All The PR News That Fits

Darlings, there is much to discuss regarding the ongoing sagas of Nina Garcia and Lifetime. We've got a lot of ground to cover, so let's get to it.

First up, MediaBistro:

"The end of Garcia's tenure as fashion director seems to have been foreshadowed by the arrival of Joe Zee, Elle's creative director. Following in the path Garcia forged as editor-turned-reality star, Zee is slated to be the magazine's newest editor-turned-television personality. He and fashion news director Anne Slowey are wrapping production on their first season of Perfect Fit, Elle's sophomore reality television effort that will air later this year on the CW."

Well, at least we can all breathe easy knowing Slowey won't be tootying up Project Runway. We'll be watching Perfect Fit of course. Or will they be calling it Fashionista? According to Fashion Week Daily:

"Nina Garcia may have parted ways with Elle as fashion director, but in lieu of an outright dismissal, Fashion Week Daily has learned that Garcia has been offered a new role at the magazine: editor-at-large or contributing editor.

Should Garcia, whose contract was up for renewal this month, accept this lesser role, she would be allowed to remain on Project Runway for at least one more season. The hit reality series has just started casting for season five, with Elle as a confirmed partner, and will start filming June 8 and premiere on Bravo. According to sources, however, Elle is not expected to continue its partnership with Project Runway once the show transitions over to the Lifetime Network beginning with season six.

"Garcia's exit from the magazine is expected to rest months of rumors and gossip over unrest at the fashion title that began when Zee arrived at the beginning of 2007 as creative director. It's no secret that there were ever-increasing tensions between Garcia and Zee--largely reflective of the old guard versus the new guard--where the former saw several colleagues from her heyday leave the company, including art Guillaume Bruneau and style director Isabel Dupré. Since then, Myers has also taken on a more active role on the fashion side and has made several significant changes to the structure of the magazine, including taking international creative director Gilles Bensimon's office and authorizing Carter Smith to replace Bensimon in shooting this and next month's covers.

Not to be outdone, Zee was recently given his own monthly column in Elle, which, by coincidence or not, appears in the front of book ahead of Garcia's column. Zee has also been busy preparing for Elle's new reality show on the CW network called Fashionista. Produced by Tyra Banks and Ken Mok of America's Next Top Model fame, the show follows contestants eager to become a fashion assistant at the magazine. The show will air this summer."

So it looks like Elle is on board for Season 5 and possibly Nina too. But what about The Duchess? Let's turn to The Hollywood Reporter:

"But Weinstein disclosed that Lifetime would televise two new Weinstein Co. reality series: "Project Pygmalion," in development for 2009, which will remake the winner and give her entre into high society, and a series looking at "Project Runway" from the models' eyes ("Models of the Runway") that will air in November along with the reality series' sixth-season premiere."

"Gunn, Heidi Klum and Michael Kors are on board to continue with the new seasons, though the fate of Nina Garcia remains uncertain after a change at Elle, where she worked, and which is a major sponsor. Weinstein said that he was still trying to work that out. "Nina wants to stay with us and we want her to be," Weinstein said. "

Sorry, but that Project Pygmalion thing sounds lame as hell. Makeover shows are a dime a dozen and not even Tim Gunn could make it work with his. There was a time when a show like Models of the Runway would have excited us, but now model shows are becoming a dime a dozen too. Of course we're going to check both shows out, but oddly enough, it's Slowey's show that sounds like the most fun to us.

UPDATE: [Via WWD] "...more details emerged of the behind-the-scenes wrangling between the former Elle fashion director, “Project Runway” and the magazine as Garcia continued to mull over whether to accept a contributing editor’s role at the title after being pushed out on Friday. But even if she does, it’s only a temporary gig — sources said her time at Elle would end by the sixth season of “Project Runway,” whether or not the magazine remains a partner. That means she’d no longer be involved with Elle as of mid-October." [...] "Meanwhile, The Weinstein Co., the show’s producer, is hedging its bets, as sources say it remains in talks to bring back Garcia; the fourth judge, Michael Kors; Elle, and other partners and sponsors for the sixth season. Whether the show would rehire Garcia if Elle remains involved and she isn’t associated with the publication still isn’t clear (as if so much else is?)."

[Photos: Mark Von Holden/WireImage/Patrick McMullan courtesy of nymag.com]