Project Runway Review

Project Runway is one of the very very few shows I make it a point to watch every single week.  It's the only show except Monday Night Football that my husband could tell you what night and time it airs.  It's that addictive.

It's not your typical reality show like so many that gets focused on the personalitys of the contestants and the drama between them.  It's not one of those where the contest or premise of the show  is just an excuse to put a bunch of stangers of in a house and watch them fight with and scheme against each other.  It's really about the fashion.  Yes, some of the contestants are fairly entertaining to watch, and you get enough of a feel for each personality to kind of feel whether you like them or not, but it's not personality driven, it's style driven.  And who wins and who goes home is determined by the strength or weakness of the fashions they design and sew, rather than being a popularity contest. Also, the judges, supermodel Heidi Klum, Fashion editor of Elle Magazine Nina Garcia, and designer Micheal Kors, are all real experts in fashion and choose based on real design knowledge and when they interact with the contestants are focused on the designs and not on being catty.  When they are critical of a design, they are pointing out specific flaws, and ways the designer should improve.  And they are always professional.  No Simon Cowell or Gordon Ramsey.  No one trying to be witty but just being flat out mean.  No one trying to make a name for themselves by being cruel to others.  Just real pros trying to select the best designer.  There's usually a guest judge,too.  Usually it's the client that the designs are for (like when the winning design was going to be for Sarah Jessica Parker's fashion line, it was Sarah Jessica Parker.  When the designers were making an outfit for Miss USA to wear on stage, it was Miss USA.  When they were designing an outfit for the INC line to be sold at Macy's it was the person in charge of INC.) or someone else equally respectable and professional. The guest judges are also an extra little assurance the show is fair.  When they bring in a different outside judge each week, it helps defend against the judges being able to become biased for or against any certain contestant and them winning or losing undeservingly. 

The contestants are well-chosen and professional,too.  Every contestant on the show is a really talented and capable designer.  They don't choose anyone to be on the show to be a laughing stock.   Everyone on the show belongs there.  There's no contestants on there just because they're weird or interesting characters.  No one that's just there so you and the judges can make fun of them.  They don't choose inexperienced people who just think they'd like to be a fashion designer.  They don't choose just random applicants. They choose real fashion industry folks,mostly people who are already working in fashion and just need their real break into the business on their own.  It keeps the level of talent on all the designs high.  The show picks the strongest designer from a group of strong designers.  Usually every season, by the time it gets down to say the final five or so designers, I would happily let any one of them design my wardrobe.

It's a fun show to discuss with other watchers.  It's fun to see what everyone thought of the designs, whether they agree or disagree with the judges.  I find it hilarious that while the show could have ended up very unmasculine and very much not interesting to manly men at all, it is.  When my hubby first watched an episode with me, he expected to hate it and was just humoring me.  By the end of the episode he was enthralled and hasn't missed one yet, and that was two seasons ago.  He's a macho guy and he and his macho friends can even from time to time be caught discussing last nights episode of Runway.  It's never too girly or too gay culture.  It's about art and creativity and design and both men and women can enjoy that.  Where most reality shows are kind of dumbed down and you feel a little cheaper and dirtier for loving them, Project Runway is smart and inspiring.