In reality shows, a taste of reality is expected to be in glasses of gin and tonic. But these shows keep audiences enticed with an allure of sweetness, making their edits akin to cocktails. And like any other television program, Next In Fashion tries to brew this concoction. Promising young designers exposure with their stress and breaking points edited out.
"Today will be a bonus round, where you don't have to worry for there are no pins knocked out." There remain eight designers after a runway reflecting childhood. Most of them in anticipation of the next challenge — one they expected to carry over the system of winners from before. But the show demands a twist to entice more people, especially with the theme and guest judge in mind. "And I think our guest judge can better explain the challenge, Tan." Both the hosts adorn clothes mimicking stage outfits, one they may not use typically but suit them nonetheless.
Gigi Hadid in a stunning red sports undergarments. Her figure is displayed at the forefront of viewers as bright yellow racing pants color block the red shorts. It makes the designers tilt their heads in wonder at how it mirrors the other host's fit. The latter showcases bright colors in patterns. Their jacket has no undershirt yet is comfortable in appearance still. But what's more vivid is Tan's pop of silver in his eyes, the makeup going against natural for bold and obvious notice.
"Right you are, my dear. So let's let him inside." Both lean towards the entrance where the designers entered just moments ago. A staff member cues a thumbs up, allowing them to continue their lines as a tall man enters the camera's vicinity.
"The man who knows the ins and outs of the music industry, especially the booming almost robotic producers of stars — kpop! Let's now welcome Leon of Stray Kids!" Although Kpop is not widespread as country or socially accepted by everyone as a music brand to stay, the designers all clap and try to hold their jaws in as he enters. The man is tall in stature, and his grace is present in his shadow. There is no doubt that he holds star power like any top American celebrity, for his face shows no blemish, and his eyes shine with a passion only long-time performers hold.
The music changes as he enters, a popular Stray Kids track booming against the audio.
넌 못 참아, I'm the charmer
I'm the charmer
Charmer, charmer, charmer
삐리빠라삐리뱀
삐리빠라삐리뱀
삐리빠라삐리뱀
Charmer, charmer, charmer, charmer
Each of his step right on with the music. But before he fully goes beside both hosts, his feet tap into a rhythm of dance, his limbs moving with ease in choreography. And for that second, they get a glimpse of what a concert with him might appear to be in live view. "Hello! It's nice to meet you all. I'm Leon Ahn." He stands beside both hosts, shaking their hands, and gives out a big smile to the young artists before him.
"I'm not here to ask you to create ball gowns with corsets, don't worry." His little joke breaks the tension and separation between him and them. Their laughter was quiet but still unweaving the worries for a short time. "I'm so excited for you all to work on this challenge because nowadays, my company and I are among many scouts for fresh designers for the same purpose of the challenge." He made sure to meet each of their eyes, trying to gauge a guess. But their hesitance is visible, so he doesn't stall for too long.
"You are tasked to make two outfits that Kpop idols like myself, who sing and dance, perform in during a concert!" The request is beyond a dancer's fit. Because like many uncomfortable experiences beforehand, the stage wardrobe must consider the idol's breathing to sing or rap, and movement to dance. But even held at higher importance by companies is the beauty and concept of these outfits.
He could see the dread slip in their faces, whether one knows Kpop or not, the task of creating an aesthetic, comfortable, and movement-friendly stage fit is a challenge. "Each person will have one male and one female model. And to make this even more accurate, along the runway – these models will do a simple ten-second choreography when they stop and pose."
"You've broken them, my dear." The older man beside him could see the robotic error shut down the contestants' paint on their features. But they cannot do anything else but comment and appease them with the deadline. So Tan continues the spiel, trying to find a way for the contestants to breathe again by hearing the full guidelines. "We know how hard this must be so you'll be given two 7-hour days to fully finish. And a few hours on the day of the parade itself."
The female model notices that somehow it does work. Thank goodness for a moment of kindness from a competition. "So do breathe." She gently points Leon out, knowing how the ethics of the idols rarely allow opposite genders to touch or even brush skin against one another, so a point in his direction will do. "And we're grace to have Leon watch over you on these nearly three whole days. So you can ask him to strike a pose or do a choreography and a belt to see if your design will do these mechanics justice."
"Are you ready?"
They don't look prepared. But this was a show and it had to go on. "Go to your work stations in 3, 2, 1 — GO!"
And they all run off to their respective tables and cloths, their eyes going back to Leon every few seconds for some type of luck suppose. And while the designers frantically begin, the hosts and the idol are called off the camera to catch a bite of lunch. One that Leon tries to refuse but these two older hosts demand in secrecy, protecting him from the prying eyes of any lenses or managers.
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The camera turns back on soon in his direction. But before the lights could blind him and paralyze him to be the idol mold, someone calls. A love on the other side of the world who knows that even if he sews his lips about it, he misses them beside him. Even if he started out independent, he does not know life without them anymore — even for a few days. "We're missing our giant over here. How are you on the fashion show? Any designer taking interest on your abs yet?" His eldest boyfriend dictates the letters and vowels in an accent he loves all too well. An accent the rest, besides him, mimics. Because besides the normality of hearing it around, his boyfriends know the Australian accent makes his cheeks flush and his heart race. "Nobody can really brush their hands over me unless it's you, my loves."
"Say that again after your Aurora performance on MTV where how many dances kissed your arms and torso again?" But before Leon could write out a defense to the joking tone of Chan, someone shouts out the number. The voice of his baby, their youngest in the background — knowing the number by heart with how many times his boyfriends watched his performances. "Five times."
