09 September 2011

Lifetime has "Project Accessory"

Molly Sims
Oh, boy. I don't know how good this will be, but I'm sold.

This show had me at "shoes, bags and one-of-a-kind jewelry"! SHOES!!! I'm weak for shoes!!!

Cable television Lifetime is coming up with a new RealityTV competition show called Project Accessory, a Project Runway spinoff.

Hosted by model Molly Sims, who is joined by Kenneth Cole and Ariel Foxman as judges, and Eva Lorenzotti as mentor (the show's Tim Gunn), Project Accessory will start its run after Project Runway All Stars (which btw, is a totally different production with a different host, set of judges and mentor).

Kenneth Cole was guest judge on Project Runway last week.  Did not remember him looking pleased with the clothes he saw. Such high standards. Afraid!

I wish this press release had the exact air date. Anway, here it is:
The devil’s in the details! The multi-billion dollar accessories business is brought into the spotlight with Lifetime’s new competition series, Project Accessory, hosted by actress and model Molly Sims. With the help of lifestyle expert Eva Lorenzotti as their mentor, 12 enterprising artists will be put to the test to create the newest and hottest trends in accessories as they compete to dazzle Sims and judges designer Kenneth Cole and InStyle Editor, Ariel Foxman. Project Accessory will premiere later this year on Lifetime, following Project Runway All Stars.

Project Accessory will feature 12 designers who will compete and showcase their unique vision for accessories and show audiences how to transform any outfit. Throughout the intense competition, their ingenuity will be pushed to the edge in creating one-of-a-kind jewelry, belts, bags, shoes, headpieces and other wares as they showcase their talents and ability to revolutionize the accessories business.

Lifetime has ordered eight 60-minute episodes of Project Accessory, which will be produced by The Weinstein Company and Goodbye Pictures. Executive producers include Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein (Co-Chairmen of The Weinstein Company), and Meryl Poster and Barbara Schneeweiss of The Weinstein Company, Rich Bye and Fred Pichel of Goodbye Pictures, Sarah Emanuel and Rob Sharenow, Gena McCarthy, David Hillman and Kim Chessler of Lifetime.

Sims began her career as a model and has worked with CoverGirl and has appeared on the cover of French Vogue and in Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit Issues in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2006. She is best known for her role as “Delinda Deline,” for all five seasons of the NBC series Las Vegas and has appeared in several comedy films, including The Benchwarmers, Yes Man, The Pink Panther 2 and Fired Up. Sims was also the host of MTV’s House of Style. Most recently, Sims used her extensive knowledge of the adornment of jewelry by developing her own jewelry line, ‘Grayce by Molly Sims.’

Cole is a renowned American designer and humanitarian known for being on the frontline of fashion trends and AIDS awareness. A business that began over 25 years ago out of the back of a 40-foot trailer, Kenneth Cole Productions has risen to the top of American fashion at lightning speed and set the standards for others to meet. With nearly 100 Kenneth Cole retail stores in the US and 80 internationally, Cole has been able to unite his fashion instincts and business acumen with his philanthropic convictions. As Chairman to The Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR), and a founding board member to the homeless organization HELP USA, Cole has made it his business to fuse fashion with social action. Cole is also a board member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) and The Sundance Institute. Kenneth Cole Productions is a full lifestyle, dual gender brand. Cole goes far beyond lending his name to a line of clothing and accessories. He is the ultimate driving force behind all the brands and the Company’s creative director in all areas from design to marketing. Cole resides in Westchester, New York with his wife Maria Cuomo Cole and their three daughters.

Foxman is the Editor of InStyle, the trusted style authority for over 10 million women and the leading fashion magazine in terms of newsstand sales, ad pages and reader affluence. Foxman oversees the monthly magazine, its 17 international editions, and brand extensions including InStyle.com, InStyle Hair, InStyle Makeover and InStyle books. He was named to the post in September 2008, at age 34, becoming the title’s first male Editor. He began his career at Crown Publishers and paid his magazine dues as an assistant at both Details and The New Yorker. Foxman was also the founding Editor of Conde Nast’s Cargo. In 2011, he was featured in Out’s annual “Power 50”, and in 2009 was named one of the most powerful fashion magazine Editors by Forbes, in addition to being featured in The Advocate’s “Forty Under 40.” In 2008, Foxman appeared as himself on an episode of Gossip Girl. He is a board member of the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard.

Hailed as a “mail-order magnate” by Time and “One of the 10 Most Stylish Women in Fashion” by Vogue, Lorenzotti single-handedly redefined the business of direct marketing to the affluent consumer with the first mailing of the Vivre catalog, which featured two European luxury brands. Her direct marketing adventure, a glossy, oversized catalog beautifully photographed and intelligently presented was specifically targeted to affluent shoppers, a demographic until then overlooked by the direct marketing industry. A Crain’s “40 Under 40,” a finalist for 1010 WINS’ “Tomorrow’s Newsmakers” and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and a member of YPO International, Lorenzotti’s business acumen was honed as an investment banker with the mergers and acquisitions department at Lazard Freres, which she joined after receiving a BA from Barnard College. Born and raised in Switzerland, Lorenzotti’s deep familiarity with the European culture and her multilingual command of five languages, have uniquely positioned her at the center of the rapidly evolving international luxury market. Eva and her husband Lorenzo Lorenzotti reside in Manhattan with their two children, Allegra and Amedeo.