96 Time April 6–13, 2020REVIEW
On Amazon, Tim and
Heidi find a new project
By Judy BermanRealiTy TV has become a majoR fRonT in The sTReam-
ing wars, and Amazon is joining t he fi ght with Making the Cut.
Hosted by Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, the 10-part competi-
tion, which will debut two new episodes weekly, pits a dozen
fa shion designers against one another in a series of creative
challenges. While Klum anchors the sassy panel of judges, the
avuncular Gunn, a paragon of good taste in his perfectly tai-
lored suits, mentors the contestants. “This adventure is going
to be like no other,” Heidi tells the cast in their firs t meeting.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity,” Tim proclaims.
Neither is entirely true—as evidenced by, well, reality.
Gunn, on top of a career in the fashion department at New
York City’s Pars ons School of Design, has been a household
name for 16 television seasons. He and Klum presided over
Bravo’s Project Runway, which set the template for a whole
subgenre of creative competition shows, from Top Chef to
RuPaul’s Drag Race; spawned many spin-offs; and inspired
adaptations on six continents. When the duo defected to
Amazon in 2018, model Karlie Kloss and Runway winner
turned A-list designer Christian Siriano stepped in to take
their place. Then, this past Ja nuary, Netflix launched a re-
markably similar contest called Next in Fashion, hosted by
model- designer Alexa Chung and Queer Eye fashion guru Tan
France. More than 15 years after its 2004 premiere, Runway is
still multiplying.It makes sense. As they compete for potential cord cut-
ters who are loyal to particular long- running cable realityfranchises—among which Runway has
proved to be one of the most enduring—
streaming services need to provide
those viewers with reasonable facsimi-
les of their faves. The phenomenon
that is Drag Race, a breakout hit from
queer-centric channel Logo that moved
to the more visible VH1 after proving
its wide appeal, explains why Netflix is
saturated with drag content and three of
RuPaul’s girls have an unscripted series,
We’re Here, in the works at HBO. Run-
way, with its simple formula of talented
contestants, celebrity hosts and sharp-
tongued judges, seems easy to replicate.
Making the Cut and Next in Fash-
ion aren’t exact clones, but their differ-
ences from Runway do seem reverse-
engineered to avoid too much overlap.
While Next pairs up designers for a se-
ries of team challenges (confusingly,
some have a previous relationship with
their collaborator and some don’t),
Making feels like a big- budget flex from
a company with some of the world’s
deepest pockets. The debut season flies
contestants from New York to Paris
before the first challenge even begins;
Tokyo follows on the itinerary. (What
a luxury jetting freely between hemi-
spheres seems in the time of corona-
virus.) It s top prize of $1 million dwarfs
the $250,000 Runway gives winners.
Unseen seamstresses stitch together
garments overnight because, as Gunn
often repeats, this isn’t a sewing compe-
tition. Judges include style stars Naomi
Campbell and Nicole Richie. The show
tries to make the most of Tim and Heidi,
who couldn’t have come cheap, with
silly but inoffensive skits where they
visit local tourist destinations.
Amazon isn’t just throwing around
cash because it can, of cours e. The
mega- retailer will sell an “accessible”
look from each episode— creating a new
revenue stream for Prime—in yet an-
other reminder that Runway’s watch-
able imitators exist for monetary rea-
sons more than creative ones. For shows
that thrive on their participants’ inge-
nuity, the irony is striking.MAKING THE CUT hits A mazon on Marc h 27TimeOff Television◁
Back in mento r mode, Gunn helps
a conte stant make it workKlum has said that
she and Gunn left
Bravo because “our
imagination was
bigger than what we
were allowed to do.”
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