Fashion Hero

I have another update for you on German TV -- the latest show to grab my attention is Fashion Hero. With Claudia Schiffer as mentor, duh. I'm thinking there has to be another show like this out there somewhere, but it's new to me. It's a variation of Project Runway in that designers are competing against each other, but they aren't required to do their own sewing, though most do. What adds an interesting twist is that there are three buyers also competing for the designs to sell in their shops. In this case, Asos, Karstadt, and S. Oliver.

If a designer makes a bid you are safe from elimination and your designs are available (in real time) in store and onlinef for purchase. Although, basically, they are sold out asap. If a designer gets no bids, they have to compete in a fashion showdown. They have 30 minutes to turn something basic, like jeans or a black blazer, into something fabulous to keep them around. The number of designers that can be "saved" varies from round to round because the number of participants is always different.

It's interesting because you can sort of guess which styles the various buys will go for or not. Or, something might be really awesome for a red carpet event, but that's not going to sell to the average German shopper. So there is a fine line the designers have to walk to keep their own style integrity but also appear to mass-market.

At first, they tried to pen this as competing with Heidi Klum and Germany's Next Top Model, but really, there is no comparison. Although, I would recommend Fashion Hero borrows some models from GNTM because some of their models are a subpar. Plus, Claudia's role is much more diluted than Heidi's. There are also two other mentors, who I haven't a clue about, and they try to use their experience in the fashion industry to give advise while the designers are in creation mode -- try shortening the dress, try a different fabric, change the sleeves, etc.

For me, it's not a must-watch each Wednesday, but it is interesting when I catch it.

prosieben.de

The buyers -- image source

The mentors -- image source