''Project Catwalk'' is a competitive
reality television show focusing on
fashion design. In the UK it is shown on the
digital
Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits.
Technology and computing Hardware
*Digital electronics, electronic circuits which operate using digital signals
**Digital camera, which captures and stores digital i ...
station
Sky One
Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...
. The show follows a group of fashion designers as they compete against each other to avoid being "the next fashion victim" and win the competition. The programme is based upon the US reality show ''
Project Runway''. The show was cancelled after the third series.
Format
''Project Catwalk'' is hosted by a celebrity and judged by a panel with two permanent judges and a third guest judge – typically a fashion designer, fashion model or celebrity from the fashion industry.
Ben de Lisi
Ben de Lisi (born 31 May 1955) is an American born fashion designer based in London. He is best known for his collections with high street store Debenhams, and as a mentor and judge on the television series ''Project Catwalk''.
Early life
De L ...
, fashion designer, appears as a mentor for the designers giving his criticism of their garments and offering support. The program takes place in London with designers using a workroom in
Istituto Marangoni, shopping for materials at a large fabric store in London's
garment district, and living together in a four-storey Georgian townhouse in Central London.
The fashion models who work with the designers throughout the series are also in competition. At the beginning of each episode, the designer who won the previous week's challenge is compelled to switch two models (not necessarily including his/her own), and at the end, the model who wore the losing design is automatically eliminated. Included in the prize package for the winning model is coverage in the British edition of
''ELLE'' magazine.
Sky1 has confirmed that Project Catwalk will not be returning for a fourth series.
Channel controller
Richard Woolfe Joseph Richard Woolfe (born 14 August 1962) is a senior British broadcast figure. Until recently, Woolfe was the Creative Director of Prime Focus Productions, the UK arm of Prime Focus Group, a role created for him to help spearhead the post-produc ...
hinted at the
Edinburgh International Television Festival that the show had reached a conclusion and would be replaced by other female-skewing shows in the lineup.
"What we really need are some female-friendly formatted shows," he said. "8pm is a real opportunity. We're doing really well at 9pm and 10pm but I'd really like to see some long-running returnable series. We've done three seasons of Catwalk; I want some other shows for that slot."
A spokesperson for the channel has subsequently confirmed that the programme will not return because it "had come to a natural end". The show lasted for a total of three series.
Series 1
The first series of Project Catwalk featured
Elizabeth Hurley as the host and was judged by a panel including designer
Julien Macdonald and
''ELLE'' magazine Editor-in-Chief Lorraine Candy. 12 contestants competed in a series of competitions. Kirsty Doyle eventually went on to win Series 1 after featuring alongside the other two finalists (Debi Walker, Matthew Bowkett) at
London Fashion Week. The three models to reach the final were
Gemma Chan, Anna Korzun and Jessica Roffey.
Series 2
Series 2 of Project Catwalk premiered on 8 January 2007 on Sky One
It was hosted by
Kelly Osbourne and Lorraine Candy was replaced by
Grazia
''Grazia'' (; Italian for ''Grace'') is a weekly women's magazine that originated in Italy with international editions printed in Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Colombia, France, Germany. Greece, Indonesia, I ...
magazine's editor Paula Reed. The winner was Wayne Aveline.
Series 3
Series 3 of Project Catwalk premiered 9 January 2008, and featured 13 contestants vying for the prizes.
Nick Ede
Nick Ede is a Scottish public relations, popular culture expert and television presenter. He runs the London-based PR agency East of Eden and he lives in Hackney. He is a philanthropist and charity activist, popular culture and brand expert.
B ...
replaced MacDonald as judge.
Kelly Osbourne returned as the show's host. The winner was Jasper Garvida.
References
External links
''Project Catwalk'' official web site*
*
{{Sky1
2006 British television series debuts
2008 British television series endings
2000s British reality television series
Sky UK original programming
Television series by Endemol
English-language television shows
British fashion