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Project Runway: The Show That Changed Fashion
The official behind-the-scenes guide to the reality series, including hundreds of photos plus interviews with Tim Gunn, Heidi Klum, and more. In this book, fully illustrated with hundreds of photos, Project Runway fans can learn how the show began and developed over the years, relive the highlights of seasons past, and learn what their favorite designers have been up to. Featuring commentary from Heidi Klum throughout, as well as interviews with the people behind the scenes, top designers of the first ten seasons, and stars of the show—workroom mentor Tim Gunn and judges Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, and Michael Kors—it’s a fun-filled, fashion-forward companion for fans.
- GenresNonfictionFashionArt
1020 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 30, 2012
This is a surprisingly substantive book, it took me a couple of days and a number of hours to read. I've gotten a several of this type of cross-promotional books about TV shows or by celebrities trying to take advantage of their fame, like the Cake Boss, Michael Symon, or Kat Von D, out of the library, and none of their books have taken me more than 45 minutes to flip through, even when they did have a few good stories. They just weren't actually wordy. (Admittedly Symon's was partly a cookbook with the stories as a balance, and of course Kat's had a lot of photos, as it should have, but so did this one.) I expected this book to be just a bunch pictures with captions and a handful of interviews, but it really was much more than that. Of course they couldn't interview every contestant from every season, but they gave a good sense of each season's highlights and most memorable moments, interviews with several key contestants each time and some guest judges, and some of the producers when it was relevant as well. Very occasionally a question was silly, but most of it was pretty interesting. As long as you're a fan of the series of course. This is definitely a book for fans. The format follows the conceptualization of the show, implementation of each session, and a brief summary of the spin-off shows, primarily through interviews with people who were involved with the show, and also through some short descriptions of highlights, and of course through pictures.
Jerrell had a perfect quote that explains why I, a definitely non-fashionista, like the show so much, "Something about seeing the creative process from start to finish is kind of amazing." (p144) And when you add in seeing how different people interpret doing the same challenge, it's just fascinating. I'm not a creative person, so the chance to watch artists at work, even (especially?) under such odd, pressure-cooker circumstances, just wows me. It's beyond me how they can be presented with a challenge, be given fifteen minutes usually to design, be sent off to buy fabric, have to start working, boom-boom-boom, and on the tightest of deadlines almost always create amazing things. I can't imagine anything beautiful, much less create it, but they can do it all, it's remarkable. And as Austin said (about All-Stars on p. 275), "...it's all a delirious, hysterical game! If it's not the most dangerous game, it's definitely the most glamorous, the way I play it." It's a unique experience to see behind the scenes of how such talented people work, and then to see how such different judges view the outcomes. I'm always totally surprised at what they have to say. Sometimes I totally disagree, frequently I learn something, it's never boring.
I'm so disappointed that the show Sarah Jessica Parker produced about artists with the same format only lasted two seasons, it was even more fascinating to watch. Maybe it didn't do as well because most people couldn't as easily imagine buying the end products, so much of the modern art wasn't meant to be family friendly or casually collectible. Whereas with fashion we can at least dream about owning the beautiful clothes or going to a glamourous party in a stunning gown, and we can even get some of the more affordable things the designers end up making. Mondo sells t-shirts on his site, Korto has great jewelry I'd totally buy if I was still working. Maybe the art show just had a harder time finding a mass audience. It's a shame because it was really inspiring.
Anyway, back to the book. It wasn't perfect, were two problems. The first was that while I liked the interviews with the designers a lot, it was frustrating when they were asked about what their favorite and least favorite looks were and there weren't even tiny pictures of them to remind us. Why ask if you aren't going to show us? Some of the time the looks were in the book in the winning looks list, but it was confusing because they would refer to it by a different name than the official challenge name that was listed under the photo; the editors could have made it more clear, if the designer didn't use the official name, by putting the name in brackets. And many of the designs the designers refer to were non-winning looks that aren't in the book at all. Even a one-inch square photo would have refreshed my memory of what the challenge was about and what the designer did. It would have been a busier page, sure, but instead I had to either be frustrated constantly or keep trying to google. I did google some of them, but sometimes I couldn't find them or I got tired of looking. It sounds minor, but the clothes are the whole point, I spent too much time trying to remember what happened and matching the designers with their work, it was a pain.
My only other complaint was that for the staff that didn't appear on-air they should have listed their job titles under their names. We don't know who those people are. It was off-putting, it kept making me feel like I'd missed something that I had to flip back and find, or like I was the outsider who didn't know the cool kids in school that I should have known.
