‘Launch My Lineup’: Bravo’s new fashion show has some familiar faces
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Bravo’s latest attempt to fill the gaping hole left by the departure of ‘Project Runway’ is ‘Launch My Line,’ a reality series that pairs10 professionals who dream of launching their own clothing lines with 10 established fashion designers, with the teams of two competing for both glory (the winning ‘professional’ gets their line launched) and cold, hard cash (the established designer in the pair gets $50,000).
The hourlong show’s various permutations and personalities have been rumbled about for months (first under the title ‘Celebrity Sew-Off’), but on Monday the full cast of contestants and judges was announced, and anyone with even a casual knowledge of the Los Angeles style scene will probably recognize a name or two from the SoCal-heavy list.
Twin Canadian designers (in my estimation, that description alone qualifies them for a reality show) Dan and Dean Caten (of Dsquared) are the co-hosts, with local retailer Lisa Kline as one of the judges and Scoop boutique co-founder Stefani Greenfield as the other.
Update*[12:27 PM: I forgot to mention that the eight-episode show was shot at several locations right here in the Los Angeles area -- including one challenge shot on Venice Beach.]
Eight of the 10 contestants and nine of the 10 established designers currently hang their hats in the Los Angeles area. We’ll spare you the whole list (you can find them all detailed here) but thought we’d point out a couple that caught our eye: fashion scribe Merle Ginsberg, who used to sit a lobbed Louboutin’s distance away from me at Fairchild Publications’ West Coast offices, where she worked for W magazine and Women’s Wear Daily (and is probably the only contestant who has slept with Warren Zevon), and perennial hat-wearing fashion week fixture Patrick McDonald (his bio says he’s known as ‘The Dandy’ to fashionistas everywhere, though I’ve always just referred to him as ‘the cat in the hat’).
Also in the mix are an architect, an event planner, a choreographer, a stylist and a DJ. With that kind of lineup, it looks like the cast could build and launch a viable Los Angeles Fashion Week all by itself.
Now, why hasn’t someone made that a reality show yet? We’re waiting.
-- Adam Tschorn
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‘Launch My Line’ is slated to premiere September 16 at 10 pm ET/PT on Bravo.
Top photo: ‘Professionals’ competing to launch their own line are (left to right) Kevin Black, Louanna Rawls, Vanessa Gonzalez, Kathy Rose, Dan Karaty, Merle Ginsberg, Marilyn Crawford, Patrick McDonald, Eric Cubeechee, and David Applebaum. Credit: Pete Tangen / Bravo RV
Lower photo: (left to right) Launch My Line’ co-hosts Dean Caten and Dan Caten and judges Stephanie Greenfield and Lisa Kline.