Friday, July 24, 2009

The Fashion Show Finale


I watched the season finale of The Fashion show last night. Without spoiling the end by announcing the winners, I have some thoughts I wanted to share.

When I was in Art School, final critiques of our art work could be pretty tough, and sometimes they were very mean, and did not offer any positive suggestions, which I think makes for a better learning experience.

On last night's The Fashion show, besides summing up the season, and showing different out-takes, I listened to very good suggestions from the judges that I hope the designers will listen to.

I thought that during the season, and especially on the finale last night, the three judges, Isaac Mizrahi (a fashion designer, and the host of The Fashion Show), Fern Mallis (Senior Vice President of IMG Fashion, and known as the creator of New York's “Fashion Week”), and Glenda Bailey (editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar), offered very valuable ideas and opinions about fashion, and the fashion industry to not only the three finalists, but also to the other designers too. The more blunt criticism was offered gently, and there was almost a nurturing feel to a lot of what was said. Glenda Bailey even offered to privately talk to each designer about their work, which in my opinion, is worth more than prize money. Good for her! I wanted to reach into my TV and give her a huge hug.

As I said on July 2nd, I've learned a lot about sewing and wearable fashion while watching The Fashion show. Even if the show was meant to be a replacement for Project Runway, which has moved to Lifetime TV, I think it's its own show, and it does show promise for the future, assuming Bravo TV offers future seasons.