As for just a few of the many specific fan-girl things that come up in the book:
It's kind of wild that in season 1 they were so new that they didn't even have a photographer on set every challenge to take pictures of the winning looks, so four of the wins aren't in the book. (Although couldn't they get screen caps? It seems like that's what they had in season 3, they were all so dark because they were against that Project Runway lit up screen, but maybe they were just taken from the audience. But a few of those looked like candid photos with the contestants taken after the runway too, it's all very odd.) Other than season 1 and 3 they had all of the professional photos.
It is really cool to know that when Victoria Beckham said that she wanted to buy Christian's work, she wasn't blowing steam. She had him over for a fitting 2 weeks later and bought several pieces. So did Heidi.
Topically (as I'm writing this at the end of July 2012), does anyone remember season 5's Olympic challenge? I liked a couple better than Ralph Lauren's from this year, at least they looked American. But it does go to show that it's harder than you imagine when you look back and see how ridiculous most of these designers' ideas of what our Olympic athletes should wear were.
I was going to say a bunch of bad things about Ivy and how bad she comes off again, but I'm really trying to keep it brief. I'll just say that she's still blaming Michael for her own bad behavior. Once again I really don't understand why anyone who saw the show and now who reads this book would ever want to work with her. And this time she had the luxury of time to think about what she was saying. Regardless of who else did what, she did and said what she did and she just looks bad, period.
Why why why hasn't anyone given Anthony a TV show?
Wow, I always thought Irina got a bit of a raw deal, I always liked her even when I re-watched her season. But she was the only winner who couldn't even be bothered to comment about her win, not even one small sentence or two for the book about the show that made her famous. Maybe she didn't understand the scope of the book. And yet everyone else participated. I can see not wanting to do an more in-depth interview maybe, but to not say thank you, or it was nice to have my parents see me win, something simple, is very odd. And bad business.
I controlled myself, I didn't keep count of how many people listed Mondo (my favorite) as one of their favorites as well, or compare how many votes he got compared to the other designers. But it's probably close between him and Christian. A lot of people rightly so, love what Christian has done both with his design work and with his brand, he's worked his tail off and it's amazingly impressive. I still think Korto doesn't get the credit she deserves, her clothes are beautiful and commercial. And I love Seth Aaron, even if he isn't my personal style, I just love seeing what he does. Andy is pretty wonderful, I always love what she does. Austin is another one who isn't my style, but I love seeing what he comes up with. And don't forget Chris March! I loved the season of Mad Fashion back on Bravo and really hope they do another season soon. And I want the season 9's DVDs to come out already so I can re-examine those guys again. That may be the best top four yet when it comes to potential career longevity, I think they're all going places.
Well, that was a really long review, I guess it just proves that it wasn't just a piece of fluff book. Fans of the series will definitely enjoy the interviews and catching up with fan favorites, getting glimpses into behind the scenes, and the retrospective on the show that we've enjoyed so much. It would absolutely make a great gift for any Project Runway way, I can easily recommend it. As much as any book of a decent size can capture nine seasons of the show, pl us a few spin-offs, this has done an enjoyable job. The one thing that would have made it better, but maybe unwieldy, would be more of the looks from each season beyond just the winning looks.
Jerrell had a perfect quote that explains why I, a definitely non-fashionista, like the show so much, "Something about seeing the creative process from start to finish is kind of amazing." (p144) And when you add in seeing how different people interpret doing the same challenge, it's just fascinating. I'm not a creative person, so the chance to watch artists at work, even (especially?) under such odd, pressure-cooker circumstances, just wows me. It's beyond me how they can be presented with a challenge, be given fifteen minutes usually to design, be sent off to buy fabric, have to start working, boom-boom-boom, and on the tightest of deadlines almost always create amazing things. I can't imagine anything beautiful, much less create it, but they can do it all, it's remarkable. And as Austin said (about All-Stars on p. 275), "...it's all a delirious, hysterical game! If it's not the most dangerous game, it's definitely the most glamorous, the way I play it." It's a unique experience to see behind the scenes of how such talented people work, and then to see how such different judges view the outcomes. I'm always totally surprised at what they have to say. Sometimes I totally disagree, frequently I learn something, it's never boring.
