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Last night in New York City, Lifetime hosted the premiere of the third season of Project Runway All Stars. In a room packed with Project Runway alumni, All Stars judges, the show's new mentor Zanna Roberts Rassi and new host Alyssa Milano, we got lots of scoop on the upcoming season.
Milano was surprisingly open. The excellent host, who was hired after the franchise's executive producer Harvey Weinstein spotted her co-hosting an episode of Fashion Police, had lots of exciting info to share about the upcoming season. She said to expect a challenge where, "designers have to design a date dress for Marge Simpson—and the winner gets immortalized in an episode of The Simpsons." Also look out for a punk challenge, a creepy avant garde one and an unconventional materials challenge using school supplies. We'll also see guests Deborah Harry, Elle Tahari and a very witty Gabouray Sidibe passing judgment on the designers.
Milano confessed to us that she is a long time fan of Project Runway, so going into this season, she already had some favorite contestants: Jeffrey Sebelia, Korto Momolu and Mychael Knight. She feared this might turn into a problem if she wasn't careful, explaining, "I had to remind myself, 'I have to judge them based on what they are doing now and not based on their prior seasons.'"
And yes, you read that right: Season three winner Jeffrey Sebelia is a contestant on All Stars, as are season six winner Irina Shabayeva and season seven winner Seth Aaron Henderson. With three former Project Runway winners competing, we wondered if one of them was a lock to win the new season. But All Stars judge and Marchesa designer Georgina Chapman, who was also at last night's party, hinted that this wasn't an issue. She shared, "They all brought something different this season. You might be surprised what you see."
We were also curious if the other designers were worried about competing against the former winners. Season ten contestant and new All Star Christopher Palu said he was more concerned what the former winners would be like to deal with.
I didn't know from their season 'til now how much they'd grown. Jeffrey was years and years ago. I was fifteen when I watched him. So to see him now? Is he still an asshole? Is he an amazing person? But he was one of the best people that I met. I really enjoyed his personality. He was great.
If any of his fellow All Stars contestants were concerned about competing against three former Project Runway winners, they should actually feel relieved, because it turns out, there could have been four. Season ten winner Dmitry Sholokov told us, "I was actually offered to do it, but I was too busy. I had a [fashion] show in Panama, so I was a little bit overwhelmed. But definitely, I would consider doing it." Sounds like we can look forward to at least one former winner joining All Stars Season Four.
Project Runway All Stars airs Thursday nights at 9pm Eastern on Lifetime.
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· All Project Runway All Stars Posts [Racked]
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