Project Runway begins its 14th season on Aug. 6, and Lifetime just released the names of the contestants (only one from Texas — and that’s Austin) and the guests judges, which has to be the least interesting slate of faux-lebrities they could drudge up.
Among the fashionistas offering their opinions will be actresses Bella Thorne (Scream) (who?!), Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) (that ship has sailed), Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish) (OK), Paula Patton (About Last Night) (you mean Robin Thicke’s ex-wife?), Ashley Tisdale (Clipped) (yawn), Shiri Appleby and Constance Zimmer (UnREAL) (cross-pollinated from another Lifetime show); singer/songwriter Ciara; singer (arguable) and America’s Got Talent judge Mel B (hasn’t the flavor gone out of that Spice years ago?); supermodel Coco Rocha; fashion designer Lisa Perry; Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model and host of Lifetime’s Project Runway Junior (more cross-pollination!) Hannah Davis.
Now, no one tunes in solely for the guest judges. And some of these (all female, by the way) may have some real insights. But if the wattage of your stars can only be seen by the Hubble telescope, you probably need a jolt of some kind. Still, we love seeing Tim and Heidi do their thing, though we still miss Michael Kors.
Sixteen contestants will vie for the $100k prize, about half of whom are men … which, if tradition serves, means about half are also gay. It’s like Grindr with fabric swatches.
