NBC signs up celebrity mentors for 'Fashion Star' - MSN India Entertainment

13/07/2011

US broadcaster NBC has announced that philanthropist, actress, author and creative director Nicole Richie - along with American menswear designer John Varvatos - will serve as celebrity mentors on 'Fashion Star, the new reality competition series that will search for the next big brand in fashion. They join previously announced celebrity mentor Jessica Simpson and host Elle Macpherson.

NBC and Universal Media Studios Paul Telegdy executive VP, alternative programming said, "NBC could not have asked for better additions to the celebrity mentors than John Varvatos, one of the most well-known menswear designers in the nation and international style icon and creative director, Nicole Richie. Both are trendsetters and tastemakers and their design skills and expertise will be invaluable to our contestants on the series."

Electus CEO, founder Ben Silverman who is the executive producer of 'Fashion Star', said: "Jessica, Nicole, John and Elle make the most exciting team we have ever worked with on a reality television show and we are thrilled to feature such an extraordinary group of mentors and designers". The series is designed not only to groom and discover America's next popular brand, but through a new format twist, it will allow viewers at home to buy the winning designs each week. The show will target real-time consumer feedback and interactivity and will span all categories of fashion from suits and dresses to lingerie, denim, bathing suits, accessories and more.

Fashion designers featured on the show will include everyone from the stay-at-home mom who makes her own clothes to sell at the local flea market, to the recent design school graduate who just landed his or her first job at a design house. The contestants will be coming to the competition with their own existing lines and challenged to take their brand to the next level. All the contestants will be put to the test to see how they react in a variety of real-world scenarios to determine who has the vision and desire to build a fashion empire and achieve their dream. With top experts as their guides and mentors throughout the process, designers will have to be as adept in the business of fashion as they are in their creativity as it's up to them to make their brand a national reality.

In the end, one designer will successfully combine fashion and business to become the next "Fashion Star" and will receive the prize of a lifetime - an exclusive capsule line in all three retailers.

Source: Indian Television