# Making the Cut (2020 TV series)
**Making the Cut** is an American fashion competition television series on Amazon Prime Video, hosted and executive produced by [Heidi Klum](https://www.edgepedia.org/heidi-klum) and [Tim Gunn](https://www.edgepedia.org/tim-gunn), in which established designers from around the world compete to build a global fashion brand.[1](https://www.primevideo.com/salp/makingthecut/) • [2](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/4/6/making-the-cut-premiere-review/) The two hosts created the show after leaving *Project Runway*, which they had co-hosted for 16 seasons.[3](https://www.etonline.com/making-the-cut-heidi-klum-tim-gunn-on-creating-global-fashion-tv-series-for-amazon-143476) It ran for three seasons and 26 episodes on Prime Video between March 2020 and September 2022.[4](https://www.epguides.com/MakingtheCut/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Network | Amazon Prime Video, 2020 to 2022[4](https://www.epguides.com/MakingtheCut/) |
| Hosts | Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, also executive producers[1](https://www.primevideo.com/salp/makingthecut/) |
| Premiere | March 27, 2020, with two episodes released weekly[5](https://time.com/5791659/new-amazon-prime-video-march-2020/) |
| Format | 12 designers face creative challenges in international locations; one designer is eliminated each week[2](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/4/6/making-the-cut-premiere-review/) • [6](https://time.com/5807287/making-the-cut-amazon-review/) |
| Grand prize | $1 million, a mentorship with Amazon Fashion, and a collection sold worldwide on Amazon[2](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/4/6/making-the-cut-premiere-review/) • [7](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/16927/3404) |
| Retail tie-in | Winning looks and capsule collections from each episode are sold in the Making the Cut store on Amazon[1](https://www.primevideo.com/salp/makingthecut/) |
| Run | 3 seasons, 26 episodes; season 1 had 10 episodes, seasons 2 and 3 had 8 each[4](https://www.epguides.com/MakingtheCut/) • [8](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/tv-series/making-the-cut) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and format
Each season brings together a group of twelve entrepreneurs and designers who already run their own labels, a deliberate contrast with *Project Runway*'s lesser-known aspirants.[9](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/45835/making-the-cut) • [2](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/4/6/making-the-cut-premiere-review/) The season 1 cast included seven designers from the United States and others from Germany, Italy, Israel, Belgium, and Malaysia, plus one born in Seoul who moved to Oklahoma; many had shown at fashion weeks worldwide.[2](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/4/6/making-the-cut-premiere-review/)
Contestants face creative challenges under time pressure, with one designer eliminated each week and another crowned the weekly winner.[2](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/4/6/making-the-cut-premiere-review/) In a signature twist, each designer presents two looks per challenge: one runway look and one more "accessible" design intended for sale.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/mar/27/making-the-cut-review-a-fashion-show-thats-already-out-of-style) The winning design of each episode goes on sale on Amazon immediately after the episode airs, an e-commerce integration earlier attempted by Fashion Star in 2012.[10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/mar/27/making-the-cut-review-a-fashion-show-thats-already-out-of-style) • [11](https://seriesreminder.com/series/making-the-cut-2020) • [18](https://abc13.com/archive/8577650/)
The finale asks the remaining designers to present a business pitch to the President of Amazon Fashion and showcase a final ten-look collection, after which one designer wins the million-dollar prize, the mentorship, and the Amazon collection.[9](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/45835/making-the-cut) • [2](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/4/6/making-the-cut-premiere-review/)
### Seasons
**Season 1** premiered on March 27, 2020, with two episodes weekly through a ten-episode run.[5](https://time.com/5791659/new-amazon-prime-video-march-2020/) • [4](https://www.epguides.com/MakingtheCut/) The winner, announced in April 2020, was Los Angeles-based designer Jonny Cota, who received the million-dollar prize purse and the mentorship with Amazon Fashion.[13](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-08-05/making-the-cut-amazon-store-every-winning-look-reviewed)
**Season 2** premiered on July 16, 2021, with weekly episodes and an eight-episode run.[14](https://moviecultists.com/how-to-watch-making-the-cut) • [8](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/tv-series/making-the-cut) The Los Angeles Times, which reviewed each episode's winning store look across the first two seasons, described the sophomore season as starting as a low-energy affair before developing more complications as it went on.[13](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-08-05/making-the-cut-amazon-store-every-winning-look-reviewed)
**Season 3** aired in 2022 and concluded with a finale on September 9, 2022, in which the finalists pitched the President of Amazon Fashion and showed ten-look collections.[4](https://www.epguides.com/MakingtheCut/) • [9](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/45835/making-the-cut) Amazon never issued an official cancellation notice, but no further seasons followed, and the series is listed as ended.[11](https://seriesreminder.com/series/making-the-cut-2020) • [9](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/45835/making-the-cut)
## Production and scale
The series was conceived as a step up in budget and scope from *Project Runway*. Contestants travel to international locations; season 1 visited Paris, New York, and Tokyo, with each runway staged in a different spectacular setting that shapes how the judges see the clothes.[5](https://time.com/5791659/new-amazon-prime-video-march-2020/) • [12](https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2020/03/making-the-cut-review/) Designers are given seamstresses to sew overnight and are not bound by daily time limits, and the show trades the workroom minutiae of its predecessor for cinematic travel footage.[12](https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2020/03/making-the-cut-review/)
