Essay On Project Runway

When asking yourself which media outlet continues to offer the most influential presence on our culture the answer is obvious. Television serves as the leading unifying media instrument in our society. Television has always reflected cultural changes and the increasing popularity of certain networks is due to reality television. This genre of television creates the concept of the “instant celebrity”. One example of a reality show that literally promises its participants fame and fortune is Project Runway.

Project Runway first premiered December of 2004. It has since had fourteen consecutive seasons and a series of successful spinoffs. In each episode the contestants are challenged to design the best themed garment and are restricted in time, budget and materials. Their models are judged by notable fashion icons and contestants are eliminated each week until they are down to three designers, four if the competition is tough. These finalists then have twelve weeks with a budget of $8000 to complete a fashion line to be shown at New York fashion week. The winner of Project Runway is then chosen to receive their luxurious prizes to start their own design label, with the most recent season’s prize package equaling half a million dollars.

The purpose of Project Runway is to entertain and enlighten audiences as hopefuls compete for their fashion fame and glory. Being a reality show with competitors who have raw authentic talent, Project Runway undeniably achieves its goal. Along with being one of the few reality shows based on fashion design, the reputation of the show and its stars help to give the aspiring designers the opportunities and publicity to become everything they imagined themselves to be. Project Runway is a reality show with substance. There doesn’t have to be ignorant drama to keep ratings up. America has tuned in for the last eleven years to admire art and root for their favorite designer’s dream to become reality.
Over the course of the semester we’ve studied the effects mass media has on our culture. There is a theory stating that media content has a limited impact on audiences because they know it isn’t real. One of the counterarguments claims that reality shows are intended to represent real people. However Project Runway contributes more to mass communication than your average lifestyle reality show. Projects Runway’s objective is to help aspiring fashion designers break into the fashion industry. Project Runway doesn’t glamourize excessive drinking, casual sex or other activities of loose moral conduct. Project Runway without doubt has a positive influence on our society.
Project Runway has also had a constructive impact on myself.

I have always been interested in the arts, in design as well as fashion. Although I know how to sew, I cannot say I want to pursue a career as a fashion designer. The show however has given me a behind the scenes look at the industry and has inspired me to become a fashion merchandiser. I think the ability the show has on bringing out someone’s potential is its greatest strength. A weakness of the show might be that sometimes the wrong contestant is eliminated but that’s more of a matter of opinion. Before Project Runway fashion was an industry the average person didn’t know much about, but since 2004 it has inspired thousands of people to pursue their ambitions, including

myself.
Reality television hasn’t always been held in high regard. Project Runway changed this by shifting away from artificial drama and showcasing the talent and passion of aspiring designers instead. The show gives you insight to the fashion industry, it gives designers a voice and gave them a household name. Although the prizes have become more and more extravagant the show has never lost its integrity. Project Runway remains to be about real people with genuine talent.