May the best crew win

MANILA, Philippines - The fashion industry is a beautiful world overflowing with decadent fabrics, glittering jewels, luxurious sceneries, and towering, seemingly superhuman models. You don’t have to look far to see what I mean — just take a look at a fashion spread from Vogue, or a Louis Vuitton ad campaign. The glamour and mystique of it all has the power to seduce even the most ascetic souls, which is why so many are consumed with dreams of conquering it.

The thing that a lot of people tend to forget though, is that the fashion industry is a world that is as ruthless as it is beautiful, fuelled by the precarious tempers and impulses of the creative, sometimes crazy minds that populate it. Heidi Klum said it best: “One day you’re in, the next day you’re out.”

Behind the scenes during one of the shoots

In other words, fashion is a very tough business to enter and thrive in, but this is something that the contestants of ETC’s s how Mega Fashion Crew probably already know. For the past few months, 60 hopefuls in teams of five (with one hair stylist, makeup artist, fashion stylist, photographer, and model each) dove right into the fashion tempest, and took a shot at producing the best fashion editorials and images. Armed with their clothespins, blowdriers, precision makeup brushes, DSLR cameras, and mastery of the Tyra Banks’ smizing technique, the contestants barrelled through the challenges, a lot of them proving to be very talented in their respective crafts.

Now, after surviving cut after cut and impressing the intimidating panel of judges who are some of the biggest names in the fashion and media industry, only two teams are left standing: the Vanguards and the Fashion Army.

Team effort is a must when producing editorial shoots.

Both teams will battle it out in the next round as the show draws to a close. To up the ante, the teams will be put through four challenges featuring some of the biggest fashion and beauty brands, and each member’s skill will definitely be put to the test. Both teams will try to outdo each other in producing a photo layout for L’Oreal Paris, a beauty shot for Maybelline, a fashion page for Fila, and an ad for Zenzest. Each challenge will highlight the skills of a different member of the team.

Guest stars Borgy Manotoc and Tim Yap

To stir things up even more (and perhaps to add to the pressure just a little bit), top model Borgy Manotoc and fashion enthusiast and Supreme head honcho Tim Yap will play major roles in the challenges.

It’s the last battle before the fashion war ends, so viewers can expect the drama to come in droves. At the end of it all, only one team will conquer and lay claim to the exciting new world that is the fashion industry.

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Catch Mega Fashion Crew this Saturday at 7 p.m., or the replay on Sunday at 10 p.m., on ETC.

The judges: Philippine STAR's Raya Mananquil, Avel Bacudio, Mega EIC Sari Yap, Ana Abad Santos, Borge Aloba, Archie Tolentino