Christian was really the first person we thought of. “So to have to replace Tim Gunn is obviously a huge thing. “Tim is such a beloved person on the show - in a lot of ways, he and Heidi were the heart and soul of the show from the beginning,” says executive producer Dan Cutforth. His creations have been worn by the likes of Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Amy Adams, Cardi B, Leslie Jones, Laverne Cox, Octavia Spencer and Regina King. And his line - which goes up to size 28, a rarity in high-end designer clothes - sells at select retailers, including Neiman Marcus, as well as through his website and his store in lower Manhattan. He’s had design partnerships with Payless, Puma, Starbucks and Spiegel, and has launched a fragrance. He began his label after his “Project Runway” win and has spent the years since building his empire. He is easily the most successful alumnus in the show’s history. It’s hardly surprising producers would come calling on Siriano for his expertise. The show is also amplifying its inclusion efforts with a more size-diverse group of models, as well as the show’s first transgender model. The new season will feature 16 designers from all over the world, including Colombia and Samoa - one contestant is a Syrian refugee. Meanwhile, model and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss takes over as host. She’s joined by new judges Elaine Welteroth, the former editor of Teen Vogue, and designer Brandon Maxwell, who recently dressed Lady Gaga for the Oscars. Judge Nina Garcia, the editor of Elle, is the only remaining original cast member. Its 16th season, which aired on Lifetime, averaged 1.77 million viewers - about half what it averaged in its heyday. That’s what Bravo is hoping for as it seeks to revive the threadbare reality competition. When it got closer and then closer and then closer, then I was like, ‘Oh, this is like a thing.’ ” I feel like I was probably like, ‘Oh, cool’ I really didn’t wrap my brain around it. “I was very focused on opening my store in New York and I wasn’t paying attention to other projects so much,” Siriano says. (Both are developing a new fashion series for Amazon.) But Gunn and Klum announced last September they would not return to the series. But when he got the call to join, he had just assumed the show’s veterans, Gunn and host Heidi Klum, would still be onboard. Siriano says he knew the show was moving to Bravo from Lifetime. “It came about in such a random way because I was definitely not thinking about it at all,” Siriano says. He steps into the role made famous by Tim “Make It Work” Gunn. When the 17th season of “Project Runway” launches Thursday on Bravo - returning to its original home after an 11-season run on Lifetime - Siriano will make his debut as the show’s new mentor for contestants. Now he’s going back to his TV alma mater in a different role. In 2008, the year he reached the legal drinking age, Siriano became the winner of the fourth season of fashion-centric reality competition “Project Runway.” (He remains the youngest ever to win the top prize in the show’s run.) “That was a crazy long time ago,” he says sheepishly. Which brings us to a hotel bar in Pasadena, a few weeks prior to the Oscars look that stopped red carpet traffic, where Siriano is reflecting on the platform that helped launch it all. Quite the “Where are they now?” turnaround for a former reality show contestant.
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