"They barely lingered their hands for over two seconds" But they argue against him, reminding him of their antics as if he were with them now. "Five times too many! Half a second too long!" And even if nostalgia and homesickness follow him throughout filming, their call subdued his mind to a state of hope. He'll come home soon, he just has to enjoy the moment with fresh-minded artists now. Make their dreams come true with more exposure through one episode.
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Many designs stretch across genres and concepts. They all lean towards a different direction, mimicking a star almost with their vast creativity. And it makes him smile. It reminds him of the time he braved in the industry because he wasn't exposed to the dirty grime lenses yet. And it gave him a flame of protectiveness to welcome these designers and preserve their warmth, their identity, and their passion. "I know my friends from Kingdom would rock those cut-out shirts." SF9 would be interested in her fashion preferences, so would Mamamoo probably.
It almost causes Bao to drop her pencil when the man comments. His upper half leans forward on the table, his eyes focused on the sketch she had. He was absolutely ethereal, a model in the making with his height. But more so his shine towards clothes. She loved the way his eyes centered in on the sketch, hands gently brushing over the fabric she chose. Unlike many clients, he appreciated her work and her choices of her as a designer. "Would you mind doing a fast-hand choreography change?" She lets her eyes stay on the paper as if she was pondering - which she was. But meeting the eyes of such a young man whose fans can be quite harsh is not a risk she will take, even if she wants to see his expression of artist understanding more. So she says her question aloud instead, giving time to let her eyes move across when he dances only.
It was a quick minute, his arms going from above to over his shoulder, down at his side then leading him to hold his weight with it as he does an elevated push-up on the table before switching his body's direction. It was a sight to see up close. But more importantly, it allowed her to study the shift of muscle on his arm, painting her an idea of how tight the man's sleeve should be. "Thank you!"
He gave her a small smile before walking toward where Tan and Gigi were. They were chatting over at a ginger man's table. And when he came near, he noticed the color palette and prints on the table. A concept he knew most young idols and female groups complied with at the start - the cute and sweetheart concept. With it being very apparent in Kpop, he was curious about how an American can twist things around. "Hello! I need my guides Gigi and Tan or I might get lost in the fabrics." Leon squeezes in the space they put between them, his ears listening keenly to the description James shared.
"I was viewing like first Kpop videos and I noticed the youth concept most had. And I wanted to do something with that. But make it that even older idols and boy/girl crush idols will wear comfortably, without wincing at the outfits, you know."
Often in the five-year performance of idols, they revisited old songs to include in their concerts. And most of the time, they skipped out on the first two albums or releases as much as possible. So to provide an elevated version of these outfits intrigued Leon. Because he likes many didn't want to go back to the shorts of school uniforms in music videos - they displayed his legs weirdly with their proportions. "Well, I'm excited about that!"
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A girl rocking an undercut had him walking towards her work table. Draped over the clothes were strong shapes on the shoulders. The lines were sharp and sleek, like many of the outfits Leon and his group preferred due to their concept in general. "What do we have here?" Leon sat on the table, carefully inspecting the current plan. The designers began explaining how they wanted more kpop girls to dance intense choreographies without worrying about their femininity or their outfits to tear. So they were making it akin to suits, cut a bit shorter than typical men's style but still strong enough to showcase the strong pads added.
It was boss, in a simple manner. But the catch is, he as a director of music videos notice the trend to this outfit. And in the show, they were looking for the next in fashion, not necessarily the current. So he decided to give his insight gently, nodding at the choices she made that he greatly wanted to see more too. "I love the concept and I know more mature groups would love to sport these stage outfits." The wool material combined with spandex had him imagining the possible movements with these fabrics. "But as a director, I know that women in suits are becoming more and more common in Kpop too. There are many posters of top girl groups having the businesswoman concept. So just make sure that yours provide a unique perspective without losing the message you want to say across."
He experienced many denying his suggestions, even as head director. There will be scriptwriters and creative directors who will argue with him for hours. And so it was refreshing to see smiles of appreciation and comments of thanksgiving to the comments he provides. "Thanks, man. I'll keep that in mind."
So he doesn't dwell too long at her table too, moving when Gigi Hadid beckons him towards someone calling out for his attention. A male sporting dyed blonde hair suits him way too well. "Can I borrow you for a second? I need to see you flex a vain when you rap." The blunt words stop the air from processing down his throat, leading Leon to cough. The dry words delicately wrapped with polite words garner the attention of many others, and most hold their laughter.
It takes Leon a few seconds to catch his breath before asking for a repeat of the instructions. Never did he expect a designer to ask him to show a vein out to plan a wardrobe. But he remembers that America is also built differently. "Many comments on your videos wanted to see you and many idols' veins when they rap. So I wanted my collar to not block that. So if you mind rapping hard then." Deontre isn't shy about what he wants. And it gives him not only the measurements he needs but also a show that convinces him to watch more of this man's videos and hear his music after the competition.
Before Leon could come over and visit other stations, he receives a call from his manager. The ring holds out silently but he sees the consecutive calls as a sign of an emergency, so his feet trek across the room behind the camera. But before he leaves out the frame, the bow of respect is what he does to every designer and the two hosts before exiting. It was a wrap for him for day one but worry not for he's there for day two of preparation and the show itself.
Fashion might never rest. But the industry of Kpop demands him to be on for 25/7.
A/N: There will be a part 2. Then, I'll write a chapter of his appearance on Boys Planet 999 either when the show finishes or when I've gained enough insight to make strong predictions in the direction of the show and the debut group.