Can ‘Making The Cut’ Give Amazon Much Needed Fashion Street Cred?

Tim and Heidi are back. 

Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum, the faces of Project Runway who turned lines like “make it work” and “Auf Wiedersehen” into catch phrases, are hosting a new fashion competition show that promises to take the concept to a new level.

Gunn and Klum left Project Runway in 2017 after 16 seasons. This time they are taking their talents to Amazon Prime in search of the “next global fashion brand.” And it seems like they mean it. Their new show, Making the Cut boasts a $1 million “investment” in the winner.

Unlike other design competition shows with prize money—Project Runway’s recent season offered the winner $250,000 and the promise of spread in a magazine, Making the Cut takes the stakes higher—with a whiff of Shark Tank—in their partnership with Amazon. The winner will take home $1 million, referred to as an investment.

Perhaps the greater prize is leveraging Amazon’s reach; the show was simultaneously launched in 200 markets around the globe. One “accessible” item from each episode is made available on Amazon.com in a special Making the Cut “store.” A single key item sold globally at that scale could make a designer’s career and brand, winner or not.

A Seemingly Blank Check

The budget for the show is apparently next-level as well, sending designers to Paris and Tokyo. Contestants are given free rein to design and acquire materials for their products; they are supplied with seamstresses and told “this is not a sewing competition.” That is, until it becomes one, just to add drama. 

Contestants aren’t amateurs—each already owns or is part of an established brand, some more successful than others. Yet none seem to have broken out of their own retail cycles to larger licensing opportunities, which is where the big money is in the global fashion game. “Accessible” in the context of the fashion business means licensed products such as fragrance, eye wear, shoes, leather goods, or other items that can be sold at high margin and large volume. For those licenses to be valuable, of course, the brand must be well known, highly regarded and have a significant following.

By referring to the winner as an investment, the show implies a formal business arrangement that may or may not include marketing, management, manufacturing and distribution deals. While this is not clear on the show or any of the official information released about the show, it does raise the question as to whether Amazon’s sights are set on the likes of LVMH and Gucci.

(Side note: Given Amazon’s track record in other categories such as grocery with the acquisition of Whole Foods—it’s not a stretch to consider they would buy their way into the lucrative luxury apparel market. By example of scale, they recently launched a delivery service for packages not originating in Amazon purchases (currently suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic) challenging UPS and FedEX; each reported ’19 revenues at approximately $65 billion. LVMH reported $58 billion and Gucci $10 billion.)

Gunn and Klum feel like long-term colleagues, adding a bit of goofy comic relief here and there along with their considerable authority and experience; they even mix up the format and formula to keep things interesting. For example, judges determine the outcome of each episode prior to taping the elimination segments and are open to having their minds changed during conversations with the designers. Klum moderates these on-camera debates and weighs in herself. They use it to create drama and at least one cliff hanger.

Not Quite Prêt-à-Porter  

In refreshing the flow of the show, Klum and Gunn are doing their jobs. Amazon however may not be living up the retail potential of the show.

While watching the first episode and learning of the retail component of the show, I eagerly hopped online to see how Amazon was picking up on the customer journey from viewer to purchaser. In the Making the Cut store on Amazon, the day after the first two episodes dropped, the accessible items were marked “this item is unavailable”—no word on whether it was or will be. Similarly, the day after episodes three and four were released the two winning looks were marked “sold out.” At the time of this writing, all four are marked “sold out” with no indication as to future availability.

It is possible the definition of accessible or shoppable may have changed drastically since this series was put in the can; meaning sales projections might not have anticipated a quarantined audience. It is disappointing to see these viable retail products inaccessible to the public.

Only One Chance to Make a Good Impression

Imagine Tim Gunn’s look of disapproval upon learning the item he just helped bring to market is not available. Given the ongoing availability of the show to potential customers and Amazon’s stated desire to be considered a relevant fashion purveyor, this stock position seems odd. There should be some acknowledgement of the situation. Amazon doesn’t do back orders, but a traditional retailer would, especially for potentially popular items such as these. Converting a viewer into a buyer is difficult and expensive; not having the merchandise available is not only a retail failure, but a broken promise to potential customers. In retail, if an item is not available, consumers simply move on to the next thing.

As Klum has been known to say, “in fashion, one day you’re in and the next you’re out.”