A trio of mimes, dressed up like tall, white palm trees, were moving around quite admirably on stilts. Yet slinky model Heidi Klum was the one complaining about blisters during a lavish party at Seagram’s Plaza along Park Avenue on Monday, June 23, celebrating the erection of the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Dubai.

“I need to sit down—my feet hurt,” said Ms. Klum, clomping away from a scaled-down model of the structure (complete with mini-monorail) in four-inch platform heels. When the Transom respectfully requested more sound bites, she blushingly demurred, saying, “You vil have a lot of commas in there, and a lot of dots.  read more »

A suitcase filled with $15,000 worth of Russell Simmons jewelry was reportedly stolen when one of Mr. Simmons' employees left it in the hallway of a Bleecker Street building for about 30 minutes. [P6]

Heidi Klum says that Project Runway will get a facelift on Lifetime that will include more catch phrases and a "Hollywood flair." [Forbes via The Cut]

Jennifer Lopez stopped by Obama's offices to talk about "matters close to her heart." [People  read more »

Bank Street is a funny place. A man who makes mixed-media rock 'n' roll art, combining old pictures of Mick or Neil or Bob with "nail polish and pieces of burlap combined with gold leaf paint," just bought an expensive 166 Bank Street penthouse from a woman who hosts Germany's Next Topmodel and Project Runway and gets paid a lot to wear pink underwear.

According to a deed filed today in city records, Steve Joester and his wife, Debra, spent $5.35 million for Heidi Klum's penthouse, which, unfortunately for the supermodel, is a quarter million dollars less than the price The Daily News reported a week ago.  read more »

When Lifetime announced in early April that it had managed to yank Project Runway, for $150 million, from its longtime home on Bravo, the only people who seemed happy about the deal were Harvey Weinstein, Project Runway’s producer, whose production company will now get paid $1 million per episode instead of the $600,000 he was making at Bravo; and Lifetime, which saw the deal as the potential cornerstone of a massive rebranding effort. But nearly everyone else, it seemed, was not thrilled. The network better known for showing Golden Girls reruns and made-for-TV movies that usually involved some combination of a woman being stalked, a serial killer and/or a cheating/abusive husband was, not to put too fine a point on it, simply too Middle America for Project Runway fans.

“The thing that concerns us is that they talk about the show in terms of it being a women’s show,” said Tom Fitzgerald, 41, one-half of the blogging team behind the popular Project Rungay blog, which obsessively chronicles every episode as well as any and all behind-the-scenes gossip. “And we’re living proof that that’s not entirely the case. It has a very large gay viewership. It has a very large straight viewership that likes the fact that it’s an urban, intelligent, creative reality show. Our hope is that they don’t forget that.”  read more »

There are only 13 days till the Project Runway finale airs. And while we have a few ideas about who’s going to win—thanks to a certain little bird—the anticipation continues to build. Last night, Bravo aired one of those reality TV reunion episodes, in which almost everyone comes back to the show, where they are filmed fidgeting in a poorly designed set. It gives them a chance to rehash tired feuds, dish about “what happened when the cameras weren’t rolling” and howl at embarrassing outtakes. But this isn’t just any reality series.

In this clip from last night’s episode, host and mentor Tim Gunn straps on his best TV persona to reveal the show’s “fan favorite”—the PR designer that garnered the most viewer votes. The winner gets $10,000 and a bigger head. (This video also reveals a sense of how judge Heidi Klum’s mood—or looser editing—on the reunion episode made the whole thing utterly bizarre. For the first time, Ms. Klum makes three things crystal clear: 1) She really can’t stand eliminee Victorya Hong; 2) Mr. Gunn makes her nervous; 3) $10,000 doesn’t impress her.) So, back to the fan fave, who, Mr. Gunn reveals, won by a landslide. Turns out, viewers absolutely adore…MARION LEE!

No, not really…but those who don’t already know will have to watch the clip to find out. Hint he’s so Posh.

Remember Daniel Vosovic from the second season of Project Runway? Well, the 26-year-old budding designer has been keeping very busy since his successful stint on the Bravo reality show (he won five design challenges). He may have lots of balls in the air, but when it comes to starting his own fashion label, Mr. Vosovic is nothing but slow and cautious.

“Right after the show, I really had to make a decision of what to do,” he told us, before recalling a conversation he had with himself. ‘“Do I want to start a collection or work for someone else? No, I need more experience.’ So I’ve been working on the foundation of what my future company will be. I’m working with my management team now on the launch for my signature line,” he said, adding that the line should launch in about a year and a half. In the meantime, he’s been collaborating with a new hotel chain called NYLO, designing a collection of uniforms for the staff.

Continue reading after the jump.  read more »

Sarah Jessica Parker, the actress who is frequently confused soap-opera-fan-style with Carrie Bradshaw, the character she portrayed on HBO hit series Sex and the City, who was a writer and not a fashion designer anyway (and based on former Observer scribe Candace Bushnell, btw), has been rewarded for being the beneficiary of a fantastic wardrobe: she has her own fashion line!  read more »

Vanity Fair’s James Wolcott summed it up best when he wrote, “It's time to thread that sewing machine, flex those tattoos, and give Tim Gunn something to murmur about before he tidies off like a tight, smart, walking umbrella, to borrow K Tynan's peerless description of John Gielgud.” Mr. Wolcott was referring to, of course, the fourth season of Bravo’s Project Runway, which premiered last night. It didn’t disappoint. Runway fans who missed the episode may want to stop reading this NOW.

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When the new season of Bravo TV's reality series Project Runway debuts on Wednesday, you might notice a change of scenery.

After three seasons housed in the luxury high-rise Atlas building at 66 West 38th Street, the show's competing designers were relocated this summer to the equally luxe New Gotham building at 520 West 43rd Street.  read more »

Project Runway judge Heidi Klum finds America restrictive in many ways, but its citizens can always wear whatever they want, the 34-year-old says in an AP story published this afternoon.

“Well, you can’t go naked,” she reportedly added.

That’s probably a good thing, too. Particularly for Ms. Klum, who finished filming the fourth season of the hugely-popular Bravo series in Manhattan last May. (The premier episode—which features Ms. Klum and her fellow judges, fashion designer Michael Kors and Elle fashion director Nina Garcia—will air this Wednesday at 10 p.m. EST.) “I judge clothes from my perspective, and I’ve been in the business for a long time,” she reportedly said during the interview.

“I started in ’93 and I’ve worn a lot of things, from really cheap things to really expensive things. Things that I didn’t know which way to get into them—I had instructions, and two people helped me. Or things so big and overwhelming I can hardly stand in them: ‘Take the picture, ‘cause I’m gonna fall over.’ And when I’m not on a runway or in front of the camera, I need conventional clothes too,” the article quotes Ms. Klum as saying.