'Next in Fashion' Season 2: Meet the 12 designers competing in Gigi Hadid and Tan France's runway war
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Let's get to know the creative 'Next in Fashion' team before one designer sews up the challenge for good. When the high-stakes competition resumes on March 3, twelve up-and-coming designers from across the nation will vie to become the next major name in fashion.
Under the careful eyes of co-hosts Tan France and Gigi Hadid, as well as a renowned roster of special judges, the contestants will compete in a series of tasks that will put their creative skills to the test like never before. It takes a highly skilled bunch to compete, but these designers are willing to go to any length to bring their distinct vision to the runway. Remember, while each applicant will have the opportunity to display their work on a global platform, only one will walk away with a $200,000 reward and the opportunity to debut their own line with Rent the Runway. Here's everything you need to know about 'Next in Fashion' Season 2's new crop of designers.
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Usama Ishtay
Usama Ishtay was born on June 18, 1988, in Venezuela, to a Syrian immigrant family who had relocated to the South American nation in 1980. Usama earned a degree in petroleum engineering in 2010 and a degree in geology in 2012. His first forays into the fashion industry included running a women's clothing store and going to Los Angeles to create and send his collections and merchandise back to his home country. Usama chose to relocate to Los Angeles in 2015 to pursue fashion design and eventually become an international fashion designer.
His art is "inspired by Arabic and Latino culture," with the latter lending "a slight beauty queen whiff with a rock and roll and mysticism" to his designs. Gianni Versace, Thierry Mugler, and Christian Dior are among his main inspirations.
Usama created a dress for celebrity and rapper Eve at Warner Brothers Studios in September 2016 for a gala benefiting the Autism Speaks group, debuting his work as a famous fashion designer and launching his first collection "Temptation" at Los Angeles Fashion Week in October 2016. Since 2016, Usama has been one of the celebrity fashion designers who has shown collections in Los Angeles season after season, dressing celebrities such as Gaby Espino, Greeicy, Karol G, Paulina Rubio, Lele Pons, Thalia, Nikita Dragun, Lauren Jauregui, Lauren London, Carrie Underwood, Tyra Banks, and others.
Qaysean Williams
Qaysean Williams is an emerging fashion designer, rapper, and prospective performer known as "the one-hand sewing man" for his ability to cut and make apparel and accessories with only one arm due to Erb’s/Klumpke’s Palsy. Klumpke's Qaysean turned to fashion to hide his disability and founded Manikin Mob.
Qaysean discovered his identity through fashion at an early age. Due to his disability, the New Jersey-based artist, who also dabbles in acting and rapping, never saw himself portrayed in popular media as a child. "Fashion was the very thing that gave me a voice," he explains. "It made me feel like I was worthy enough, powerful enough, beautiful enough, it gave me a reason to love me for being me." After playing with his style in high school, Qaysean went on to found his own line, Manikin, which prioritizes accessibility with adaptive garments that enable everyone to feel "amazing in their own skin."
His trademark style is represented by the warrior-style shirt dress he created to wear to Vogue World in September 2022. The androgynous ensemble, with elaborate sequin trimming and an opulent pattern influenced by the Byzantine Empire, cranked up the drama, making the designer feel like the "emperor and empress of the night."
Nigel Xavier
Call him the denim master. Nigel specializes in patchwork and cloth manipulation, creating one-of-a-kind pieces that have become faves among some of music's biggest stars. As he places his trademark imprint on styles that draw significantly from the 1990s and early 2000s fashion, the Atlanta-based designer names "fabrics, materials, culture and nostalgia" as his main inspirations. "Adapting and observing all of the different cultures has made [him] versatile and open-minded," says the former high school football player who picked fashion over a job in athletics.
While he is always thinking about the next project, the designer is most pleased with an oversized pair of patchwork denim trousers that can fit five to six people. The creation is "not only signature to [his] manipulation, but also has a message behind them, symbolizing togetherness."