The judging panel included supermodel [Naomi Campbell](https://www.edgepedia.org/naomi-campbell) and fashion designer Joseph Altuzarra, alongside the hosts.[7](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/16927/3404) Klum brought credentials from her *Project Runway* tenure, during which the show received 14 consecutive Emmy nominations for Outstanding Reality Competition Program and she won a 2013 Emmy as Outstanding Television Host with Gunn.[1](https://www.primevideo.com/salp/makingthecut/)
## Reception
Critical response to the first season was generally favorable but divided. The season 1 Metascore on Metacritic was 65, based on six positive and five mixed reviews and no negative ones.[15](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/making-the-cut/critic-reviews/) [Entertainment Weekly](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment-weekly) called it "first-rate quarantine TV" at 83, and [The A.V. Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-a-v-club), also at 83, praised the shift of focus toward fashion as a marketable business.[15](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/making-the-cut/critic-reviews/) At the other end, The Guardian gave it 40, finding the show flat and its commercial emphasis ill-timed amid the early pandemic, and judged Netflix's *[Next in Fashion](https://www.edgepedia.org/next-in-fashion)* warmer by comparison.[15](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/making-the-cut/critic-reviews/) • [10](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/mar/27/making-the-cut-review-a-fashion-show-thats-already-out-of-style)
Reviewers repeatedly measured the show against *Project Runway*. KQED's [Linda Holmes](https://www.edgepedia.org/linda-holmes) described *Making the Cut* as trading its predecessor's "chirpy relentlessness" for a chill, glamorous, high-end travel-show vibe.[16](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13877833/tim-gunn-and-heidi-klum-are-together-again-in-making-the-cut) The Harvard Crimson found the hosts strong but the familiar structure derivative of the earlier series.[2](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/4/6/making-the-cut-premiere-review/) Audience ratings settled in the middle: the show holds a 6.7/10 IMDb rating from about 2,700 users, with season 1's finale the lowest-rated episode of that season at 5.0.[17](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8962394/ratings/)
An academic case study published in the International Journal of Communication in 2021 analyzed the series as an example of creative competition reality television, noting that its $1 million prize is enormous relative to other reality competitions and arguing that the format naturalizes neoliberal values and the precarity of cultural labor.[7](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/16927/3404)
## References
1. [Making The Cut, Prime Video official page](https://www.primevideo.com/salp/makingthecut/)
2. [Emerson J. Monks, "'Making the Cut' Hasn't Made the Cut — Yet," The Harvard Crimson, April 6, 2020](https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/4/6/making-the-cut-premiere-review/)
3. ["'Making the Cut': Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn on Creating a 'More Realistic' Fashion Competition," Entertainment Tonight](https://www.etonline.com/making-the-cut-heidi-klum-tim-gunn-on-creating-global-fashion-tv-series-for-amazon-143476)
4. [Making the Cut, epguides Titles & Air Dates Guide](https://www.epguides.com/MakingtheCut/)
5. ["Here's Everything New on Amazon Prime Video in March 2020," Time](https://time.com/5791659/new-amazon-prime-video-march-2020/)
6. ["Amazon's Making the Cut Is the Second New Project Runway Imitator This Year," Time](https://time.com/5807287/making-the-cut-amazon-review/)
7. [Aiden James Kosciesza, "'It's Do or Die': Cultural Labor, Competitive Reality TV, and the Reproduction of Neoliberal Capitalism," International Journal of Communication 15 (2021)](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/viewFile/16927/3404)
8. [Making the Cut, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/uk/tv-series/making-the-cut)
9. [Making the Cut, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/45835/making-the-cut)
10. [Rebecca Nicholson, "Making the Cut review – a fashion show that's already out of style," The Guardian, March 27, 2020](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/mar/27/making-the-cut-review-a-fashion-show-thats-already-out-of-style)
11. [Making the Cut Season 3 Schedule & Dates, Series Reminder](https://seriesreminder.com/series/making-the-cut-2020)
12. [Andy Dehnart, "On Making the Cut, Heidi and Tim are back and having a blast," reality blurred, March 26, 2020](https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2020/03/making-the-cut-review/)
13. ["'Making the Cut' Amazon: Every winning store look, reviewed," Los Angeles Times, August 5, 2021](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-08-05/making-the-cut-amazon-store-every-winning-look-reviewed)
14. ["How to watch Making the Cut," MovieCultists](https://moviecultists.com/how-to-watch-making-the-cut)
15. [Making the Cut critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/making-the-cut/critic-reviews/)
16. [Linda Holmes, "Tim Gunn and Heidi Klum are Together Again in 'Making the Cut'," KQED, March 30, 2020](https://www.kqed.org/arts/13877833/tim-gunn-and-heidi-klum-are-together-again-in-making-the-cut)
17. [Making the Cut (2020–2022) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8962394/ratings/)
18. ['Fashion Star' show's designs in stores next day, ABC13 Houston, abc13.com](https://abc13.com/archive/8577650/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Seasons, episodes, and installments › Screen seasons › Modeling, design, and craft competition seasons*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 20, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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