Exclusive Interview: Making the Cut season 3 finalist Yannik Zamboni on genderless fashion, Jeremey Scott & why he’d love to design for Little Nas X

With the launch of the season three finale of fashion design competition Making the Cut on Prime Video today, The Queer Review’s editor James Kleinmann had an exclusive conversation with finalist Yannik Zamboni about his experience on the show.

Discussing what drew him to create genderless designs for his brand, maison blanche founded in 2020, the Swiss former model and marketing professional told us, “I think it’s really annoying and sad that we have the idea that certain fabrics or certain silhouettes or pieces are made for for one gender. That kind of thinking is very old fashioned and we should really move away from that. Everybody can wear a skirt and everybody can wear pants. We’re not in the 1920s anymore. People should feel comfortable in what they’re wearing and what feels right for them. They shouldn’t be afraid of wearing something because of what society or other people think. I really want to push that boundary further.”

The fifth episode of season three saw the seven remaining designers challenged to create two festival wear looks, leading to a passionate outburst from one the show’s three judges, director at Moschino Jeremy Scott. “When the viewers saw episode five some of them got super emotional and also angry”, commented Zamboni, “but for me it just showcased that he actually really cares. If you watch season one and season two, Jeremy was always for the most artistic one, not the most normcore one, and so I felt that he wanted to push me—which was really great to to know—and he did. I felt very comfortable with all of the judges and I felt understood by them and that’s not something that happens very often with the kind of fashion I do.”

Considering which figure in the public eye he would most like to design for Zamoni immediately namechecked pop star Lil Nas X. “I would be very honoured if I could dress him, that’s my next goal”, shared Zamboni. “What he’s doing is very much pushing the envelope. It’s helping the queer community and the Black community. Even though I don’t know him, I think he’s also a very authentic, lovely person who is doing something that’s out of the norm and doing it with a purpose to change something.”

Watch our full interview with Yannik Zamboni below, contains spoilers about the winner of Making the Cut season 3:

All eight episodes of Making the Cut season three are streaming now on Prime Video, along with the first two seasons. Shop the winning looks from this season in the Making the Cut store.