Heidi Klum: This Season's 'Project Runway' Contestants Are a Bunch Of 'Softies'
Heidi Klum is in New York this week to shoot the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week grand finale of her hit show
'Project Runway.' Jessica Simpson presided as the surprise celebrity judge at the show, along with regulars Michael Kors and Nina Garcia, where other front-row celebrities included Tyson Beckford, Jordin Sparks and Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
PopEater caught up with Klum on Thursday night, at a party in honor of her gracing the September cover of City magazine, just after she filmed the season eight reunion special (despite the season winner not yet being decided.) She told us about the personalities of the current contestants, some tips for getting selected for the show, and the perils of being a mom dropping your kids off to school in ultra-competitive Beverly Hills.
"We're down to the final three but today we had all 17 designers back for the reunion," she told us, sparking in a gold Philip Lim sequined dress. "And they're very emotional designers, they ask a lot from themselves. And I think that's why season eight has been very successful, because they reveal a lot of their feelings and people can connect more with that."
Klum seemed to show a flash of German steel when asked about the character of the current batch of contestants. "They're softies this season!" she said with a laugh. "And they get aggravated fast--they fight quite a bit and they show their emotions a lot. Today [at the reunion] one of them who [had been eliminated] wanted me to tell them why they had to leave. They didn't understand it! They said, 'People came to me and told me the other person's design was so much uglier,' why did I have to leave? It's so sad!"
She looked sorry for the poor fashion reject, still trapped in the past. "And they're still trying to think back to that episode--do you have any idea how long ago that was?"
So, any tips for future hopefuls who are trying to make it onto 'Project Runway?'
"They should bring all their best looks and they should bring their portfolio that shows they can draw, and that's pretty much it," Klum said. "They don't have to do a whole song and dance. I don't think you have to dress up as a drag queen. If you're good, and you have good designs, that should impress me. It's about 50 designers that are chosen, and we look over them and pick 17."
Also this week, the supermodel announced her latest design collection, Heidi Klum for New Balance, which will be sold exclusively through Amazon.com.
"It's active wear, it's for moms on the go," she told PopEater. "Basically I have four children: our older daughter [Leni] is six, Henry is going to be five on Sunday, Johan will be four in November [and daughter Lou is 11 months]. The boys have been going to school now for almost two years and Leni for three years, so what I've been looking at is a lot of the moms in the morning doing drop-offs."
"[Moms are] doing so many things, we have so many hats on--go to Starbucks, meet a friend, go to a meeting--and you don't really want to do that in nasty sweatpants," she said. "I myself have to drive 35/40 minutes to go to school, and that time of the day, 7.20 when I have to leave my house, I don't want to have to be wearing something too cute or too tight, because there are errands to do. So I thought about what is missing that we can all wear, that is cooler, that is active, that is stylish. It does look athletic but it's not Spandex kind of athletic, it's leggings and ponchos with hoodies. Very comfortable, stylish clothing."
And are the other school mothers intimidated by having to drop their kids off to school at the same time as one of the world's most celebrated supermodels?
"I'm in LA and the kids go to school on Beverly Hills," she said with a laugh. "[The other Moms] are even more dressed up than me in the morning!"
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I used to be a model & to this day, I do not understand "current wear." I see people of various ages wearing what is 'cool' that should be wearing Indian blankets. Someone should start a school on 'how to dress for your body' not dress like everyone else. Especially since I have not agreed with the majority of current fashion for most of my life.
I agree, maybe, with whoever asked why they were dismissed, because these judges have absolutely no idea what true fashion is. Fashion today is a joke.
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You're so right. Fashion today is a joke. Women (and men) will wear whatever some lame so-called designer will throw in their faces. This show certainly does not go for the cream-of-the-crop...maybe because there are so few left. The trash they create and send down that runway is most often something a streetwalker would think twice before wearing. And now Klum has the nerve to invite Jessica Simpson to be a guest judge for the finale?? That just about says it all. She has about as much fashion sense as Osama bin Laden.
OK...Heidi, what are your qualifications other than being basically a swimsuit model and a spokemodel? You never had the body for high fashion and as far as I understand, you never walked for many designers.
Being a model does NOT make you a fashion expert as evidenced by the fact that you wear your dresses shorter than most street walkers. Why don't you learn something about fashion before juding these designers who actually have some sort of talent other than nice facial features and big boobs? And why you're at it, learn to dress like an elegant sophisticated woman instead of an 18 year hoochie club kid.
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I certainly can agree with you about how she dresses. She does not dress her age nor more to the fact like a mother of small children. Do models fear getting old? Seems so by the way they dress sometimes.
I like Heidi but some of the fashions on the show are butt ugly. Especially the ones she likes. I also dont like the fact that she judges everyday people who drop their kids off at the bus stop. We all dont have the time or money to dress up and buy her expensive active wear. You should be yourself regardless. I for one feel I look ok without makeup and fancy clothes I cant afford. I sure have not had any trouble attracting the opposite sex. I get so tired of movie stars, models, and fashion designers telling me what I should wear. If I buy something from Kmart or Target and I feel good about that should be ok. I just dont get some of these clothes. The ones I like they hate. The ones they hate I like. Just because they have managed to make a career at telling us what to wear doesnt make it right. I for one dont have the time or money to be high maintence every second of the day. That is not reality. Who ever follows their advice doesnt have a mind of their own. It is all about them making money no matter how stupid you look in their clothes.
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I totally agreed with you. Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks and the rest of them just want to make money off of you. All of them have a perfume and they sure arent chemists. I cannot believe some of these ugly clothes. They could care a less how you look as long as you buy their expensive designer clothes. Micheal Kors pocketbooks are just too expensive. A cheap knockoff looks just as good. Besides who are you trying to impress when you have 3 or 4 kids that you have to clothe. Fashion today is a joke.
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You took the words right out of my mouth. I dont get some of these ugly clothes. Heidi and the rest of them just want you to buy their clothes and put yourself in the poorhouse.
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The problem is fashion. You need style to stand out.
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I love this show, but I start to get scared about how much time it has left when JESSICA SIMPSON gets a spot as a guest judge.
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