When Project Runway first aired it became a global phenomenon. I would know—I sat in front of my TV back in my hometown of La Paz, Bolivia, and tuned in to every episode. I can still remember the names of my favorite contestants, and can still recall the promise of fashion superstardom that was outlined with the prize rewards at the beginning of each episode: a magazine spread, a show at the tents at Bryant Park during New York Fashion Week—the opportunity to become the next It-designer, the next, say, Michael Kors, who was the show’s star judge.
This was a different time. In 2004, when the show first aired, the ins-and-outs of a career in fashion had not yet been put into focus by movies like The Devil Wears Prada (2006) or TV shows such Ugly Betty (2006). Yes, Tim Blanks and Elsa Klensch had their respective TV shows, and yes, House of Style helped Todd Oldham and Cindy Crawford become household names. But what it would take to be part of fashion itself, that only came with the arrival of Project Runway.
My friends and I still refer to Nina Garcia, now the editor-in-chief of Elle, as the “fashion director of Elle magazine,” the way Heidi Klum used to introduce her every episode. And now that we all work in fashion, we like to quote Klum: “some days you’re in, and the next day you’re out,” emulating her Teutonic delivery. We remember Kors’s quips and his savage reads. But as inescapable as Project Runway is in the context of pop culture and reality television, its impact on fashion is more nebulous.
Sure, Project Runway encouraged a generation of would-be fashionistas to pursue their dreams, not by showing them it was easy, but by revealing the exact opposite—this is what it takes, do you have it? Yet the show itself, 20 seasons in and with countless international adaptations, has only created one bonafide fashion star. Christian Siriano, who occupies the role of mentor on the rebooted show, is the most well-known and prolific designer to come out of Project Runway since winning its fourth season in 2007. Siriano shows on the official New York Fashion Week schedule, dresses the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Ariana Grande, and has stores in Manhattan and Westport, Connecticut. Many of the other names I remember from those early seasons have simply, unfortunately, fallen off.
In a way, this is not on the show itself. Fashion is notoriously snobby and doesn’t open its gilded gates to just anyone, even reality stars—at least not at first. But Project Runway is not alone here. In 23 seasons, American Idol has managed to create only a handful of stars—among them Kelly Clarkson, the Siriano of the show, if you will, and Jennifer Hudson (who, unbelievably, was not even a winner of her season). The Voice, NBC’s answer to Idol, never quite managed to create a household name at all.
Klum is back on Project Runway after leaving in 2017. The show is now seeking to reclaim its throne as the preeminent fashion reality competition programme. (Since Klum departed she launched Making the Cut with Amazon Prime Video in 2020, which did not exactly lift off, and Netflix premiered Next in Fashion, first with Alexa Chung and then with Gigi Hadid.) It might just get there thanks to stylist Law Roach, who has joined Klum as a main judge. After just two episodes, Roach, the not-so-secret weapon behind Zendaya’s style, has taken over my TikTok “for you” page. He’s assumed the mantle of the bad cop, first occupied by Kors and subsequently by Zac Posen and Brandon Maxwell. And he makes for fantastic TV, throwing read after read.
I spent the weekend watching the premiere episodes. The latest version of Project Runway is as entertaining as ever, but it remains to be seen if it can produce a bonafide designer in the context of the industry as we currently know it: Fashion Week, celebrity placements, editorials, etc. Roach may be able to shine the industry spotlight on the show and give its contestants some gravitas, particularly if he stands behind whoever the winner is as a stylist, and the prize this season includes a mentorship from the Council of Fashion Designers of America—but is this enough to make a star?
Many years ago, when I worked as a designer, I received a call from a casting director looking to cast an upcoming season of the show. I was asked about my fashion credentials: Could I sew and draw and sketch? Had I worked in the industry? Did I have any training? But also, I got questions like these: How do I resolve conflict? Am I confrontational? Do I consider myself an extrovert? As long as Project Runway’s primary focus is to entertain its audience, the fashion will come second. That doesn’t mean the designers aren’t talented or that the work they’re producing should be dismissed. It means that, in the end, it’s a TV show. Does it matter if it produces the next industry It-designer? People seem to be tuning in, so do with that what you will.
