At this moment in time, it’s hard to think about shopping for much besides groceries, paper towels, sanitizing wipes, and maybe a new pair of sweatpants. With uncertainty touching every industry, it’s about saving money for most of us.
Which is why it might seem like questionable timing for Amazon Prime Video to launch its new fashion competition series, Making the Cut, which literally wants viewers to shop. But the producers of the Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn-hosted series don’t necessarily agree. If anything, they say, they’re proud to invest in a show that’s less about creating an expensive runway look, and more about launching a global brand that’s affordable (all items are around $100 or less), size inclusive (US sizes will range from XXS to XXL), and has worldwide appeal.
“We know it’s a crazy time,” says executive producer, Sara Rea, by phone from Los Angeles. “My hope is that we can offer some levity and an escape.”
The 10-episode series has all the ingredients to do that, starting with hosts and executive producers Klum and Gunn, who help guide the contestants, offer constructive feedback, and explore each city along the way. The former Project Runway alums have partnered with Rea (who also executive produced Project Runway) to reinvent the genre by going bigger and bolder, while also being realistic to the needs of consumers.
“We spent 10 years together doing everything we could to invent and reinvent Project Runway—but under tight parameters,” Rea says. “We always had big ideas, so when this opportunity presented itself [where the consumer can buy the winning look after each episode in Amazon’s marketplace], we wanted to blow it out of the water and do something super-special and super-different.”
Klum tells Glamour that’s the main reason she wanted to be part of this new endeavor as well. “What inspired me was getting to do things that I couldn’t do for 17 seasons on [Project Runway], like traveling. It was important to show our contestants different places around the world—such as Paris, Tokyo, and New York—to help inspire them, plus amazing guest judges [like Naomi Campbell, Joseph Altuzarra, Nicole Richie, Chiara Ferragni talk about their life story and their experience.”
