‘Making the Cut’ Week 2 Winners React to Becoming Amazon Superstars: “It Feels like a Game Changer”

Decider: What’s the best piece of advice that you got from Tim Gunn?

Sander Bos: I think the best piece of advice Tim gave me—well, it was one time, and he walked up to me and I did my whole explanation. He was like, “I got it,” and he walked away. I think that was the best piece of advice I got. He was just like, “I get it girl, go for it.”

Sabato Russo: Tim is really a mentor, and I treasure every word he says. I felt a very strong connection with Tim, also on a personal level that we had. Tim is great. He really wants you to do well. He’s also really direct and very honest. If you can really listen, behind his words he’s saying, he tells you everything.

You were partnered together in this challenge because the judges wanted to see how opposites worked together. What went through your mind when you were assigned your partner?

Bos: I think me and Sabato have different aesthetics. That was the first thing that did rush to my mind, but then actually when we started talking it was like, oh wait! We both work from the same kind of integrity and the same starting place. He works very much from his emotions just as I do. Art, to me, is emotion. So it, in that, we found an amazing common ground and I think that definitely was the guide throughout the collaboration.

Russo: I’m very happy to have worked with Sander. I am all about fluidity and a poetic approach, because I like to start my creative process through my emotion. Normally I listen to music and I define the world, and then from that everything comes.

You had a great dynamic, but the show also made it look like Sander was doing most of the sewing work since there were no seamstresses. Did you mind all that sewing, Sander?

Bos: No, I like it. I don’t mind. I think maybe a difference between me and Sabato, he’s definitely more of a thinker, more philosopher-like. He has this ability to stand back from the work and really analyze it.

Russo: [Sander] is a great, great creative person. We never had a conflict, [except] in the sense that I felt very strongly about not having the red dress. I wanted to have a very cohesive collection.

Bos: If it was me, I would have gone for the red—thought about it, then took whatever I wanted and been like, “Whatever, I’m going for the red.” Sabato, he has that ability to really step back and think about, like, what would be the best move to go aesthetically, something that I maybe lack—especially there in the challenge, because I was really focused on the sewing.

Russo: I was sewing on the show but it’s something I don’t do. I come from architecture—very different. They don’t teach you how to sew because here they believe that each one should do [their specific] work. So the pattern-maker and the seamstress, they are good in what they do, you know? So if you do everything, it’s a bit complicated. But I do have the knowledge. I did the pattern, I did sew, because I want to prove something to myself.

Bos: I think in that, we are like perfect yin and yang. Papi and Bébé. Who knew? [Laughs]

What’s it like seeing a Papi and Bébé original for sale on Amazon?

Bos: It was weird! [Laughs] It was weird because after I watched the episode and I called Rinat [Brodach], we’re just cackling. She was like, “Oh, I saw your clothing!” I was like, oh, shit! I forgot to check, because that’s something I never expected. And I went to see it, I was like, “Oh my god!” It was so weird to see it, but I can definitely get used to it. Call Amazon. Call them up! Tell them I want more!

Russo: Well it’s nice! [Laughs] I saw this morning briefly that it was almost sold out! That’s really, really great. I work for me and my emotions. Of course I love to the exposure, but the thing that really has moved me is the amount of messages that I’m getting in social media. It is incredible. It’s really boosting my ego, in a way, like “You should have won.” You can imagine what they say, and they really touch me. All these DMs of people and mothers from Japan and Brazil, from USA, from Italy. The Italians, they are “really proud that you represent us.” That’s really great. That to me is the big prize.

Decider: What is the best piece of advice from Tim Gunn? Maybe all season long, or maybe specifically with this look?

Jonny Cota: Tim always says, “Cut through the noise.” And it really is the core of his feedback. Find your individuality and your style, and cut through the rest. And I think that that really helped me seal the deal for Episode 4.

This seemed like the toughest challenge, because there was no fabric shopping, you had to do the look in seven hours, there were no seamstresses. Did you thrive under that pressure?

I hadn’t really sewn for about 10 years going into this show, so this challenge was my absolute greatest fear. But something about the pressure really ignited a fire in me that helped me really triumph. I was shocked that I delivered the dress and that I was so proud of it, because of the time constraint and my inability to sew well. But I work great under pressure and it really did me justice.

You picked the striped fabric that was leftover from the week before, right?

They were part of our collaboration collection, but to be honest, I never touched them in our collaboration. I did all the leather pieces, all the little more rock ‘n’ roll pieces. It was all Megan [Smith] with the stripes. But I was seeing [that fabric] out of the corner of my eye, thinking, “I know what I would do with that. I know what the Jonny Cota version of the stripes would look like.” So I wanted that opportunity.

When your model walks the runway, a wave of adoration erupts from the judges. They’re so vocal about how much they love it. Where are you when your model is walking and can you hear the judges’ reaction?

No! We were backstage and we would see, on the monitor with Tim, we would see the model walk down the stairs and then the monitor would go away. I didn’t see or hear any of that praise until last night, when I watched the show. It was really fulfilling. So fulfilling.

It’s gotta be wild to hear Heidi Klum and Naomi Campbell being like, “I would wear this. I love this.”

Well, I mean to hear them have such praise for the dress—especially after a brutal week last week for me—it brought a tear to my eye. I didn’t know how much I needed their validation after that brutal episode in front of Naomi.

What is it like seeing your garment on Amazon, knowing that it’s going to become a part of people’s lives?

How do I say this right? I’ve been selling e-comm for 10 years, so I didn’t think seeing my winning dress on Amazon would be as exhilarating as it is. This morning when I signed online, I jumped out of bed, I was through the roof! It just feels like the next step in my career. It’s global access to the design I put so much energy into, and it feels like a game changer.

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