Making the Cut E3 Recap: The tailor survives
Collaboration: a current trend in fashion and an established way to bring some drama to your TV fashion show.
Forget Dior x Air Jordan. The collab I want to see right now is TSE x Athleta. Affordable cashmere yoga clothes, that are great for curling up into a ball, rocking back and forth on your couch while D-Nice pulses quietly in the background.
In an episode with an obvious name — “Collaboration!” — Heidi and Tim pair up disparate designers and ask them to dive into this “major marketing trend” to “create a unique line that blends two aesthetics.”
The goal is to build something that will “cut through the noise,” a phrase everyone says ad nauseam. I guess this is the new “make it work.” Making the Cut is brought to you by Fiskars! Cutting through the noise since 1649!
The designers showed their collections along the banks of the Seine on the Quai de la Tournelle. Bit of a warning. Don’t look it up on Google maps because you will be devastated to see all the landmarks and cafes with “temporarily closed” next to the name.
Jonny x Megan
This collection is Leather meets Sexy Snack. Jonny and Megan watched Esther Perel’s “Fight Smarter” video on youtube, because when they start to bicker, it never gets heated and they let Tim sort them out. Knowing you are a control freak is half the battle.
Their collab is my absolute favorite. I want those leather leggings with zippers and stretch. I want that striped dress because I could eat so many nachos while wearing it. The detailing on the jacket sleeves is like gentle, approachable armor, and I want it in every color.
Will x Esther
Esther has aced every exam so far and now the professor announces the worst thing possible. “It’s time for the group project!”
This collab is the Making the Cut version of LeeAnne Locken’s Infinity Dress. Heidi called it “matchy matchy matchy matchy.” Naomi said, “That was not perfection.” Also…underboob.
Ji Won x Rinat
At this point in the show, I couldn’t pick a Rinat design out of a line-up unless every other dress were a Lilly Pulitzer.
Their collection is spooky in how it reads the tea leaves, i.e. the need for fashionable athleisure so you could shine on Zoom meetings.
Sabato x Sander
According to Sander, this pairing “puts the young and the old together, bitch.” Dubbing themselves Papi and Bébé, Sander sews and Sabato does not.
Sander must have one of those THINK posters in his cubicle. You know, the one that reads Is it True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind? You can tell Sander is a bit frustrated with Sabato’s different work style and lack of sewing skills, but he never, ever takes the bait to talk shit about Papa behind his back.
Sabato learns the hardest part of sewing is threading the damn sewing machine, while Sander takes it all in stride and acts very profesh.
Their black and iridescent aubergine suit dress is the winning look, and is available for purchase on Amazon sold out. Aubergine is French for dick emoji.
The final looks are very Express 2004-cum-Man Ray. Surrealist, office chic. Maybe it looks better flowing in person, but for me, it all looks stiff and the dark taffeta sheen doesn’t feel fresh.
Troy x Josh
It’s hard to make a jumpsuit I hate, but Troy and Josh have done it. And you know those models were dying in all those those itchy-ass sequins.
The only people who love a bridesmaid in a toile jacket are girls planning a Nantucket wedding from their Comm Ave apartment. “Lindsey is a little heavier than the rest of us, so let’s cover up her arms in toile.”
While he lost Making the Cut, Josh won at humanity. He is kind, with plenty of self-awareness, and he refused to quarrel if it meant Troy — who did most of the heavy lifting and sewing — would go home.
The designers have access to the outside world, so maybe Josh did a deep dive on worker’s rights during his down time and wanted no part in selling via Jeff Bezos. Hold your head and YSL neck tattoo high, Josh!
What was Naomi Campbell up to this week?
Wearing robin’s egg head to toe, with an embellished cut-out top and track-suit bottoms, Naomi was again the best damn thing on this show.
“I don’t like it.” “Heidi, why do you wanna hide your body?” “Oh, what is that?” “If I was a buyer, I would just say, ‘I don’t want that. Not interested.'”
Naomi was ready to send Troy home, too, but after his impassioned plea about his tailoring for the power woman, Naomi was the first to change her mind and the other judges followed. Troy lived to cut another pattern.
Naomi’s best quote of the episode:
When there’s a war, the tailor survives. Because a tailor can cut. His knife is his tool. So that’s your tool. You know how to navigate your tool.
If Troy can tailor some N95 masks right now, that would be great, because we are at war and Trump went to Jared. Send help!
(Ack! The tailor quote comes from E4, but in my defense, why put a “to be continued” on a show that skips credits and rolls right into the next?! Troy doesn’t get saved until the first minutes of E4. Sorry!)
Making the Cut is streaming on Prime Video. New episodes drop each Friday.
Check out our previous Making the Cut coverage here.
