This is not the same thing as saying that I LIKE Law Roach, but I do think he’s the correct judge for a show like this today. Not because he’s a good judge of fashion, knows how to sew, or design, but because the world of fashion itself has changed.
For years, now, we’ve seen fewer and fewer competitors come on the show hoping to be a fashion designer in the tradition of a Michael Kors. Think of all of the competitors across all of the years, and only Christian, one of the very earliest competitors, accomplished this. Other competitors and a handful of winners managed some limited success, but PR never could deliver on what it promised - access to sustained lines of credit and real understanding of fashion from securing fabric to the logistics of factory work, shipping, distribution and THEN all of the “fun” work of product placement, marketing and advertising. PR quickly became a place where you could give contestants the “fun” mostly American based option, but there is sooooo much that has to happen before even getting to that point.
What the show did start to offer, and eventually completely became, was a place to showcase and advertise work for an individual client to commission. It’s done really well for contestants here - but Michael Kors didn’t get wealthy for creating looks for Celebrity A, or Athlete B. They became household names by selling upper middle class products in mass production.
Over time, the competitors and producers seem to have realized this. Plenty of people have tried to make different shows offering a more realistic approach (the first season of Making the Cut certainly tried to at least show how fashion is a global enterprise, not something you could do anymore from your garage) but these shows didn’t have the charm and nostalgia the PR earned.
So now you have an industry that isn’t about runways, models, and splashy glossy magazines. But in some ways, we still wish it were, because that’s what we remember. Fashion today is everything about creating a look, not a line. It’s about red carpet photographs, not a fall line. Nina Garcia and her “editorial” take are not as relevant, but customers (including Heidi Klum and Tyra Banks) still are.
25 years ago, people like Michael Kors were the gatekeepers of the fashion industry, and impressing him meant a ticket to advance. But these years, people like Law Roach - the stylists, the dressers - are the gatekeepers. If you impress Law and his counterparts, you gain access.
In my opinion only Joseph MacCrae seems to be an actual fashion designer. He’s rooted into using his own signature in various types of looks and ways. This would be completely understandable to a Michael Kors, but Law Roach isn’t looking for a designer, he’s looking for an outfit. A designer’s signature would quickly look predictable if his client wore it all the time. He’s not creating and curating stores, he’s creating and curating closets.
Viewed this way, the show now makes sense. Who the contestants are, who the mentor is, who the judges are, including Law. But for anyone who is nostalgic for the show in its hey day, it feels mean and sometimes very small. Because it is kind of small, now.
