Baby Seals and an Ode to Courreges?Heidi and Tim Giving It To You: Season 7 Project Runway Continuing with my Casting Behind-The-Scenes Blog--here are two more designers that will be part of Season 7 of Project Runway and also came through the day I was lucky enough to have been a judge at the Los Angeles Casting. We did the castings on Memorial Day (back in May '09) at the W Westwood and there was a big ol' pool party occurring. I joked with Tim Gunn that he should have brought his swim trunks. Needless to say, we never made it to the pool. It was work work work, kids... Mila Hermanovski: My memory was definitely refreshed when I saw Mila in her casting video. Several months back, I got a call from someone who was styling my friend and client Carrie Ann Inaba with her on-air wardrobe for Dancing With The Stars (in the past we had worked directly with Carrie Ann or her assistant). Mila arrived at our studio and pulled several of my gowns to fit on her and we spent about an hour discussing how to start a design business, all the stuff I am doing and dressing celebs, as well as being in Downtown LA. Obviously, I did not realize that she was on the show (remember, those castings took place 8 months ago), but she NEVER mentioned anything the entire time (about the fact that she was on the new season or that I was her casting judge) she was at our studio. I assume that she was probably too scared to say anything (Good Job Lifetime Lawyers!). Who knows. Onto her casting interview: I thought Mila's designs were cute and retro--very Courreges-meets-Pierre Cardin (look them up kiddies) with a touch of Narciso Rodriguez. I liked the seaming and construction. She could be a "quiet storm" on this season. Jesus Estrada: Jesus was quite interesting. At first glance he reminded me of one of my fashion design students from my FIDM classes: Young, "fashiony-looking", confident, and a bit bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as they say. When we asked to have a closer inspection of his garments, we were shocked: One of the collars was BABY SEAL!!!! Well, as you know Tim Gunn is a PETA GOD, so he almost THREW him out of the castings--to be banished to some poor sweat shop. I just couldn't believe he was showing this to us. And when we questioned him on the OH-SO-WRONG choice of using that material, he looked as if we were speaking a foreign language. Crazy. But something in the rest of his non-baby-seal collared garments intrigued us so we led him to the next round--with a warning: NO MORE BABY SEALS!!!!

Judging Buddies: Nick Verreos, Marie Claire's Zoe Glassner and Tim Gunn, LA Castings Season 7 Project Runway When I first saw the new batch of Project Runway "kids", I thought I knew NONE of them. Or shall I say, no one looked "familiar". Then I began watching these casting videos and realized that I was actually there when many of them came to the casting in Los Angeles and we ended up moving them to the next level! You see, we did these castings so long ago--almost a year ago. I had to "refresh" my memory by viewing these casting videos to remember who these contestants were. Here, I continue with my "Casting Inside Dish": Christiane King: After viewing the casting video, I totally remembered Christiane. She had a lovely presence and nice humble aura (no, I-want-to-be-a-Star-I'm-a-Diva attitude). She had tried for Project Runway several times before and obviously was not giving up! I remember that she was originally from Cote D'Ivoire (misspelled in the MyLifetime site btw). The only question we had with her involved fit and a "taste issue". I foresee the latter as maybe being her Achilles Heel. I liked her royal blue architectural shift dress but the rest were a bit, well, Miss Guyana at the Miss World Pageant gown... Jay Nicolas Sario: I remember Jay Nicolas, he was a stand-out FOR SURE! His designs were new, modern, fresh and the fit was spot-on. We all loved it. There was a lot of work and a definite eye for detail. I'm not sure if he can replicate all that work within the restricted Project Runway time frame, but who knows. I am excited to see his creations this season. Definitely a favorite for the final "tableau", at least from what he showed us at the casting. Stay tuned for more of my Nick Verreos: Inside The Casting dish...

Season 7 Casting Notice: I just got word from my "peeps" at Project Runway that they are about to hold the castings for the next season of the show. As you may know, two weeks ago--on April Fools, of all days--it was finally announced that Season 6 Project Runway was going to air on Lifetime Networks (mid-August I believe). So, now I guess that also gave the green light to Bunin/Murray, producers of the show, to begin the casting process for the next season--- Here are the Details: *Minimum Age: 21 years old (sorry underage twinkies) *The castings will take place in Atlanta , Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and even Seattle. By Appointment Only! (see below) *You have to submit your applications by April 24TH !!!! *Casting directors and producers for the show will take a look at all these applications, videos, DVD's, etc. and then THEY will make "the first cut" and pre-select the ones that will be able to go to those castings. Who's Next? Nick Verreos judges last year's Season 6 Chicago Castings A lot of people ask me "How should I prepare?". Well, my answer to them is usually explaining to them that I had worked in this crazy fashion industry for 13 years and THAT was my preparation. Be YOURSELF (but please try not to be the mean one, OK, maybe just for the producers!), bring on the TALENT, show them why the rest of America needs to discover you as America's Next Great Fashion Designer. For more Information on the Application, click HERE. Good Luck!