Elle MacPherson is bringing her fashion skills stateside. According to TheWrap, the supermodel and host/executive producer of Britain’s Top Model, 46, will host a new show on NBC called Fashion Star, in which designers will compete to win a multi-million dollar contract to launch retail lines. Viewers will be able to purchase winning designs.
Umm…sounds a bit like Project Runway, no? Interestingly enough, PR production company Magical Elves is producing this one too. It’s also similar to The Fashion Show: Ultimate Collection, which Bravo began airing when it lost Project Runway to Lifetime.
Fashion Star (a tentative title) will air 10 episodes on NBC in 2012 and will be produced by Ben Silverman, the infamous former NBC honcho who stepped down in 2009 to go back to producing. (His production company is behind hit shows The Office and The Biggest Loser.) According to Entertainment Weekly, Silverman said in a statement: ““We are excited to team up with NBC to discover and develop the next major fashion brand for retailers around the country and deliver the next breakout television show for an audience that is increasingly obsessed with fashion. “The stakes are higher than any other competitive reality show, as Fashion Star pulls back the curtain on what it really takes to launch a major national brand.”
Elle has mostly been focusing on her lingerie line, but she returned to the runway last year to appear in Marc Jacobs’ line for Paris. “It wasn’t about me going back to the catwalk, Marc Jacobs wanted to show clothes for all sorts of women of different ages and body types,” she said. “I found it nerve-wracking but it was an important message. It echoed what a lot of people have been feeling in the fashion industry – it’s not about size, but what people perceive as beautiful.” Maybe she can use the new show to demonstrate that fashion is for everyone, not just for waifs?
The other lingering question: will NBC viewers even care about fashion? Perhaps the answer lies in whether the designers will make avant-garde pieces or more commercial fare.
