Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn on Leaving ‘Project Runway’ for ‘Making the Cut’ at Amazon
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After 16 seasons of “Project Runway,” Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn were ready to “jump ship” and try something new that “throws you for a loop.”
The pair’s new fashion series “Making the Cut,” which premieres March 27th on Amazon, is just that. Klum and Gunn talked the differences between “Project Runway” and their new Amazon show “Making the Cut” during a panel at the Amazon Television Critics’ Association press tour day.
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Gunn started things off by saying that “Making the Cut” would never have existed without “Project Runway,” before explaining how the new show benefits from more advanced designs and bigger budgets.
“I would say ‘Project Runway’ is the undergraduate program, ‘Making the Cut’ is the graduate and PHD program,” Gunn said.
“We always were a show that never had the biggest budget,” added Klum. “When you have a bigger budget like Amazon, you get to go to Paris and Tokyo and the designers get to inject this creativity.”
One key difference between the two series is that each designer is given a seamstress who deals with the basics of forming the clothing, but does not get involved with the designs. Gunn said the decision to add seamstresses was made “because that’s how it’s done in the real world.”
Klum revealed that some of the winning designs from the show will be available to buy for $100 or fewer on Amazon after each episode airs. The clothing will be available in many different sizes (“triple extra small to triple extra large”), and Klum said that each fashion show will allow designers to come up with one look which is “more of a free for all,” and one which is designed to be more wearable and sold online.
The question of sizing has long been a problematic one in the fashion industry, but Gunn said that “Making the Cut” will feature “models of all sizes” and designs to fit.
“It’s the real world, it’s fully integrated into ‘Making the Cut,’ it’s the way things should be,” Gunn said.
Hosted by Klum and Gunn, the series brings together an international group of 12 entrepreneurs and designers who compete to turn their fledging brands into the next global phenomenon. A team of famous fashion experts join Klum and Gunn as judges, including Naomi Campbell, Nicole Richie, Joseph Altuzarra, Carine Roitfeld and Chiara Ferragni.
The series will include a set of challenges that will take the contestants to New York City, Paris and Tokyo. The hopeful designers must prove they not only have excellent design skills, but the ability to run all aspects of a global fashion business to walk away with the $1 million prize to invest in their brand.
Klum and Gunn announced they were leaving their hit show “Project Runway” after 16 seasons and setting up the new Amazon venture in September 2018. Casting calls for designers interested in being a part of the unscripted series were sent out via Klum’s Instagram las January. The series is executive produced Sara Rea, Page Feldman, Klum, Gunn, and Jennifer Love and hails from SKR Productions.
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