We haven’t really talked about network television’s first attempt at a Project Runway-style show but minions, NBC’s Fashion Star is coming your way this fall and we’ll be just the bitches to take it down a peg or two. And somewhat hilariously, they’ve combined Heidi Klum with Tim Gunn and came up with… Jessica Simpson:
“NBC announced today that musician, entertainer and fashion designer Jessica Simpson will serve as a celebrity mentor on “Fashion Star,” the new reality competition series that will search for the next big brand in fashion with host Elle Macpherson, world-famous super-model icon, actress and businesswoman.
“NBC is delighted to work with singer, designer, actress and pop culture icon Jessica Simpson,” said Telegdy. “With an almost billion dollar lifestyle brand under her belt she is sure to be an excellent mentor to our up-and-coming designers.”
“Jessica Simpson has built an incredible fashion business and is a perfect mentor to our aspiring designers,” said Ben Silverman, CEO and founder of Electus. “She will complement the buyers, Elle Macpherson and amazing format.”
Here’s the thing: it’s become a bit easy to take potshots at her, but what most people don’t realize is that she is, right now, one of the most successful people in the American fashion industry. We’re not claiming she designs the stuff she sells or that she’s some sort of stealth ninja business prodigy, but you don’t make hundreds of millions by just being a face. Do we think she’ll have good, constructive, helpful critiques to make? We kind of doubt it, but she’ll probably be crazy entertaining.
More about the show:
“The series will give 14 unknown designers the chance to win a multi-million dollar contract to launch their lines in three of America’s largest retailers. Each week, the show will kick off with an exhilarating fashion show unlike anything seen before featuring musical performances, dancers, and models in front of a live studio audience. Every fashion show will be built around a weekly challenge that is designed to further develop and expand the designer’s brand.”
“MUSICAL PERFORMERS, DANCERS, AND MODELS.” Thank you, network television, for being so reliably cheesy. But please; do go on.
“Buyers from each of the retailers will serve as the judges, making on-the-spot decisions as they bid against each other, dipping into their own wallets to purchase the work of these up-and-coming designers each week. These items will shape the future of their respective stores and create the next big trends for consumers. At the end of each episode, America will have the chance to immediately purchase the winning designs showcased on the episode that week. What viewers see on TV that night will be on the streets and in stores the very next day. With just a single trip down the runway, “Fashion Star” will change the lives and fortunes of these aspiring designers forever.”
“Fashion designers featured on the show will include everyone from the stay-at-home mom who makes her own clothes to sell at the local flea market, to the recent Parsons School of Design graduate who just landed his or her first job at Marc Jacobs. All the contestants will be put to the test to see how they react in a variety of real-world scenarios to determine who has the vision and desire to build a fashion empire and achieve their dream. With top experts as their guides and mentors throughout the process, designers will have to be as adept in the business of fashion as they are in their creativity as it’s up to them to make their brand a national reality.”
To be fair, it does sound like it could be fun. And the show is being produced by the Magical Elves, who produced the best seasons of Project Runway (1 thru 5) while it was on Bravo, so we have faith. But man, they’re not even trying to disguise the Project Runway-iness of it all:
“In the end, one designer will successfully combine fashion and business to become the next “Fashion Star” and will receive the prize of a lifetime – an exclusive capsule line in each of the three largest retailers in the country.”
Tell us you didn’t just hear that in Heidi’s voice.
[Photo Credit: Getty]
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