‘Making the Cut’ exclusive interview with season 3 winner on ‘Finale’ collection and going from avant garde to accessible

“During ‘Making the Cut’ we didn’t have this much time. We had one day, seven hours, two days max to create our looks. And this was never enough time to do actually something tailored, like properly tailored,” says “Making the Cut” winner Yannik Zamboni. Since the designers had four weeks to create their 10-look collections for the “Finale,” he wanted to show that side of his creative ability. “And that’s why I came up with the idea to do a tailored collection.” Watch our exclusive video interview with Zamboni above.

Known for designing in all-white, Zamboni incorporated colors and prints into his final collection, which impressed the judges with his originality in interpreting tailored menswear for a variety of bodies, genders, and styles, helping him overtake fellow finalists Rafael Chaouiche and Georgia Hardinge. That made Zamboni the show’s first winner from outside the US. “In the beginning, to be honest, I was like, oh my God, this show was only won by Americans so far. So do I get into the final? Or can I even win this being European? I was really scared about that. But the good thing was, in our final, we were three people outside of the US.” So he was “very happy” to see so much international representation at the top of the competition.

The experience of “Making the Cut” has also helped him grow as a designer. “I never had to think about if something is accessible or or not, I just created pieces I wanted to create,” says the often avant garde Zamboni. “It changed my mind to do stuff that actually touches a wider crowd. And I think it’s very helpful for designing a collection that you actually sell.” His winning collection was made immediately available to customers in Amazon’s online “Making the Cut” store. Next up he’ll be showing a collection at New York Fashion Week for the first time, but after that? “I am really looking forward to vacation,” he says. “I need to stop, rethink, relax, and then get energy to get some new projects.” He’s earned it.

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