Television series

Next in Fashion

Name: Next in Fashion
Released: 2020
Cast: Tan France, Alexa Chung, Gigi Hadid

Workplace drama

A globe-trotting design competition where emerging talent battles in timed challenges for $250k and industry glory. Tan France and Alexa Chung host with infectious energy, turning fabric scraps into drama. It's *Project Runway* meets *Great British Bake Off*—genuinely fun, never mean-spirited, and occasionally produces genuinely inspired garments. For anyone who's ever been mesmerized by a sewing montage.

TVMaze rating

3.9

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love competition shows where the fun is in the making of things, watching rough sketches turn into finished garments under a clock and a judge's sharp eye.

Skip it if you find reality formats wearing thin, since the rounds follow a familiar elimination rhythm and the hosts lean on bright, breezy chatter rather than deep fashion analysis.

What it asks of you: Each episode runs about forty-eight minutes and moves briskly, so it suits a night of easy viewing across two seasons of twenty episodes total rather than slow, layered attention.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Project Runway2004

The DNA ancestor of every design competition show. Brutal judging, impossible timelines, real stakes. You'll understand what fashion TV perfected before everyone copied it.

But Early seasons feel dated in their snark and the constant stream of eliminations can feel repetitive after many episodes.

The Great British Bake Off2010

Captures the same gentle competitive spirit and genuine camaraderie. Elegant judges, real emotion, actual craft. Watching people make beautiful things under pressure is oddly therapeutic.

But If you find baking boring, the premise won't suddenly click for you. Also, the wholesome vibe might feel saccharine if you prefer ruthlessness.

Making the Cut2020

Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn guide designers through global fashion challenges with real production budgets and star-studded guest judges. Feels like the prestige version of the competition format.

But Higher production values sometimes overshadow the designers themselves. Pacing can drag when there's no clear underdog story carrying an episode.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Next in Fashion

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Iris2014

Next in Fashion celebrates young designers chasing the industry; Iris is about an outsider who ignored the industry entirely and became iconic anyway. Different paths, same hunger.

Documentary portrait of iris Apfel, the 93-year-old fashion icon discussing her seven-decade approach to style, color, and joyful self-invention. It's pure philosophy disguised as a style film—about why we dress, what fashion means, who we become through it.

But It's a meditation, not a narrative. If you want plot or drama, you'll find only an elegant elderly woman talking about scarves and her life. Some find that boring.

Queer Eye2018

Tan France appears as one of the Fab Five, bringing warmth and genuine expertise to makeovers. It's about transformation without cruelty, which is the real gift here.

But Emotional manipulation is baked into the format. If you find manufactured feel-good moments exhausting, this will wear on you.

Face Off2011

Special effects makeup artists compete in wild, imaginative challenges. Different craft, same structure of creativity under pressure—endlessly inventive and surprisingly touching.

But Practical makeup effects aren't fashion, so the appeal is narrower. Some prosthetics work is genuinely disturbing if gore bothers you.

The Great British Sewing Bee2013

British sewers race against time to mend garments and create pieces to pattern. Less competition-heavy than *Runway*, more focused on actual skill and charming banter.

But The stakes feel lower than other competition shows. If you need dramatic eliminations and tears, this is too cosy.

Ugly Betty2006

Fashion magazine workplace drama with heart, humor, and surprisingly thoughtful writing. The industry backdrop feels lived-in; the characters actually grow. Betty's wardrobe journey is its own love story.

But Soap opera plotting gets sillier as seasons go on. The fashion satire can feel broad and occasionally dated by modern standards.

Made in Bangladesh2019

One show celebrates the designers we see; this film is about the thousands making those designs who remain invisible—a moral companion piece to competitive fashion television.

Bittersweet fiction film about Shimu, a garment factory worker who secretly designs clothes at night, dreaming of fashion school and escape. It traces the invisible labor behind the industry Next in Fashion celebrates.

But It's a film about economic desperation and class immobility, not a feel-good story. If you watch Next in Fashion to feel inspired, this will complicate that feeling.