They’re Baaaack..!

Klum, Gunn, Garcia, and Kors

Well, it’s been three months, and even if you haven’t seen the overly dramatic, film-noirish preview commercials, you know what that means…  Yes, it’s time for another season of Project Runway, Thursday nights on Lifetime.  And before you ask, no, host/judge Heidi Klum is not with-child; although judge Nina Garcia is.  The winning designer from Season 8 of Project Runway will receive $100,000 from L’Oréal Paris, a fashion spread in Marie Claire, a $50,000 technology suite by HP and Intel, and the opportunity to design and sell an exclusive collection on PiperLime.com (the online shopping bazaar owned by Gap, Inc. that has replaced BlueFly.com as the purveyor of the Project Runway Accessories Wall)

And, just to spice things up, a bit, the show has been expanded from one hour to 90 minutes, each week.  This means more time for viewers to share the designers’ angst over the challenges, to observe the design process, and to partake of the presentation, not to mention more time to watch the judges praising and hazing the fashions they’ve just seen paraded down the runway.  And let's not forget the extra time spent at Mood Designer Fabrics...  ("Thanks Mood!")

Selma Blair joins the judges

The two best (i.e. bitchiest) comments of the night came during the judging, of course.  The first by Heidi to Ivy Higa: “When it came out, I was like 'Wow! She made pants out of pants. How interesting! (Not!)'"

The second was by Michael Kors (natch) to Casanova wherein he described the wearer of his garment as a “Conservative… Sexaholic… Belly-dancing… Mother-of-the-bride…”  That’s some kind of woman!

PROJECT RUNWAY - Season 8 Contestants

If you figure that a third of the 90 minutes was given to commercial advertising, with seventeen contestants on the first episode, that means that viewers were given roughly three-and-a-half minutes to get to know each designer (and that’s without factoring-in introductions of the judges, the de rigueur touting of the sponsors, etc.).  Even so, there’s a lot of talent here, although we have yet to see the surfacing of any over-the-top personalities (i.e. Santino Rice, Christian Siriano, and Anthony Williams) who always make Project  Runway so much fun to watch.

Gretchen Jones' winning design from Episode One

Likewise, we haven’t had enough time to really soak-up the talent.  That said, I’ve got my eye on a few of the contestants, and based on that first few minutes of insight into each of them, I’m really looking forward to seeing what's coming next from the following designers: Michael Drummond (31 – St. Louis, MO), Andy South (23 – Waianae, HI), Michael Costello (27 – Palm Springs, CA), Mondo Guerra (32 – Denver, CO), Christopher Collins (30 – San Francisco, CA), and the winner of the first challenge, Gretchen Jones (28 – Portland, OR).

Talking Tim Gunn bobble-head

I’m also looking forward to more on-camera commentary from Tim Gunn.  I think Gunn has become one of the most well-liked television personalities in years.  It always interests me how much his eye differs from that of the judges, but his eye is more grounded in the practical side of the fashion industry, whereas the judges are working with “fashion” and all the dreams and fantasies that entails.  Of course, that Gunn is incredibly erudite, immensely quotable, classically handsome, and at all times dapper, simply adds to his appeal.

Regardless of who wins, what is designed, or what is said (or maybe because of what is said), we can be certain that as a show, Project Runway makes it work.  And for Lifetime (not to mention L’Oreal Paris – who ran three commercials, one with Beyoncé and two with the preternaturally gorgeous Linda Evangelista), that’s what counts!
 

Project Runway on Lifetime
Thursdays at 9pm

Get into it!