Let's Try This Again: Joe Zee's All On the Line Episode One Recap

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Last week Joe Zee's All On the Line premiered and, well, we missed it—assuming that when told the show would be on Hulu that the episode uploaded to Hulu would correlate to whatever episode would be airing that given week (we were wrong, Sundance uploaded episode two, not episode one). And you missed it because the Sundance Channel was having all kinds of technology issues and the soundtrack disappeared. So, we recapped the Kara Janx-starring turn last week. You can read that over here.

To be fair to Zee—who we love, and the fashion label featured in episode one (who we've never heard of)—here's a micro-recap of the first installment of All On the Line, sans our usual top ten.

The subject: Radenroro, a seven-seasons-old contemporary label sold at Scoop and Kitson. Helmed by an Indonesian designer and her cash-infusing husband, the collection is at a make or break point in its existence—virtually buzz-less and too old to not be profitable. Without a face, a concise concept or an idea of a true target customer, the collection isn't memorable ("being safe is being boring and sometimes bad is better than boring"). To boot: The designer is shy and doesn't have a clue about business; and her business-minded husband is so fashion-clueless an inquiry about a pair of pants' rise is met with a stuttered allusion to fit and fabric.

There were laughs ("baggy boob"), names (a VIP preview), crowd-sourcing (in Times Square), testiness (a 'who's side are you on' argument post-Zee's critical midpoint assessment), and drama (the designers—and their clothes—were two hours late in prepping for their presentation with Nordstrom!) But—shocker!—Nordstrom is launching the brand this month and Elle's website is planning a feature. Joe Zee to the rescue, once again.

Wish us and Sundance luck—we'll be returning to our regularly scheduled recaps next week.
· All All On the Line Coverage [Racked]
· All On the Line [Sundance]