In a double premiere following the Met Gala, E! debuted their new Julia Fox helmed fashion-design competition show, OMG Fashun to rave reviews from at least one fashion journalist (me).
The easiest way I can describe the show is this: think about every Project Runway “Unconventional Materials” challenge you’ve ever seen — but dialed up to an eleven and formatted like an episode of Chopped. Then you might get somewhere close to the world of OMG Fashun.
Each week, three designers — or “disruptors”, as the show calls them — compete to invent envelope-pushing ensembles for host Julia Fox. But this isn’t your typical cutesy design show. In the very first episode, the contestants are challenged to make Julia a “Pagan Midsummer’s Look” using leaves, wild mushrooms, flowers, bones, insects, hair and blood – oh my!
At the end of each episode, the winning disruptor takes home a prize of $10,000 and the bragging rights to say that their design was modeled by Julia Fox.
Famed Image Architect and Stylist to the Stars, Law Roach serves as a regular judge on the show, with celebs like Phaedra Parks, Tommy Dorfman, Pretty Vee, Wisdom Kaye, and more making cameos as guest judges.
Julia Fox truly shines as a competition host. It shouldn’t be surprising, but I guess she’s been doing her DIY Street Style thing for so long that we collectively forgot she’s actually a talented actress. She’s able to deliver corny, canned Reality TV jokes with such sincerity, charm and quick-witted timing that they land as genuinely funny. Fox and Roach don’t take themselves too seriously — which brings a thrilling levity to the show.
But don’t think they pull any punches! They are CUTTING on the critiques. In the first episode, “Nature”, guest judge Phaedra Parks says to a disruptor with a less than impressive design: “all I can say is bless your heart, honey.” The camera then jumps to Law Roach whipping his head towards the viewer and breaking the fourth wall, “... that means it’s ugly!”
I gasped.
OMG Fashun is wacky, delightful and fun. It’s just plain good television. The only bad thing about the show is that it’s on cable — so there’s more commercials than you can even imagine.
But that won’t stop me from tuning in every week to watch a new trio of designers “turn basic into batshit”.
Kaitlin Owens is a vintage fashion writer, movie buff, lover of good eats, and a women’s size 7.5 (if any shoe brands are reading). She is the Editor-in-Chief of Dilettante Magazine. You can find her on socials @magdilettante.
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