Megan O’Cain
Megan's designs are instantly recognizable due to their emphasis on fun above all else. As a child, the Brooklyn-based designer and Parsons School of Design graduate was drawn to "vintage clothes and dressing up," deconstructing clothes and experimenting with her grandmother's 1960s designs. Designing "always felt like a way to escape" her worry and gave her the opportunity to "create a space for play and possibility." Megan's designs "take the nostalgia of early childhood and the ’60s sewing techniques" in womenswear with a focus on "humor and fun rather than sophistication."
This is particularly true for her trademark garment, the Honey Bunny Dress. The outfit represents fashion's "ability for fashion to be playful and its power to change your reality" by combining more conventional elements with an oversized bunny figure. The gown also transforms into a bag, emphasizing Megan's continuous subversion of "expectations of womenswear in a playful way." Each of her prints and figures, like the wearer, has its own narrative and universe. Every item is lovingly created in New York.
James Ford
James is a maestro of custom suiting, combining his passion for sports and formal attire. He does not, however, create "your uncle’s obligatory office suits." Rather, James is concentrating on designing outfits that "stand for something very, very different", especially in terms of fitting for feminine, trans, and gender-nonconforming bodies. As an erstwhile four-sport athlete, the designer draws influence for his approach to suiting from the "silhouettes, color palettes, construction techniques, and practicality" of sportswear, "marrying dichotomies" of the two with every seam. Finally, he is committed to emphasizing his clients' requirements in order to discover what "their suit will communicate to the world on behalf of them," while maintaining a "balance of sophistication and fun."
His current best piece is his Utility Grandma Vest, which combines "two things that don’t belong together." The pocket-heavy garment, described by James as "a fly-fishing vest meets a French Victorian sofa," is functional but made of a burnt orange velvet furniture fabric.
Eliana Batsakis
Eliana Batsakis is a former School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumnus. Eliana, who is often told she "laughs at everything," adds pleasure and humor to each of her designs. Eliana aims to create other worlds for her viewers to join and leave with ease by wearing voluminous and vibrant clothes. Her work is distinguished by imaginative storylines, manipulated textures, vibrant color schemes, and striking shapes influenced by true stories. Eliana does not create for a specific body type. Rather, she likes to conceive of garments as "bodies" capable of transporting the user to other regions of existence - using fashion as a catalyst to initiate other worlds through wearing.
Eliana, one of the show's youngest contestants, did not grow up wishing to be a designer. Fashion found her anyway, thanks to her talent for theatrics and world creation. The Cincinnati-based designer and latest fashion school graduate started her path in college, where she developed her particular sense of style centered on ease. Eliana is inspired by the envisioned lives of the people who wear her garments because the narrative is a "huge part of [her] design process and often the biggest inspiration." She's known for her colorful and voluminous clothes, and she's been inspired by her work to explore inner worlds, asking questions like, "Where do they live?" "How do they act?" "What are they doing in this outfit?"
Eliana is most pleased with a gown she made for a friend's maternity photoshoot. The designer hoped her friend to "feel beautiful and have a special fashion moment during her pregnancy that she could look back on and remember forever".
Desyrée Nicole
Desyrée, an Atlanta-based clothing designer, is used to competition as a former basketball player. She gave up the game for fashion when she started Todd Patrick, called after her younger brother. "Everything about [her] life" shaped Desyrée's sense of style, and "love for [her] family 100% drives the brand," she says. As a self-taught designer with no formal training, she is all about expressing herself through clothing because "your life is your own, and through that, it brings a unique take to everything you do."
Desyrée's designs, with an emphasis on texture and relaxed shapes, have become a favorite among elite sports and beyond, with many gravitating towards the brand's wool jackets and trouser curation. But her particular favorite is a cashmere green overcoat embroidered with the places she grew up, since it "set the tone for blending elevated wool with storytelling."
Deontré Hancock
Deontré, who was born and raised in Washington, is a self-taught designer with a lifetime love for fashion. Seeing his parents "dress up for church on Sundays and date nights" from an early age influenced him to pay close attention to clothing and his own personal style. Inspired by his surroundings, the designer developed an early love of streetwear, drawing inspiration from "fashion trends in the surrounding area" and what he saw "everyone wearing at school."
