The 5 Best Team Looks From Season 1 Of Next In Fashion (& The 5 Worst)

Season 1 of Netflix’s Next in Fashion has ended and most fans will agree that this new fashion-inspired reality TV show has certainly helped cleanse the palate after several lackluster seasons of Project Runway. In favoring fashion over gimmick challenges, Netflix has produced a satisfying new reality experience that viewers hope will continue for many seasons to come.

Over the course of the first six episodes, 18 designers competed in teams of two before competing as individuals for the final four challenges. Here are the 5 best and 5 worst runway-ready looks from the team challenges in the first season of Next in Fashion.

10 Best: Episode: Patterns and Prints – Angel and Minju

Throughout the competition, Angel and Minju were the team to beat. They clearly think the world of each other as friends and designers, and it showed in the cohesive looks they sent down the runway episode after episode. There’s never a moment when one steps on the ego of the other, either intentionally or accidentally, and you could see each of their viewpoints in every outfit they designed together.

No better ensemble expressed their commitment to each other and to this competition than the couples outfits they designed for Patterns and Prints week. The robes were bright, fun, and distinctive, combining Angel’s love of color with Minju’s love for voluminous fabrics. But the sweetest aspect of these two looks were the prints that Angel and Minju drew by hand for each outfit, which were inspired by their hometowns.

9 Worst: Runway Ready – Isaac and Nasheli

Seventeen hours with no bathroom break. Let that sink in. Isaac and Nasheli left their model stuck a dress with barely enough give to move down the catwalk, let alone the bathroom.

If the health hazard wasn’t bad enough, the whole look was just a miss, from costume fabric choices to the boring silhouette, which is a real shame. At the start of the competition, many fans were cheering for Nasheli, knowing what a difference that $250,000 would make in her life. It’s a shame she didn’t have the chance to show more of her talent, especially since Nasheli had objections about the fabric choice from the get-go.

8 Best: Prints and Patterns – Kiki and Farrai

The Prints and Patterns challenge really identified the teams that worked well together vs the teams who would struggle all season long with communication issues. As longtime friends who have worked with each other professionally for many years, Kiki and Farrai got along fairly well this season, with only a few bumps between them in later episodes.

Their Patterns and Prints men’s and women’s looks really highlighted their ability to collaborate and work together and their hand-drawn print told a story that paid homage to Farrai’s hometown in Zimbabwe. Though Angel and Minju would go on to win this challenge, this may have been the toughest choice the judges faced all season.

7 Worst: Patterns and Prints – Narresh and Lorane

Mixing prints is a dangerous game, but fortune favors the bold … unless you are Narresh and Lorane, which is so surprising given Narresh’s expertise in prints. For the men’s look, the designers chose to pair a snakeskin silver jacket with a grey pinstripe pant, but the bland color scheme made this look forgettable on a competitive episode.

The women’s look was actually quite lovely in terms of design and construction, but again, the monochromatic palette ham-stringed its wow factor.

6 Best: Patterns and Prints – Julian and Hayley

It was obvious this pair was in trouble from moment one. Communication problems plagued this duo throughout their short run on Next In Fashion, primarily because of Scottish designer Hayley Scanlan’s refusal to listen to her partner Julian Woodhouse.

This look may not be for everyone, but it was certainly the most attention-grabbing outfit of the night — which fashion icon and print specialist Prabal Gurung agreed with, to the delight of Julian and obvious surprise of Hayley. After receiving so much praise from the judges, one would have hoped that Hayley would be more open to Julian’s suggestions and insight. But alas, disaster would soon strike this ill-matched pair.

5 Worst: Street Wear – Julian and Hayley

It’s great that Julian had his moment in the sun during the Patterns and Prints runway challenge, and it was clear that meant a lot to him because, when the next episode became the Hayley show, the result was a disaster.

The zoot suit was a great idea in theory. It’s the roaring 20s after all! But a boring color palette ruined what could have been the showstopper. Furthermore, the sloppy construction of the unfinished jacket was unforgivable. The judges’ choice this episode could not have been more clear.

4 Best: Suits – Angel and Minju

Although Daniel and Carlie were declared the winners of this challenge with a perfectly well-tailored suit, Marco and Ashton brought the wow factor to the runway with their Matrix-esque pinstripe suit.

Not to diminish what Daniel and Carlie accomplished because they really did execute and deliver on what was the most technically complicated challenge of the season, but that is a suit that can be purchased right now at many luxury boutiques.

3 Worst: Street Wear – Claire and Adolfo

There is a lot to be said for the message of sustainability that Claire and Adolfo were trying to express through their fashion, but at the end of the day, neither the men’s nor women’s look could be described as wearable, practical, or stylish. The concept was a worthy one to attempt, but the designers were in serious trouble the moment that super fine ripstop nylon came off the roll in the Next in Fashion closet.

There just was not a lot of structure they could give to materials like that, and without structure, both garments looked too much like the plastic bag problem they were in conversation about.

2 Best: Underwear – Marco and Ashton

Of course. Of course Marco of Marco Marco would slay this challenge. Was anyone surprised? While the outcome of this episode was more than a little predictable, the two looks that Marco and Ashton sent down the runway were utterly delightful. They were queer. They were kinky. The whole performance was equal parts sexy and joyful.

Marco was clearly in his element the entire time and having a lot of fun with best friend Ashton. Tan France got his entire life from the fashion muzzle, leaving viewers to wonder if the fashion harness might not be prepped to make a comeback on red carpets this year.

1 Worst: Underwear Challenge – Angel and Minju

No one is perfect. Not even Angel and Minju, as the underwear challenge showed. From fabric choice to construction, everything was a miss and, overall, their runway looks lacked the sophistication and the modern aesthetic that had made them the team to beat.

It should be noted that this was their first time designing lingerie, and it is doubtful that the designers will remember it fondly. It’s fortunate, however, that this was not the end for Team Dragon Princess, and viewers were not deprived of their talent in future challenges.

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