Tim Gunn reveals some of the shady things in the Project Runway contestants' contracts
Although it was widely reported at the time that Jay McCarroll, the first winner of Project Runway, turned down the $100,000 grand prize, he said he wasn't allowed to get into the specifics of why, saying only that the prize came with too many contractual obligations. In this recent interview, former Project Runway mentor Tim Gunn reveals that the
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Before they enter these competitions, Bravo’s reality show contestants already forfeit a fair number of creative freedoms, signing away their life-story rights in perpetuity, agreeing not to appear on other networks without Bravo’s permission for a full year after their shows have aired. They also surrender the goods they create during the competitions.
Laura Bennett from S3 is the only former contestant who bought back some of her work. Her husband spent $13,000 on the PR website to purchase seven items from her Bryant Park collection.
When Laura failed to notify Bravo that she’d signed a contract to host a style show on MSN.com, they called and demanded an explanation. She countered with: “What do you have to offer me?”
Jay McCarroll has the fewest qualms about offending Bravo of all. “The only gig that [Bravo president] Lauren Zalaznick ever offered me after the show was to decorate her daughter’s lunch box for some charity thing for her school.” Zalaznick says she has no recollection of this request.
Santino on the judges: “Between Heidi and Michael Kors and Nina Garcia, the judges were like a three-headed monster. They all basically have the same point of view. I mean, have one avant-garde person who has an art-as-fashion approach, rather than fashion-as-commerce approach.”
Santino on Michael Kors as a designer: “I think Michael Kors has made an excellent business for himself appropriating everything Halston already did.” Then he reconsiders, but the effect makes the insult more stinging. “I mean, his clothes aren’t so bad that they make me upset or mad. They’re just conservative and, in a lot of ways, boring clothes.”
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