He does, however, always "put [his] spin" on fashion trends. Deontré is known for his exaggerated menswear styles, particularly his trademark puffer jackets. The garment has become a calling card for the designer, bringing him "a lot of recognition in [his] career."
Danny Godoy
Danny is a real legend as a full-time drag performer and fashion designer. Born and raised in Inglewood, California, to Mexican immigrant parents, the designer acquired a sense of style as "one of the many ways to show [his] creative side" early in his life. He debuted his own line of flamboyant, eye-catching looks influenced by "key moments" in his own life showcasing "loved ones, where [he] grew up, and [his] Mexican culture" after graduating from design school.
Danny attended FIDM in DTLA after finishing high school and earned an AA in Fashion Design and Advanced Fashion Design, where he developed his own line and started his career as a Fashion Designer. Danny found the technique of DRAG Transformation while attending FIDM. Danny is a professional drag diva who has made a reputation for himself in Southern California. Originally known as "Beverly Luxe," recently altered the name to GODOY.
Danny can't pick a favorite outfit he's created for some of the world's best drag performers, including Naomi Smalls, Kim Chi, Bob the Drag Queen, Raven, and Monét X Change. He is "in love with every piece" he makes when it comes to fashion. Nothing, however, compares to the looks he creates for himself in drag because clothes enable him to "experiment, let loose, and not only focus on the garment but the entire look, head to toe."
Courtney Smith
Courtney is all about appealing to "women who stand in their power and wear what they want" when it comes to fashion. Her sense of style was "shaped by the confident and expressive Black women" she was raised and nurtured by in the Bronx from an early age. Courtney was taught as a child to "love and have agency over [her] body," and that's precisely how she wants people to feel when they don her outfits. Courtney creates for "plus girls who want to show out every time they go out," whether it's formal dresses, cocktail apparel, or activewear.
When she was requested to design a gown for Alex Newell's role as Ursula in 'The Little Mermaid,' it was a match made in fashion heaven. Courtney is most pleased with the ensemble because she enjoys "making gowns and special occasion dresses for clients, and who better to dress than a sea witch?"
Over the last ten years, she has established a reputation for her ability, charm, and drive in a range of TV programs as a designer, creative director, and fashion presenter.
Bao Tranchi
With clients like Laverne Cox, Nicki Minaj, and Jennifer Lopez, Bao's creations are likely to have appeared on the red carpet. She's also styled some of your best music videos, worked as a costume designer on films like 'The Greatest Beer Run Ever' and 'Charlie's Angels', and collaborated with big industry companies over the last 20 years.
Her designs, many of which feature her trademark cutout patterns, share an "absolute love and passion for the woman’s body." That's why Ashley Graham's costume for the 2016 Vanity Fair Academy Party is one of her all-time favorites. Bao wished to "celebrate [Graham’s] body in a way that was, up to then, only reserved for sample-size bodies." Consider her goal achieved, as she claims the ensemble started a conversation about "what was appropriately sexy for a plus-sized woman" and became a "huge viral fashion moment."
Amari Carter
Amari, who grew up in a tiny suburb outside of Atlanta, has always seen fashion as a method of self-discovery. She used "clothing as a way to create an alter ego" as a child to "feel sexy and powerful." That is the ultimate motivation for Amari's work, which combines monochromatic, minimalist designs with lingerie detailing to achieve a balance of sexuality and power. With her appearance, the London College of Fashion graduate hopes to honor the women in her life while also making space for "creating and discovering [her] growth as a woman."
What is her favorite piece of clothing? It's a "cloud look" made of transparent cloth that alluded to a greater message about "hiding your own insecurities." Amari sees fashion as more than just clothing: "It shows what my brand is all about, which is storytelling."
Ten new episodes of 'Next in Fashion' will premiere on March 3 only on Netflix.