most of the designers have gotten an idea of where they stand relative to their competitors … with a few exceptions. Georgia, Gabriella, and Yannik still hadn’t gotten a critique from the judges at this point, and while no news can be considered good news (they’d advanced safely through so far), it also meant they’d gotten no feedback that could guide them in the right directions. What do the judges like about their work? What should they lean into? More importantly, what should they lean away from?
Yannik felt confident, though. The Swiss designer lived in a cold and wet climate that lent itself to winter wear. We got a profile of the idiosyncratic fashion guru in this episode, where he explained, “I was always a weirdo,” even amid the more straitlaced culture he was part of. He did some modeling — and boy did he ever, those modeling shots they showed us were fire. But Yannik rebelled against “pretty,” so he leaned into tattoos and bleached hair. Even in his designs and model styling he tries to avoid conventional beauty in favor of something edgier and more dramatic. I’ve liked Yannik since the start of the season, and he’s still shaping up to be one of my favorite designers.
On the opposite end of the confidence spectrum was Jeanette, who was coming off of a bottom-two finish where she just barely convinced the judges to keep her in the competition — except Heidi, who still seemed to want her to go. For this assignment she had a couple of inspirations she was drawing from. The first was Nicole Richie‘s gold Oscar de la Renta dress from “Activewear Champions” that made her look like a “goddess,” and her own background in draping fabrics. In Jeanette’s profile we learned that her draping comes from poverty. Her family moved from the Dominican Republic to the US when she was a child, and a lack of resources led her to learn how to use curtains for draping.
The Tim Talks were a mixed bag for the designers. He warned Gabriella that her runway look needed to be stepped up in order for it to stand out from her accessible look. Then he told Curtis that his look had the “potential” to be a showstopper, but Curtis was left wondering why Tim seemed so unsure of that when he had been so confident in Curtis’s work in the previous assignments. Jeanette was in a bit of trouble too: Tim thought her choice of fabric was “fantastic,” but that fabric was so much of a statement that Jeanette would have to figure out how to balance that with an interesting design. As a result, Jeanette scrapped that fabric choice entirely and picked something else. Georgia also scrapped her fabric choice after Tim told her that her black-and-orange color scheme was giving off a Halloween vibe.
On the plus side, Tim was intrigued by Yannik’s vague idea of a blanket. and Markantoine’s look reminded him of the pope … in a good way. The compliments on this show sure are tough to parse sometimes — and this wasn’t the last time this episode we’d get that kind of odd, sideways praise. I kind of dig it. If Tim and the judges are into weird and they describe the weird they like in weird ways, fashion is all the better for it.
It was an especially busy and dramatic morning. Curtis managed his uncertainty and tried to take it slow. Meanwhile, Gabriella was bouncing off the walls trying to complete her looks. Jeanette had an emotional call with her parents; her father instilled in her a drive to be the best at whatever she does, whether you’re a fashion designer or sweeping floors.
But then Rafael gave us our first hospitalization (and hopefully only?) of the season: he accidentally stabbed his finger with a sewing machine needle, and from the sounds of his reaction and the reactions of the producers, it was in there pretty deep — and with the thread stuck in there too <shudder>. Producers insisted he go to the hospital immediately, but he stubbornly insisted on getting his model dressed first with his hastily wrapped finger. Luckily his work was done except for that and whatever finishing touch he might have been working on at the sewing machine, so after some more urgent cajoling from the crew, he was in a car and off to the emergency room.
It was time for the fashion show, which took place in a well-lit studio full of paper lanterns of various sizes, floating around the room like an elegant solar system. Joining Heidi and regular judges Jeremy Scott and Nicole Richie was the guest judge for this assignment: Hollywood stylist Jason Bolden, whose clients include Yara Shahidi, Michael B. Jordan, and Angelina Jolie. And the first designer they set their sights on was immediately a tough act to follow — none other than Jeanette. After nearly being eliminated in “Activewear,” her “Winter Wear” designs were dramatic and “fabulous,” with an accessible look that was classic but modern. Clearly the change of fabric paid off.
Heidi’s eyes lit up to see Rafael’s looks. Nicole said she gets a Disney villain vibe from Rafael’s designs … in a good way. But Heidi thinks the accessible look needs more drama. Then Curtis has his first miss with the judges, who are underwhelmed by his silhouettes; his designers a neither modern nor urgent. Gabriella’s ski style returned with proportions that were off, ribbon that looked cheap, and a pink color that made Jason nauseous. Markantoine’s look was a split decision. The fabric and color of his runway look were great, but his accessible look was confusing and the consumer wouldn’t know where to start.
Sienna was a hit again, like a “beautiful cloud” with her first look and a great coat as her accessible design. But while Jeanette’s change of fabric was a home run, Georgia’s was probably a mistake because her runway dress looked exactly like the runway dress she presented in “Evening Wear.” Luckily for her, her glam accessible look made up for it somewhat — but was it enough to save her in this assignment? And to close out the show, Yannik’s looks were once again from another planet, but the judges loved all the wearable separates and the uniqueness of his point of view.
After the show was over the judges deliberated and considered the fates of Gabriella who hadn’t excited them, Curtis who dropped the ball, and Georgia who repeated herself. Heidi wondered if they should eliminate two designers instead of just one. “Wow, you guys are savages,” said the guest judge, to which Jeremy responded, “Fashion is cruel.”
Gabriella was first to get her critique, which was a reversal from previous weeks when the top designers were called up first. I knew she was going to get a negative critique based on what the judges had said during the show, but I figured she would be given a stern warning and advance to the next round. Her looks weren’t that bad, after all. Not so. First up, first out — Gabriella didn’t make the cut .
Next was Curtis, who could see the writing on the wall when the judges pointed out his monotonous silhouettes. Jeremy was especially let down by Curtis, so Curtis started begging them to spare his fashion life. He promised to do better, that he wouldn’t let them down, and that they wouldn’t regret giving him a second chance. The result: Jason changed his mind (voted to keep him in), Nicole didn’t change her mind (she already wanted him to stay), and Jeremy changed his mind (voted to keep him in). Heidi explained that she was just outvoted, which meant she still wanted Curtis gone, but Curtis lived to design another day. There are trials in Westeros less stressful than this.
Georgia was given a critique, and I was thinking maybe Curtis’s good fortune would be her downfall. But to my surprise, her feedback was largely positive. The gold dress was a repeat, but Heidi thought it was an improvement on her similar dress from the season premiere. And the panelists loved her accessible look, which Nicole described as “very c*nty Aspen,” which Heidi helpfully translated as “rich bitch.” If no one has made a supercut of Nicole’s bon mots yet, now’s the time. That meant Georgia made the cut, but needs to retire that gold dress immediately.
There was only good news from there. Yannik was one of the top two designers with his showstopper first look and a second that wasn’t boring either. He was a “breath of fresh air,” and Jason saw him as the future of fashion. But just when you thought he could be the winner, up comes Jeanette who received possibly the highest praise of any designer this season so far. Her looks were called “gorgeous,” “breathtaking,” “inspiring,” It was exactly what Jeremy looks for from a two-piece collection. As if there were any doubt, Jeanette won the assignment (watch our interview with her below). Did you agree with that outcome? Vote in our polls below.
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