Tan France and Gigi Hadid. Photo: Instagram.com/tanfrance
After a year of anticipation and a week of whirlwind promotions, it’s finally time for Gigi Hadid and Tan France to take over screens with Season 2 of Netflix’s Next in Fashion. Starting tomorrow, March 3, viewers will see 12 emerging designers compete in a high-stakes, fun, and fashion-filled challenge to win the US $200,000 prize, and take their work global. Co-hosting and judging the 10-episode series are the industry’s very own Hadid and France, who are sure to thrill audiences with an infectious energy born out of their friendship, and a shared love for fashion.
Ahead of the release, Vogue Arabia sat down with the duo to learn all about their experience working together, and with a star-studded cast of guest judges including Donatella Versace, Olivier Rousteing, and Bella Hadid.
Read on for the inside scoop on Season 2 of Netflix’s Next in Fashion from co-hosts Gigi Hadid and Tan France themselves.
Vogue Arabia: Hosting Next in Fashion is unlike anything you have done. What was the experience like?
Gigi: I was really lucky to be able to do it with a friend and I think that made it a lot less scary. But I think, naturally, I just try to go with the flow of each job that I get to do. It was just such a good environment and such a fun new experience that I think it came pretty quickly.
Vogue Arabia: What was it like working with the incredible guest judges this season?
Tan: We had so many incredible guests on the show. I just remember being really nervous a lot. We come out of the gate real hot. Donatella Versace’s our first guest, and I’m not a sweater. Like, I don’t sweat a lot. Oh my gosh. I’ve never been more nervous. Around anyone. I tried to hide it as best as I could, but she’s a powerhouse. So it wasn’t necessarily that there were any odd moments or difficult moments—I was just blown away a lot.
Photo: Instagram.com/gigihadid
Vogue Arabia: You have worn many stunning looks on the show. Which ones were your favorite?
Gigi: I think that with every project like this when you put something together, there are always favorites. Sometimes, the outfits that you expect the least look amazing on TV, and vice versa.
Tan: I have a couple of my favorites of yours. I loved your Versace look for the runway. Love that so much.
Gigi: I like the Isabel Marant childhood with the backward hat. Just felt like that was me.
Tan: That was going to be my second one.
Vogue Arabia: How did it feel to be in a room with such a passionate and young cohort of designers?
Tan: Yeah, I think that’s the most exciting thing about the show. There’s a little difference between this season and last season. The people that are on the season really are at the start of their careers or they may just be younger in life, and so getting to help mold what they might become, and really influence them before they’ve been jaded or they already are stuck in a rut—that I think is the best part of what we get to do.
Gigi: I think that this group of contestants is very open to exploring their creativity. I have realized that it doesn’t need to be taken that seriously in terms of, as a creative director of your own brand; it’s important to be pushed in ways that, even to our viewers, may seem a little bit outlandish or crazy, but that’s what we’re looking for. It’s not a next-best sewing competition. It’s a competition about finding the next creative mind that we think could lead a large design team.
Tan: And inspire us, and the audience at home. To think, well, I don’t want something that I could just buy from the store down the street. I want to be inspired.
View this post on Instagram
Vogue Arabia: What is it like witnessing the Arab fashion scene also flourish and stand on par with the global industry?
Gigi: It makes me feel so proud. I mean, I love being able to see how much young talent is coming out of that part of the world, and just proudly doing so, I think is the part that really touches me. And I love seeing how many fashion-focused events and spaces are that are being created for Middle Eastern designers and creatives.
Vogue Arabia: Returning for the second season, what has been your biggest takeaway from the show?
Tan: My biggest takeaway from the show truly is: I want the designers to be able to have fun. And it reads on camera. The audience can tell when the designers are actually enjoying the process, just let go, and don’t take themselves too seriously. When Gigi was talking about just having fun and being creative, that is for the audience, and myself, the greatest takeaway from this season in particular. Anything I’ve learned from the designers? So much. Every one of the designers offered us, at some point throughout the season, something really unique. Something I may have never thought of. I think one can find inspiration anywhere and the fact that we get to sit front row of this show—I was constantly inspired.
Vogue Arabia: Which three words would you use to describe this season?
Tan: Fun, energetic, and you [Gigi] do the last one.
Gigi: Heart. There’s heart in it.
Read Next: 12 Designers and Fashion Houses Using Surrealism to Challenge Everything Conventional