I'm so disappointed that the show Sarah Jessica Parker produced about artists with the same format only lasted two seasons, it was even more fascinating to watch. Maybe it didn't do as well because most people couldn't as easily imagine buying the end products, so much of the modern art wasn't meant to be family friendly or casually collectible. Whereas with fashion we can at least dream about owning the beautiful clothes or going to a glamourous party in a stunning gown, and we can even get some of the more affordable things the designers end up making. Mondo sells t-shirts on his site, Korto has great jewelry I'd totally buy if I was still working. Maybe the art show just had a harder time finding a mass audience. It's a shame because it was really inspiring.
Anyway, back to the book. It wasn't perfect, were two problems. The first was that while I liked the interviews with the designers a lot, it was frustrating when they were asked about what their favorite and least favorite looks were and there weren't even tiny pictures of them to remind us. Why ask if you aren't going to show us? Some of the time the looks were in the book in the winning looks list, but it was confusing because they would refer to it by a different name than the official challenge name that was listed under the photo; the editors could have made it more clear, if the designer didn't use the official name, by putting the name in brackets. And many of the designs the designers refer to were non-winning looks that aren't in the book at all. Even a one-inch square photo would have refreshed my memory of what the challenge was about and what the designer did. It would have been a busier page, sure, but instead I had to either be frustrated constantly or keep trying to google. I did google some of them, but sometimes I couldn't find them or I got tired of looking. It sounds minor, but the clothes are the whole point, I spent too much time trying to remember what happened and matching the designers with their work, it was a pain.
My only other complaint was that for the staff that didn't appear on-air they should have listed their job titles under their names. We don't know who those people are. It was off-putting, it kept making me feel like I'd missed something that I had to flip back and find, or like I was the outsider who didn't know the cool kids in school that I should have known.
As for just a few of the many specific fan-girl things that come up in the book:
It's kind of wild that in season 1 they were so new that they didn't even have a photographer on set every challenge to take pictures of the winning looks, so four of the wins aren't in the book. (Although couldn't they get screen caps? It seems like that's what they had in season 3, they were all so dark because they were against that Project Runway lit up screen, but maybe they were just taken from the audience. But a few of those looked like candid photos with the contestants taken after the runway too, it's all very odd.) Other than season 1 and 3 they had all of the professional photos.
It is really cool to know that when Victoria Beckham said that she wanted to buy Christian's work, she wasn't blowing steam. She had him over for a fitting 2 weeks later and bought several pieces. So did Heidi.
Topically (as I'm writing this at the end of July 2012), does anyone remember season 5's Olympic challenge? I liked a couple better than Ralph Lauren's from this year, at least they looked American. But it does go to show that it's harder than you imagine when you look back and see how ridiculous most of these designers' ideas of what our Olympic athletes should wear were.
I was going to say a bunch of bad things about Ivy and how bad she comes off again, but I'm really trying to keep it brief. I'll just say that she's still blaming Michael for her own bad behavior. Once again I really don't understand why anyone who saw the show and now who reads this book would ever want to work with her. And this time she had the luxury of time to think about what she was saying. Regardless of who else did what, she did and said what she did and she just looks bad, period.
Why why why hasn't anyone given Anthony a TV show?
Wow, I always thought Irina got a bit of a raw deal, I always liked her even when I re-watched her season. But she was the only winner who couldn't even be bothered to comment about her win, not even one small sentence or two for the book about the show that made her famous. Maybe she didn't understand the scope of the book. And yet everyone else participated. I can see not wanting to do an more in-depth interview maybe, but to not say thank you, or it was nice to have my parents see me win, something simple, is very odd. And bad business.
I controlled myself, I didn't keep count of how many people listed Mondo (my favorite) as one of their favorites as well, or compare how many votes he got compared to the other designers. But it's probably close between him and Christian. A lot of people rightly so, love what Christian has done both with his design work and with his brand, he's worked his tail off and it's amazingly impressive. I still think Korto doesn't get the credit she deserves, her clothes are beautiful and commercial. And I love Seth Aaron, even if he isn't my personal style, I just love seeing what he does. Andy is pretty wonderful, I always love what she does. Austin is another one who isn't my style, but I love seeing what he comes up with. And don't forget Chris March! I loved the season of Mad Fashion back on Bravo and really hope they do another season soon. And I want the season 9's DVDs to come out already so I can re-examine those guys again. That may be the best top four yet when it comes to potential career longevity, I think they're all going places.
