A new fashion competition show has landed on Netflix, with 18 up and coming designers going head to head over a series of two day challenges to win a huge cash prize.
Although its hosts – Queer Eye’s Tan France and model, presenter and writer Alexa Chung will be no strangers to most viewers, the batch of eager designers will need some introductions.
With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about the contestants…
Adolfo Sanchez
Adolfo is a Mexican-American designer, whose speciality is evening wear and bridal designs. His fashion career started in 2006 and he has been featured in several magazines, and says that he sometimes wonders if “I have become obsessed with this industry.”
Claire Davis
Hailing from London, Claire explores eco-friendly fashion, saying that she aims to prove that sustainable fashion can be sexy. She launched her label HANGER INC in 2013, which was handed the Fashion Discovery Award by ASOS.
Angel Chen
Angel is from China, but studied at the prestigious Central Saint Martins fashion school in London. After graduating she was picked by i-D as one of five designers-to-watch, while her fashion line is known for fusing Western and Eastern styles.
Minju Kim
Korean designer Minju works predominantly on contemporary womenswear, and her colourful designs have previously attracted strong attention at London fashion week. Minju studied at both SADI in her native South Korea and also in Antwerp and has previously collaborated with Disney.
Ashton Hirota
LA-based Ashton works on streetwear and his clothes have been seen at huge events including the he Super Bowl, Grammys and AMAs. Celebrities to have been dressed by Ashton include Beyonce, Fifth Harmony, Usher, Jennifer Lopez, Ariana Grande, Miguel.
Marco Morante
Another LA-based designer, Marco can boast Fergie, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, Ke$ha, Britney Spears and Shakira amongst the celebs he has created clothes for, while he is known for his designer underwear. He opened the design studio for his brand, Marco Marco, in 2003, after completing a Scenic and Costume Design BFA in Theatrical Design from CalArts.
Charles Lu
Canadian Charles was educated in London and has great experience in designing intricate gowns. He has worked in both London and Dubai and has produced three ready-made-couture collections as the head creative director of Arushi Couture x Charles Lu.
Daniel Fletcher
Englishman Daniel graduated from Central Saint Martins in 2015 and mainly designs menswear. His contemporary menswear brand DANIEL w FLETCHER was named one of the winners of the European Semi-Final of the International Woolmark Prize in 2016.
Carli Pearson
East London designer Carli specialises in bespoke, inclusive clothing and as had her work featured at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination exhibition. She has previously worked for Stella McCartney, Alexander Wang, Pucci and McQ and now has her own label, CIMONE.
Kianga ‘KiKi’ Milele
New York City designer KiKi specialises in streetwear and helped launch the hip hop apparel label FUBU. Her brand KMilele launched in 2014, and she has previously designed for Sean Combs, Justin Timberlake, Jay Z, Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Tommy Hilfiger and Rihanna.
Farai Simoyi-Agbede
Another New Yorker, Farai has designed for some of the world’s biggest stars, including Beyonce and Jay-Z, and has appeared in magazines including FORBES and Essence Magazine. She is the founder of The Narativ, an innovative Retail Concept Store.
Lorena Saravia Butcher
Lorena is from Mexico and has worked for a number of leading fashion industry brands including Bread and Butter Barcelona, Gstar-Raw and fellow Mexican designer Macario Jiménez. Her eponymous brand was launched in 2014 and designs contemporary womenswear.
Julian Woodhouse
A US military veteran, Julian’s experience encompasses men’s and women’s ready-to-wear garment design, graphic and digital print, footwear, eyewear, jewellery, bags and product packaging. His brand, Woodhouse Army, was named a 2018 Emerging Brand of the Year.
Isaac Saqib
Pakistani-American Isaac Saqib is behind the striking Mercy & Mankind street wear brand, which he started when he was still in college in 2014. His clothes have been worn by the likes of Young Thug, Rickey Thomson and Kyrie Irving.
Nasheli Ortiz-Gonzalez
Nasheli was born in Puerto Rico and has worked for many designers in New York, Italy, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. She is now an associate professor and department chair at the Moore College of Art & Design in Pennsylvania.
Angelo Cruciani
Italian Angelo is behind the Yezael fashion label, an eccentric brand which is based in Milan. He previously spent eight years as head designer for the iconic bag brand Piero Guidi and also took on the role of Creative Director for noted clothing manufacturers in Shanghai.
Hayley Scanlan
Scottish Hayley was born in Dundee and studied textiles at the city’s Jordanstone College of Art and Design. She won the Scottish Young Designer of the Year award at the Scottish Fashion Awards in both 2012 and 2014. She launched her women’s wear brand HS in 2012 and opened her first store in 2017.
Narresh Kukreja
A beach wear designer from India, Narresh is one half of designing duo Shivan and Narresh, and studied at the National Institute of Fashion Technology.
Next in Fashion is available to stream on Netflix now