USA TODAY International Edition
‘ Making the Cut’ alters ‘ Runway’ formula
PASADENA, Calif. – If “Project Runway” is college, “Making the Cut” amounts to getting your Ph. D.
At least, that’s how iconic fashion professor Tim Gunn would describe his and Heidi Klum’s new Amazon streaming series, a fashion reality competition show, due March 27. The pair left the long- running “Runway” in 2017, after its 16th season, to develop “Cut,” which they see as a bigger, better, more ambitious version of “Runway.”
They will host the new show, to be judged by Nicole Richie, Naomi Campbell and Joseph Altuzarra, “Cut” uses more established, experienced designers than Bravo’s “Runway,” now hosted by Karlie Kloss, ever did. “Cut” also offers its designers a much bigger prize: $ 1 million. Klum and Gunn say they’re not just looking for the designer who can make the prettiest garment, but someone who both has the talent for fashion and business – a personality who can create a global brand. And the fashions will be available globally for purchase on Amazon. com as each episode is released.
“‘ Making the Cut’ wouldn’t have happened without ‘ Project Runway,’” Gunn told reporters at the Television Critics Association on Tuesday. “In my role as a teacher for most of my life, ‘ Project Runway’ is the undergrad program, ‘ Making the Cut’ is the graduate program. ... It really is about the next global brand.“
Amazon is helping those designers establish a brand week- to- week. The series will debut two episodes every Friday for five weeks. Amazon will sell the winning design from each episode in ( in sizes XXS to XXL), in a special “Making the Cut” online store.
“For each fashion show, we do an unconventional look, free- for- all design, whatever you want, and a look that can be sold on Amazon,” Klum said.
But Gunn was quick to say that Amazon didn’t influence the creative direction of the clothes or the scope of the competition.
“I don’t want anyone to think we were thinking about a relationship with Amazon and thinking we have to dumb these clothes down,” he said. “Things can be translated in such a way that they can become affordable and the fabrics can become accessible ... it hasn’t in any way compromised the designers.”
Klum and Gunn want the designs to be commercial and the price to be accessible.
“We’re trying to price it $ 100 or less for each winning look,” Klum said. “For the first time, our audience can shop. It’s a win- win situation for everyone. ... That was never possible before. You see something and you want it and you can’t have it. ... now you can have it!” ( In 2012, NBC aired “Fashion Star,” a short- lived competition that sold winning designs online only in the U. S.)
The series differs from “Runway” in its locale, as contestants jet- set around the world to New York, Paris and Tokyo. That global mind- set translates to what designers made it onto “Cut,”
“We wanted to pick people from around the world because we’re seen in over 200 countries,” Klum said, adding that another key difference is that the catty, competitive atmosphere often is missing. “The camaraderie between these designers is not something that I’ve ever seen before ... they really had each others’ back( s) ... they were very nice to one another, helped one another.”
Because the contestants are more senior designers, they work with seamstresses to sew their fashions, a helping hand the “Runway” amateur designers never were afforded. Executive producer Sara Rea said seamstress help to better model how the business of fashion functions.
“We wanted to see if they could communicate with the seamstresses,” Rea said. “Tim really encouraged them to have the seamstresses do the basics ... it was important to reflect how they communicate, troubleshoot; it’s not always perfect.”