The one thing Angela Lindvall doesn’t like about “Project Runway All-Stars” is, sadly, herself. “I watched it with my family and I just wanted to hide behind the pillow,” she said. “The actual filming of it was really fun, but after watching it, I don’t really know how I’m settling into [the job]. It’s definitely tough to watch myself.”
The self-effacing model and actress didn’t do as badly as the reality show’s host as she fears she did, and, actually, having a new host is part of the charm of this new season. Along with Lindvall being the new host, there’s also a new set of judges–designers Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman–and Marie Claire Editor-in-Chief Joanna Coles as the mentor.
“Isaac and Georgina are really fun,” said Lindvall. “Isaac is so funny; he has so many descriptions for things, and Georgina is very knowledgeable in design.”
Another new factor to the show is the amount of prizes. The prizes this year is probably one of the biggest prize sets in “PR” history, coming in at around half of a million dollars.
“The stakes are definitely higher,” said Lindvall. “There’s a lot of drama–for one challenge, the contestants only have six hours to make an outfit. Having all of these personalities that have been on the show before makes it more intense. It’s really unique.”
The high stakes also make for some hard cuts. “Sending a designer home is definitely the toughest part of my job,” she said. “Sometimes there’s so little time to design something and there’s so much effort put into it. The designer could be a great designer, but we have to send them home because they failed on one challenge. That’s really hard, because we really want to see what they would do next.”
“Project Runway All-Stars” has tons of drama, but it is also a refreshing look at what “Project Runway” is supposed to be about: the fashion.
“It’s looking at [the series] with new, fresh eyes on everything,” said Lindvall. “It’s raising the bar when it comes to high fashion.” Lindvall, who has been in the fashion industry for 15 years, said that ultimately when it comes down to it, “[f]ashion’s supposed to be fun.” “Project Runway All-Stars” seems to embody that sentiment.
Make sure to watch “Project Runway All-Stars” each Thursday night at 9/8c on Lifetime.
