Say goodbye — or auf wiedersehen – to one-hour episodes of Project Runway.
When the reality show returns to Lifetime July 29th for its eighth season, each episode will be 90 minutes long, according to an AP report. That’s 30 more minutes of fashion — and drama.
“We did get always a few complaints from people that they wanted to see a little bit more, which we were obviously very excited about,” host Heidi Klum says. “So now we have half an hour more.”
The show, which spent season 6 in Los Angeles, will stick to New York City but will air an hour earlier at 9:00 pm (ET).
But one thing’s going to stay the same — it’s all about the competition. Up-and-coming designers with dreams of showing collections at New York Fashion Week will demonstrate their creative aesthetic — and haute personalities — in challenges judged by Klum and her panel of judges. The last designer standing will receive a $100,000 prize to launch a clothing line and a fashion spread in Marie Claire.
“We are not like other shows where we are styling them to look a certain way or feeding them lines,” Klum says. “It’s all real, and people like that.”
Project Runway is returning to television this summer — and it will air on Lifetime.
According to the network, legal battles surrounding beleaguered reality show’s already-filmed sixth season have been amicably resolved. “The Weinstein Company will pay NBCU for the right to move Project Runway to Lifetime. All of the parties are pleased with the outcome,” the networks say in a joint statement.
Changing gears, the upcoming season of Project Runway relocated from New York to Los Angeles, though it will continue to be hosted by Heidi Klum and judged by Michael Kors and Nina Garcia. Tim Gunn will also mentor the designers. As usual, the finale was shot during New York Fashion Week — this year on February 20th.
But ongoing legal disputes prevented producers from revealing any information about the cast, and the three final collections were shown blindly, with their designers unidentified. International Herald Tribute editor Suzy Menkes acted as the guest judge at the show.
In addition, sources close to the show have saud that Project Runway’s season 6 will utilize “local resources” in Los Angeles — namely focusing more on Hollywood — and will feature appearances by Christina Aguilera, Eva Longoria Parker and Rebecca Romijn.
Project Runway producer Harvey Weinstein expressed his appreciation for the resolution to the legal battle. “I want to personally congratulate Jeff Zucker and NBCU on their success in the litigation and thank Jeff for resolving this in a professional manner,” he said in a statement.
No additional details about the cast or specific airdates have been released.
On Tuesday, Bravo, Runway’s original home, announced details about its new design competition, The Fashion Show, and introduced the cast. That show, featuring Kelly Rowland and Isaac Mizrahi, will air May 7.
According to Lifetime, the network will also air a companion series, Models of the Runway, alongside Project Runway. “All of us at Lifetime are thrilled to move forward with Heidi, Tim, Nina, Michael, The Weinstein Company and the entire Project Runway team,” network president and CEO Andrea Wong said in a statement. “We are proud to add these shows to our growing slate of original programming.”
Say goodbye — or auf wiedersehen – to one-hour episodes of Project Runway.
