Prime Video’s fashion show series, Making The Cut, is back for its third season – with the first two episodes now available to stream. This time around, co-hosts Heidi Klum, and Tim Gunn are joined by Nicole Richie and Jeremy Scott in their pursuit to find the next fashion prodigy.
The new season welcomes 10 fashion designers from around the world, who are all ready to take their brands to the next level. However, the rules and rewards are still the same. Each episode, the designers will compete in different challenges and strive for the top spot in hopes of being the last designer standing. With the support of Amazon Fashion’s Making The Cut store, the winning look from each episode will instantly be available for purchase exclusively on the dedicated storefront.
Although each participating designer has the opportunity to gain exposure and even collect monetary winnings along the way, the ultimate prize is reserved for one designer only: $1 million to invest in their business, mentorship from Amazon Fashion executives, an invitation to launch their existing brands in the Amazon Fashion store and the opportunity to create an exclusive co-brand with Amazon Fashion.
In an effort to continue our commitment to championing Black designers, we connected with two designers from this season’s cast, Jeanette Limas and Ciara Chyanne, to learn more about their journey to potentially becoming Making The Cut’s Season 3 winner.
While Limas and Chyanne are in the pursuit of taking their brands to the next level, both designers have made some notable accomplishments to get them to this point. Limas, who was born in the Dominican Republic, launched her namesake brand in 2015 and has presented multiple collections at NYFW. She’s also won designer scholarships that led her to relocate to NYC for higher education, and she previously worked on the design team for Urban Zen by Donna Karan.
Chyanne, who is a self-taught designer, consults for other fashion companies and runs her own eponymous fashion brand. Chyanne’s brand has been seen on Elaine Welteroth and on The Tamron Hall Show for its series that highlights up-and-coming designers. Most recently, Chyanne became a recipient of VISA’s 2022 “She’s Next In Fashion” grant.
“If I were to win the competition, I would allocate the prize money to my business development and growth by expanding the Ciara Chyanne team,” Chyanne tells ESSENCE. “I would also be pretty excited about bringing my dreams to life by opening the Ciara Chyanne brick-and-mortar storefront in Los Angeles.” Limas adds, “My dream has always been to build a global brand, and winning Making The Cut would allow me to do just that.”
Creating fashion designs that are compelling enough to stand out and innovative enough to feel new is already challenging, but the contestants are also faced with strict time constraints. “I prefer to take my time when it comes to the design process of a piece because that’s where the magic happens,” Limas explains. “It was extremely hard to concentrate on the production while sharing space with other designers, a camera, and an audio crew. But if you want to stay in the competition, you have to cut through all of that noise and bring your best!”
In addition to thinking and acting fast, the designers also had to mentally be ready for the possibility of their favorite celebrity walking through the door. This season’s special guests included celebrity stylist Jason Bolden, Chloe and Halle Bailey, and Tik Tok star Wisdom Kaye.
Not to mention, contestants were also granted the opportunity to work closely with legendary fashion mentor Tim Gunn. “I was so grateful for Tim Gunn because he is what I would consider my second mind,” says Chyanne. “As a creative, you have to check in with yourself, but it is also important to have another perspective. Under Tim’s guidance, I was able to adjust my usual three-step edit process into one-step.”
Limas shares a similar sentiment, “It was always a dream of mine to meet Tim Gunn. He was very helpful and was always there to respond to all my questions, in front, and behind the cameras. I’ll be forever thankful.”
While viewers await new episodes to release each Friday, they can expect to see the contestants collaborate with renowned companies like Champion and much more.
“My favorite assignments of the season were the at-home, winter, and festival challenges. They allowed me to showcase my innovation and pay tribute to the Dominican Republic and its carnival,” Limas shares. “When I was a kid, I used to spend hours making my costume for the carnival, so that assignment on Making the Cut took me back to those precious moments.”
Tune in to Making The Cut on Amazon Prime Video and shop the winning designs from each episode on Amazon’s Making The Cut storefront.