Lifetime’s Project Runway begins season 11 with teams this time out and 16 new designers. One of them named Katelyn Pankoke makes wedding dresses in Chicago with a southern Florida style. The judges include Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia and newbie Zac Posen added into the mix.
Let’s find out how Katelyn makes it work in The Big Apple and the Windy City.
Jerry Nunn: Hi, Katelyn. I can’t believe we haven’t met before. Are you one of those designers that works all the time indoors?
Katelyn Pankoke: I never get out. Have you seen how pale I look in those pictures? [laughs]
JN: I saw you wearing the side pony with your hair.
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Joanna Coles is now newly appointed editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine, being the largest women’s monthly magazine here in the United States.
She left Marie Claire where she worked since 2006 even winning Editor of the Year by Adweek.
She guest judged on several episodes of the reality series Project Runway and now returns on the second season of Project Runway All Stars as mentor to the designers.
Nunn on the Run talked to Coles the day before the series debuted.
Jerry Nunn: Hi, Joanna. From the beginning did you ever want to be a designer?
Joanna Coles: As a child I endlessly designed clothes. I have pages of truly horrible designs and was fascinated by drawing when I was younger. I was better at writing and got channeled in that direction. Every once in a while I get the opportunity to work with a designer and I would love doing it. I wouldn’t have been good enough to be a designer but as a child I dreamt about it certainly.
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German model Heidi Klum has made the fashion television show Project Runway a hit for ten seasons.
After winning a modeling contest on a fluke by entering on the suggestion of friend, Klum quickly rose to stardom flying away with a Victoria’s Secret’s Angel campaign and gracing many magazine covers such as Elle and Vogue.
She has hosted Germany’s Next Topmodel as well as guest sang on several musician’s singles and voiced several characters for movies. She has ranked as the highest paid supermodel on Forbes 15 Top-Earning Supermodels in the past.
Klum created Project Runway along with several collaborators including Real World producers Bunim/Murray. It originally aired on Bravo in 2004 before moving to Lifetime Television in 2009 to the present.
Fashion designers are encouraged to “make it work” facing challenges and an elimination each episode at Parsons The New School for Design before the final three compete with their collection at New York Fashion Week in Bryant Park. Judges Klum, designer Michael Kors, and Marie Claire fashion director Nina Garcia along with a guest judge give critical feedback to each competitor after their piece walks the runway.
Faster than you can say “auf wiedersehen” we had a little chat before the new season started.
Jerry Nunn: Hello, Heidi. What has it been like being on Project Runway for the tenth season?
Heidi Klum: It’s been amazing. It’s been ten years and we all would’ve never thought that we would make it this far. Michael always says that we’re on longer than I Love Lucy, which we always laugh about and I can’t believe it. Ten seasons is a milestone. It’s a long time.
And I have to tell you even though we’ve been doing it for ten seasons I still love coming to work every season. I love being with Michael and I love being with Nina and Tim. They’re all so much fun, and we have become a family.
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Brooke Elliott has been knocking them dead on the Broadway stage from Taboo to The Pirate Queen and for four seasons on Drop Dead Diva on the Lifetime Channel.
Playing lawyer Jane Bingum, a plus size woman who has her body inhabited by a wannabe model named Deb Dobkins, makes for comedy and drama at the same time. The show tackles relationships, and court cases with a strong cast including gay fave Margaret Cho.
Nunn on the Run caught up with the multi talented Elliott right before the new season started.
Jerry Nunn: Hi, Brooke. Good to finally track you down. I have been trying for a few seasons and so excited about talking to you today.
Brooke Elliott: Oh good.
JN: You are originally born in Minnesota?
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Project Runway now has its own spin off with the show Project Accessory on Lifetime Television. Chicago’s Diego Rocha was just voted off but appears in the finale this week. This award winning handbag designer brings his Brazilian style to the table creating items that can enhance any outfit. We talked to Rocha about how he makes his life work with a purse.
Jerry Nunn: Oi, Diego. You are from Brazil…
Diego Rocha: I am, originally from Sao Paulo, Brazil.
JN: Then you moved to New York.
DR: I moved to New York in 2002 then I moved to Chicago in 2005. I have been here for a while actually.
JN: So how do you like Chicago?
DR: I love Chicago. It is such a great city. The people are amazing but I hate the weather very much. Like everybody else right? But I have a great clientele here so I am staying.
JN: You have your own storefront?
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Roseanne Barr started with stand-up then changed the way sitcoms were viewed with her show Roseanne airing for nine seasons. With the Lifetime Channel she seeks to tackle the reality show circuit in Hawaii on a macadamia nut farm no less. See why Roseanne’s life is nuts these days with this candid interview.
Jerry Nunn: Hi, Roseanne. I just watched episodes of your new reality show and saw you cursing on a tractor. You were raised very conservatively right?
Roseanne Barr: Yes, I came from a really conservative place, the reddest state there is, Salt Lake City, Utah. That is where I grew up and started thinking everything was ridiculous.
JN: Do you go back and visit there?
RB: I do and I gave a great big speech at a rally there recently.
JN: What compelled you to open up your life for this television show?
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Michael Drummond takes on the new bigger, better eighth season of Project Runway as a contestant and king of knitting!
Jerry Nunn: Hi, Michael. You and your fellow gay A.J. Thouvenot on the show are both from St. Louis, correct?
Michael Drummond: Did you just say, “My fellow gay?” WERK! Yes, we both wound up on the show!
JN: Is that a big design area, Missouri?
MD: No, there is not really a big design school in my hometown. A.J. went to Lindenwood University. But there is a really nurturing underground design community here. I knew A.J. before this experience.
JN: Oh, you already knew him before the show? Was that weird? Did you get along with Peach from Chicago?
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