Well, that was a really long review, I guess it just proves that it wasn't just a piece of fluff book. Fans of the series will definitely enjoy the interviews and catching up with fan favorites, getting glimpses into behind the scenes, and the retrospective on the show that we've enjoyed so much. It would absolutely make a great gift for any Project Runway way, I can easily recommend it. As much as any book of a decent size can capture nine seasons of the show, pl us a few spin-offs, this has done an enjoyable job. The one thing that would have made it better, but maybe unwieldy, would be more of the looks from each season beyond just the winning looks.
March 27, 2017
I I enjoyed this book.
March 18, 2019
I've been getting back into PR lately and figured why not when I saw this book at the library. I expected boring unedited trash and that's exactly what I got plus a couple of interesting anecdotes. If you're into PR and have some time to waste, why not lmao
August 8, 2014
I love Project Runway, and I loved looking behind the scenes with the people who make it work every episode, and seeing such a great showcase of every season. Reading the interviews with the designers of seasons past was nice because it seemed to give a nice follow up to some incidents that happened on the show. Such a fun book!
January 8, 2023
Well, that foreword aged like milk.
September 13, 2023
I wish this had a few more photos of the fashion and less of the guest judges/people but I enjoyed looking back on the seasons.
March 13, 2016
Project Runway: The Show that Changed Fashion is a good-sized coffee table book all about the groundbreaking reality show. It contains information on the first nine seasons, including interviews with various cast members, the names of the guest judges, and plenty of pictures. The book also covers how the show got off the ground, and all of Project Runway's various spin-offs, such as Project Runway: All-Stars.
What I Liked:
- There are tons of fun stories and anecdotes. I especially enjoyed Viktor Luna referring to Tim Gunn as "a ray of light" (p. 258).
- The book was not afraid to address the drama that so often came along with the show itself.
- In addition to interviews with the contestants, the book also included interviews with various other players, like producers, casting directors, guest judges, and of course, Heidi, Michael, Nina, and Tim.
What I Didn't Like:
- Numerous times throughout the book, either the text or an interviewee would refer to a certain runway look, but there would be no accompanying picture. As someone who hasn't seen every episode of every season, I found that frustrating.
- I thought that some of the contestants that they interviewed were odd choices. It seems to me that they would definitely want to interview the finalists from each season (or at the very least each season's winner), but that was not always the case.
What I Liked:
- There are tons of fun stories and anecdotes. I especially enjoyed Viktor Luna referring to Tim Gunn as "a ray of light" (p. 258).
- The book was not afraid to address the drama that so often came along with the show itself.
- In addition to interviews with the contestants, the book also included interviews with various other players, like producers, casting directors, guest judges, and of course, Heidi, Michael, Nina, and Tim.
What I Didn't Like:
- Numerous times throughout the book, either the text or an interviewee would refer to a certain runway look, but there would be no accompanying picture. As someone who hasn't seen every episode of every season, I found that frustrating.
- I thought that some of the contestants that they interviewed were odd choices. It seems to me that they would definitely want to interview the finalists from each season (or at the very least each season's winner), but that was not always the case.
July 26, 2012
I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!!!!!! I LOVE TIM GUNN!!!!!!!!!! AND HEIDI!!!!!!!! AND MICHAEL KORS AND NINA GARCIA!!!!!!!!! That's full disclosure. :)
This book has information on all the seasons of Project Runway. There are interviews with the designers, the producers, the judges, etc. Lots of color photographs. My one gripe about the book is that there were snapshot sections in each chapter but the photos were not identified, so there were a few faces where I did not know who the people were. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book!
Book Description
Publication Date: July 10, 2012
Project Runway, the groundbreaking reality television series, premiered in 2004. Ten seasons into its run comes the official guide behind the scenes of a television and fashion landmark. In this book, fully illustrated with hundreds of photos, fans will learn how the show began and developed over the years, relive the highlights of seasons past, and learn what their favorite designers are doing today. The book will feature commentary from Heidi Klum throughout, as well as interviews with the people behind the scenes, top designers of ten seasons, and stars of the show: workroom mentor Tim Gunn and judges Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, and Michael Kors. This is the ultimate source for all things Project Runway.
This book has information on all the seasons of Project Runway. There are interviews with the designers, the producers, the judges, etc. Lots of color photographs. My one gripe about the book is that there were snapshot sections in each chapter but the photos were not identified, so there were a few faces where I did not know who the people were. Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the book!
