'Next in Fashion' Season 2: Desyrée pulls strings in swimwear challenge, sends Megan home
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In Episode 7 of 'Next in Fashion' Season 2's swimsuit challenge, Desyrée Nicole's 'ace' toppled Megan O'Cain's castle of cards. Since the judges failed to see her work highlighted in the team challenge, the NYC-based designer had to say goodbye while her teammate, Bao Tranchi, lived to see another day.
Netflix's 'Next in Fashion' has returned for a second season, and the wait is over for fans who had been counting down the days until they could partake in a truly fashionable TV binge. The design challenge, which was originally hosted by model-turned-fashion designer Alexa Chung and 'Queer Eye' makeover maven Tan France, was canceled after only one season. However, in an unexpected announcement, the worldwide streaming service revealed that 'Next in Fashion' would be returning, with a new supermodel host. Modern fashion icon Gigi Hadid replaced Alexa to become Tan's partnering host on the show, and the full series is already streaming on Netflix. That being said, if you've already binge-watched the series, you're probably as sad as everyone else about Megan O'Cain's exit. So, what was the young designer's undoing?
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Desyrée Nicole's move toppled Megan O'Cain
In episode 7, the final six designers were paired up and challenged to create two suits that would impress model and designer Candice Swanepoel in a rapid-fire swimwear challenge. Desyrée got a show-stopping advantage because she was the belle of the ball in the prior Met Gala challenge. She not only got to collaborate with a designer she liked, but she also got to choose who would partner with whom. Some would say it's a lot of pressure or a lot of power!? She was already ecstatic to learn that she would be able to "cook up." She picks Amari Carter for herself.
Desyrée chose Bao for Megan in a somewhat strategic manner. She mentioned, "It's a competition, so I'm choosing these partners that would benefit me and Amari. Bao and Megan, they only have women's wear, and Deontré (Hancock) and Nigel (Xavier), they only have menswear. With Amari, we have a strong womens wear designer and a strong menswear designer, so I think we gon' kill it."
Gigi, on the other hand, informed everybody that "it won't be an entire team going home tonight, just one designer." This frightened the competitors even more. Creating two ensembles in four hours seems like an insurmountable task. Megan was terrified because she had never created menswear before. "Megan and Bao don't do menswear, so this is hard for those two," Tan said. Gigi adds, "They have distinct styles. I don't know how they're going to combine them." Tan went on to say, "Only one person from a team will be going home tonight. I wonder if one of them's gonna really push to make sure that they're the one seen." This is what exactly happened in the case of Megan and Bao.
In her confessional, Bao says, "Des thinks we're at a disadvantage 'cause we're both womens wear designers. What she doesn't know is I costume design for men all the time." Bao has probably dressed over 3000 men, this is why "you don't show all your cards," she notes. Megan, on the other hand, puts the women's swimwear in the care of Bao. "It seems more involved than the men's," she says. Bao makes bodysuits for her brand. She believes there is real science and physics to the push and pull of keeping someone supported. She is familiar with fabrication and construction.
When Tan asked why they were so far behind, Bao explained that they were still in the drafting stage. They wanted to experiment with Megan's colorful, playful side as well as Bao's cutouts. "The whole story of it is just '80s kind of, like, workout kind of thing." So they went with bold pops of color overlaid by mesh cutouts for the women's style. For the men's, they created a little fuchsia Speedo, which the model will layer with mesh boy shorts and a big cutout cropped tank. Tan pondered how they'd figure out who worked on which portions of the outfits, to which Megan replied that she just wanted Bao to show off this because it was right up her alley. As a result, she desired Bao to take over the women's look. And she wanted to prove to herself that she could do menswear. Gigi was overjoyed to see these worlds collide.
Megan stated in her confessional, "I am feeling a little nervous. This is my first time doing swimwear. This is my first time doing menswear. I have never made a men's Speedo before." She began to work on the design. The design, she observed, has shifted more towards Bao, but "this is her area of expertise," she adds. She said she wanted to follow the knowledge, and learn and support that.
When the models walked in, they were still in the pattern-making phase. They didn't have anything to fit the models with at the time. Bao realized they were running out of time. Likewise, during the final runway announcement, Bao was seen asking her model to bend down to the height of her sewing machine so that she could fit the swimwear while it was on her!
'This is not Megan'
All the judges gasped in unison as Bao and Megan's models walked the runway. Tan stated that this is precisely what he wanted. He adored the female suit. Candice commented on how well it fit. Her curves were wonderfully accentuated. "It's giving her great cleavage, but it's not overly exposed," she added. Tan thought it looked like they bought it from somewhere. Candice inquired if they got it done in a single day. Tan and Gigi correct her when they say "four hours." However, Tan felt very distracted by the man's top. Celebrity stylist Jason Bolden agreed. He added, "It doesn't look finished. It's not chic. The proportions are just cheap." Tan empathized by saying he understands that it is hard for menswear to give them something new with swim.
Megan told the judges during their individual evaluation that they wanted to do a take on '80s workout wear, kind of Jane Fonda-influenced, but bring it to a modern place and include references that both Bao, and she uses while keeping it very cohesive. When Gigi inquired who worked on which pieces, Bao said she worked on the women's ensemble and Megan worked on the men's. "But in the 11th hour, I was helping on the women's," Megan added.
Candice complimented the pair on the one-piece. With so little time, she thought it was amazing. She did, however, believe they provided "scraps to the guy, and he was kind of secondary." "The tank top, I like it as, like, its own piece," Gigi added, "but I just wish that the time was divvied up better so that they both got full looks." Jason thought the construction was fantastic, and he enjoyed the color choices. But the task was about the two of them, and "this is not Megan," he thought.
"Part of it is that when I worked with Tré, the feedback was that you mostly only saw my voice, and so I thought I just didn't want to overpower again," Megan explained. She also stated that she spent a significant amount of time focusing on the female look, too. "I wouldn't say it was just one person's project."
Jason emphasized, stating, "That's Bao's identity. That's her visual." Megan was concerned that her work had been lost and that the judges had not seen her in those outfits. Jason believed Bao and Megan chose to concentrate on one item rather than the collective. Tan thought Bao's look was amazing and very well done. This, however, was a team challenge. Candice stated that she would like to see Megan's previous work. Jason informs her that Megan is one of the group's strongest personalities, which Gigi believes they didn't see on the runway.
"At this point of the competition, we were desperate to see Megan, which should've come across in both of your looks," Gigi said at the end of the episode. Megan exits the competition as the show's top five designers are revealed.
'Next in Fashion' Season 2 is streaming now in its entirety only on Netflix.