“On the show, things aren’t always what they seem”
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etflix has bestowed us with many a bingeworthy series. Still, none have been quite as addictive as Next in Fashion, which sees its contestants battle against the clock (and one another) to create jaw-dropping outfits. The show may be bolstered by style gurus Alexa Chung and Queer Eye’s Tan France, who took on the roles of co-hosts and judges, but, in our eyes, the real star is Scottish contemporary womenswear designer, Hayley Scanlan. Scanlan fought off competition from around the world to become one of the 18 hopefuls competing to win a life-changing cash prize and a contract with luxury fashion behemoth, Net-a-Porter. Hailing from
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Dundee, she inherited her love of sewing from her gran, which would also inspire her to go on to study Textiles at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design. Since graduating in 2009, Scanlan has been very busy indeed; in 2012, she launched her namesake label, opened her own Dundee store in 2017, and even earned herself a doctorate in 2019. But Next in Fashion? She admits it has been her biggest challenge to date. Here, Scanlan talks candidly to Hood about jetting to LA at a moment’s notice, what Alexa is really like, and the hard lessons she learnt about teamwork. Hayley—wow! Congratulations on making the Next in Fashion cut. What did the application process entail? Thank you. It’s still incredibly surreal; like it didn’t happen. The application process
wasn’t difficult for me in a technical sense, but more in an emotional sense. I questioned whether I should even be there because of the level of talent on it. It was intimidating. The Netflix casting team handpicked the contestants. Then, we flew to LA and were filtered down to the final 18 after doing interviews and a design and sewing test. What a whirlwind! How did it feel when you made it onto the show? I was so excited and felt a massive sense of accomplishment; it would’ve been a bummer coming to LA, leaving my two boys, and then having to go back to tell them I hadn’t made the final cut. Can you imagine the flight back? I remember being so overwhelmed, and I knew my family would be so proud of me.
