Andy DehnartAfter two seasons hosting the revival of Project Runway on Bravo, Karlie Kloss won’t return for season 19, which will start filming soon.
Judges Nina Garcia, Elaine Welteroth, and Brandon Maxwell are all returning, as is mentor Christian Siriano.
The new season will be start filming “this spring” in New York City, Bravo announced.
The announcement says that Karlie will only be “making guest appearances,” and removed her from the credits as an executive producer.
Kloss and her husband, Joshua Kushner (yep, Jared’s brother), just had a baby in mid-March.
Who will host Project Runway season 19? The announcement does not say. Variety’s Kate Aurthur quotes a production source who says the show is “reimagining the host role.”
Does that just mean they let Christian host it? Karlie has been great, but she’s essentially been a fourth judge. Does the show truly need a host?
Magical Elves have disappeared from Project Runway 19
There’s another change behind the scenes, too.
Seasons 17 and 18 were produced in part by Magical Elves, which created the format before losing it to Lifetime where Bunim-Murray took over production, but the season 19 announcement does not include Magical Elves.
Instead, the two production companies listed are Alfred Street Industries—the relatively new production company created by Magical Elves founders Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz—and Spyglass Media Group.
Spyglass is a production company created by Lantern Entertainment, which bought the rights to the show when The Weinstein Company went bankrupt.
Why was Magical Elves dropped? Will that mean any kind of substantive change, or does it just keep the iconic fashion reality competition in the hands of the people who created it in 2004?
For comparison, here are the producer credits from the past three seasons of press releases:
“Project Runway” is produced by Alfred Street Industries and Spyglass Media Group. Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Nan Strait,Dan Volpe and Meri Haitkin serve as executive producers for Alfred Street Industries. Christian Siriano also serves as executive producer. “Project Runway” is internationally distributed by Fremantle.
“Project Runway” is produced by Magical Elves, Spyglass Media Group, and Alfred Street Industries. Casey Kriley, Jo Sharon, Shea Spencer, and Nan Strait serve as executive producers for Magical Elves. Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz serve as executive producers for Alfred Street Industries. Karlie Kloss and Christian Siriano also serve as executive producers. “Project Runway” is internationally distributed by Fremantle.
“Project Runway” is produced by Magical Elves, Spyglass Media Group and Alfred Street Industries. Gaylen Gawlowski, Casey Kriley and Nan Straitserve as executive producers for Magical Elves. Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz serve as executive producers for Alfred Street Industries. Karlie Kloss, Andy Mitchell and Milos Brajovic also serve as executive producers. “Project Runway” is internationally distributed by Fremantle.