Season 2
Fashion Star is an American reality competition television series created by Rick Ringbakk in which contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted in time, materials and theme. Their designs are judged, orders are placed and one or more designers are eliminated each week.
The series aired in the USA on NBC from 13 March, 2012 to 10 May, 2013. There are 20 hour-long episodes in two seasons.
Fashion Star premiered in South Africa on M-Net Series Reality on Friday 12 July 2013, at 21h30. It later aired on Vuzu. See "Seasons" below for seasonal broadcast dates and times.
Season 2 originally aired on M-Net Series Reality from 15 November, 2013 to 17 January, 2014, on Fridays at 21h30. New episodes broadcast weekly.
Season 2 premiered on Vuzu on Thursday 1 May 2014, at 20h30. New episodes broadcast weekly. There are 10 episodes in the second and final season.
Season 2
Fashion Star launches its second season featuring celebrity mentors Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie and John Varvatos, and television presenter and Glamour Magazine's fashion editor-at-large Louise Roe as host.
Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue return to the show, with specialty fashion retailer Express joining as the third buyer this season.
Fashion Star gives 12 eager young designers the chance to win a multi-million dollar prize of launching their original collections in three of the nation's largest fashion retailers.
Each week, the contestants are given a challenge to design clothing with a certain look, feel and function. Working with their designated team, the mentors offer insight and advice to contestants as they design their creations, shop for materials and oversee the production of their garments.
The culmination of their efforts comes with an exhilarating fashion show during which they display their work to the three buyers: Caprice Willard of Macy's, Terron E. Schaefer of Saks Fifth Avenue and Erika DeSalvatore of Express.
In the show's most ambitious and dramatic twist, the buyers make on-the-spot decisions to purchase and carry the designs exclusively in their stores - pledging thousands of dollars in orders and often going head-to-head to bid on an item.
Those designs become available immediately after the broadcast both online and in select stores the next day. What viewers see on TV that night will be on the streets and in stores in the blink of an eye - and with just a single trip down the runway, Fashion Star can change the lives and fortunes of these aspiring designers forever.
Each week, one of the designers is eliminated.
From New York and Los Angeles to Dallas and Austin, the designers featured on the show include a talented and inspired group of young professionals, many of whom have held jobs with major design houses and come to the competition having sold their own lines to major retail outlets.
Fashion is a highly competitive and fluid business, however, and the contestants will be 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 his or her dream.
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 - $3,000,000 in orders for capsule collections in Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and Express stores.
Fashion Star won Best Branded Format at the FRAPA Format Awards at MIPCOM. The series was nominated for a precedent-setting three awards at the annual convention including Best Competition Reality Format, Best Brand-Driven Format and Best Multi-Platform Format.
Fashion Star also took home Best Social Commerce or Marketing Program at the 2012 Social TV Awards.
The Fashion Star format was developed by Ben Silverman of Electus, Rick Ringbakk of Emmy Award-winning 5x5 Media and E.J. Johnston and James Deutch of EJD Productions.
The show is executive-produced by Elle Macpherson, Ben Silverman of Electus, Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth of Magical Elves, Rick Ringbakk of 5x5 Media and EJ Johnston and James Deutch of EJD Productions.
Seasons
Season 1 (10 episodes)
Channel: M-Net Series Reality | Premiere: 12 Jul 2013 | Finale: 13 Sep 2013 | Fri, 21h30
Channel: Vuzu | Premiere: 2 Oct 2013 | Finale: 4 Dec 2013 | Wed, 20h30
Season 2 (10 episodes)
Channel: M-Net Series Reality | Premiere: 15 Nov 2013 | Finale: 17 Jan 2014 | Fri, 21h30
Channel: Vuzu | Premiere: 1 May 2014 | Finale: 3 Jul 2014 | Thu, 20h30