USA TODAY International Edition
Escape with Klum, Gunn who make the best of ‘ Cut’
Two years after their “Project Runway” exit, Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn want to give fans fashionable escapism with their new Amazon Prime reality competition show “Making the Cut.” ❚ The new series ( now streaming), comes amid anxiety and worry as the global coronavirus pandemic continues to spread. So that makes it a perfect time for fashion escapism, say Klum and Gunn, chatting by phone from their homes in Los Angeles and New York City, respectively.
“Given how challenging this time is and how worrisome it is and how uncertain everything is, people need to have their spirits lifted up,” says Gunn, who moves from “Runway” mentor to “Cut” co- host. “It’s a feel- good show, it’s a wonderful, much- needed distraction. It’s inspiring and it’s uplifting, so we actually like the fact that we’re premiering at this time.”
Her own COVID- 19 test came back negative, but Klum says, “We have to stay home. It’s important to the elderly, and it’s important to people who are not as strong with their immune systems.”
They’re self- isolating – Klum in an Adidas tracksuit as Gunn opts for a sweater and jeans – and they know fans forced to do the same can use a welcome distraction.
“Making the Cut” takes viewers back to happier times, before streets were barren and popular monuments shut down. Contestants fly to Paris for a runway show or to Tokyo for sushi and fashion designs.
The show features a star- studded panel of judges, including supermodel Naomi Campbell, actor and
“I want ( fans) to feel like they’re a little more knowledgeable about the fashion industry and what goes into the whole process, from A to Z, of what it is they’re wearing. I hope they’re inspired by the work.” Tim Gunn
designer Nicole Richie, former Vogue Paris editor- in- chief Carine Roitfeld, Italian social- media influencer Chiara Ferragni and designer Joseph Altuzarra.
“It was very moving for me to see how much they really care about the designers,” Gunn says.
The duo’s latest endeavor has been critiqued as a copy of “Project Runway,” which Klum and Gunn
starred on for 16 seasons as host and mentor before exiting in 2018.
But the co- hosts are quick to point out the differences, including the new show’s $ 1 million prize. Winning fashions will be available globally for purchase on Amazon. com as each episode is released, and two episodes will be released every Friday for five weeks.
While “Runway” tasked up- andcoming designers to present to the judges outfits they designed and made themselves, “Cut” challenges more established designers to create a “global brand” and leaves the sewing to others. “Cut” focuses on competitors building a business as much as constructing fashions.
“Heidi and I both own the fact that this show wouldn’t have happened without ‘ Project Runway.’ That had to be the predecessor for this,” Gunn says. “But we wanted to make the show as relevant as possible, and that means current. We needed to introduce the whole topic of branding, which is a much broader topic than just talking about a single item of apparel.”
“We love ‘ Project Runway’; it’s our first baby. There’s nothing wrong with it,” Klum says. “We love what we achieved there,” she says, joking, “It’s the longest marriage I’ve ever been in. But it kind of got stale. You can’t do the same thing for so many years, because the times change, fashion changes, the world changes.”
“Cut” shows all the strings pulled behind the scenes to make a fashion brand function ( an “emotional roller coaster ride,” as Klum calls it).
The veteran fashion mavens want viewers to see what goes on behind the curtain.
“I want ( fans) to feel like they’re a little more knowledgeable about the fashion industry and what goes into the whole process, from A to Z, of what it is they’re wearing,” Gunn says. “I hope they’re inspired by the work.”
Klum agrees: “I hope so too, for the distraction, for putting a smile on people’s face to just kind of get out of whatever they’re in right now and just focus on something else.”