Fashion Television

I’m not a huge reality TV fan. Most of the reality shows I’ve seen either seem so contrived and fake that they don’t seem that ‘real’ to begin with. There also seems to be a strong emphasis on humiliating participants that has me cringing more often than laughing.

The Project Runway series of shows are a great departure from this. Perhaps because the shows are focused on the creative endeavours of the participants rather than their love lives or ability to eat live crickets, they seem a little bit more interesting to watch, and I often find myself really rooting for a particular contestant whose designs I think are particularly beautiful or creative.

Of course, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the personalities of the contestants and judges play a big part in keeping me hooked, and the drama on the cutting room floor is pretty entertaining! But that the show ish’t JUST about that is important to me.

If you’re a Project Runway fan like me, you might want to check out Project Runway: The Show That Changed Fashion. It provides a scene by scene recap of the first ten seasons of the American version of the show. You might also want to borrow Gunn’s Golden Rules; a collection of advice and anecdotes from the much loved Tim Gunn.

Fashion Television is about more than just reality contests however. Here in Toronto, we’re lucky enough to have one of the most widely recognized and respected voices in the fashion community, Jeanne Beker. Longtime host on Fashion Television, Beker has interviewed a whos-who of the design world, and has helped put the T-Dot onto the fashion map. Widely recognized for her ability to engage her interview subjects in fun, casual conversation, Beker rose to fame here in Toronto as an interviewer for City TV’s The New Music, before transitioning into becoming a fixture on Canada’s Fashion scene. For an early example of Beker's style check out this early interview with a very young U2 on one of their first visits to the city  (Fun trivia fact: U2 played one of their first Toronto gigs at a place called the Maple Leaf Ballroom; now a Salvation Army at St. Clair and Christie).

 

Are you as big a Project Runway addict as I am? What's your favourite moment on the show? Any other great Fashion TV stories to share?