This week our designers face THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IN "PROJECT RUNWAY" HISTORY. Oh my goodness. What is it? Design a dress for Michelle Obama to wear? Many a fashion career trajectory has been skyrocketed by Mrs. O, right, Jason Wu? No. It is designing a dress for Heidi Klum. Oh. For her to wear on the cover of Marie Claire magazine, which yes, is a sponsor of the show. Oh.
This is a case of infinite-loop shameless plugging, with all roads leading to "Project Runway." The designers create a look for Heidi, who is the host and a producer of the show. This design will then be worn on the cover of the magazine that sponsors the show. Repeat until the show moves to PBS.
Joanna Coles, the stern English matriarch and editor in chief of Marie Claire, gives the designers some details to consider when designing a dress to be used on the cover of a magazine. She cautions against using black or any patterned fabric, because it will detract from the print that needs to appear there. She advises that they focus on the top half of the dress and make it eye-catching; it needs to stand out in a veritable sea of newsprint. Someone throws out the statistic that a consumer chooses a magazine on a newstand within three seconds. So it has to pack a visual wallop.