Book Description
Publication Date: July 10, 2012
Project Runway, the groundbreaking reality television series, premiered in 2004. Ten seasons into its run comes the official guide behind the scenes of a television and fashion landmark. In this book, fully illustrated with hundreds of photos, fans will learn how the show began and developed over the years, relive the highlights of seasons past, and learn what their favorite designers are doing today. The book will feature commentary from Heidi Klum throughout, as well as interviews with the people behind the scenes, top designers of ten seasons, and stars of the show: workroom mentor Tim Gunn and judges Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, and Michael Kors. This is the ultimate source for all things Project Runway.
November 14, 2012
If you watch Project Runway pretty regularly, this book isn't going to hold a lot of surprises for you. The first part of the book covers how the show came to be, featuring interviews from Nina, Michael, Heidi and various show-runners. The second part, which compromises the bulk of the text, recaps the first nine seasons. The designers and models are listed in order of elimination, and the winning looks are pictured, also in order. A few highlights from the season are mentioned and interviews from various designers close out each season. The last part does a cursory introduction to the various spin-offs. I picked up a few new nuggets of info, but I mostly enjoyed flipping through it at my leisure.
May 31, 2013
If you're a fan of Project Runway, you will enjoy this book. Separated by seasons and filled with information like who got kicked out when, which designs won the challenge each week, who each model was, and interviews with cast members and judges, this is chock full of stuff a fan would want to know. Although sometimes the information gets repetitive, especially in the interviews when the designers comment on how little time they had to work on their designs, and what happened after the show ended, it is a lot of fun to read. I never knew that the show was filmed in only a month's time and that rather than a week between challenges, there were often only days.
November 29, 2012
This was a great book. I've loved the show for years (I still thank my college roommate for introducing it to me - mainly by having it on all the time and I started watching it out of the corner of my eye), and when I saw this book in my library, I snatched it up.
I really enjoyed getting behind the scenes look of the show, learning quite a bit from the designers and the judges alike. The pictures were great, reminding me of some really great moments in the earlier years. Definitely worth a look at if you're a fan of Project Runway.
I really enjoyed getting behind the scenes look of the show, learning quite a bit from the designers and the judges alike. The pictures were great, reminding me of some really great moments in the earlier years. Definitely worth a look at if you're a fan of Project Runway.
September 30, 2012
Perfectly fine book to browse while waiting, I think it would be great in a health care office or somewhere else that wants to eliminate magazine clutter but have reading material available.Read the book until season 8 finished but didn't read the seasons I haven't seen. Good photos & bits of highlights so the casual fan can remember the seasons. Lots of interviews with the pooh bas that create & produce the show. Not very much new insight into the designs or designers.
November 18, 2016
Tim Gunn for President: 15-plus seasons of inspiring creativity! This coffee-table style book provides a lot of insight on the long-running reality TV show of fashion design competition. Enjoy the fashion risks & wows, unconventional materials transformed into wearable art, plus the many diverse people who have competed, judged or modeled in the first 9 seasons. So much fun on so many levels!
August 13, 2012
This is a great book for any lover of Project Runway. No matter if you have seen the show from the very first episode or you just now discovered it, this is a great book filled with interviews, recaps and color photos.
August 31, 2012
I loved this book. I am a huge fan of the shop so it was nice to read about the 9 seasons. With a look behind the scenes and finding out what some of the designers are doing now. Lots of photos. If you love the show you will love the book.
January 16, 2015
Read this book cover to cover. I LOVE this TV show and it was fun to revisit seasons 1 through 10. If you haven't watched the show, don't get this book - watch the show! I've watched seasons 1 through 9, but unfortunately 10 on up are not on netflix yet.
July 26, 2012
Fun to read and reminisce, but lacking the punch! And there were certain cast members not profiled. No Santino! That just doesn't make sense.
September 22, 2014
I got this book cos I'm a big fan of the show. There's a lot of interviews with those involved with the show but after a while, I just started looking at the pictures more.
November 10, 2014
Lots to say about the show. Loved all he behind the scenes and updates!
May 16, 2016
The bulk of the book relies on interviews, which all start to look the same pretty quickly. I think there was an opportunity to live up to the grandiose title, and sadly that never happened.
May 31, 2016
A very cool book with beautiful photographs and interesting trivia and interviews from the casts (Seasons 1-10) of Project Runway. If you're a fan, you'll have a good time reading this book.
October 30, 2016
Stumbled on this book at the library. Really liked it.
July 28, 2013
A must-have for project runway fans.
July 27, 2016
Great for fans of the show. Lots of backstage insights.
October 28, 2018
OMG I love it I love fashion, I love watching Project Runway I give it a million out of ten ;) keep creating books like this PLEASE!!!!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews