Will "Fashion Star" really generate the next fashion star? Is it just another Project Runway knock-off?
We will figure that out in the weeks to come.

NBC will air the new reality comeptition series, to find the next big brand in fashion.

With Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie and John Varvatos as celebrity mentors, "Fashion Star" will choose a $6 million prize winner among 14 would-be designers, according to NBC. The prize will be used to order "capsule collections."
The collections will be launched in three of the world's top retailers - Macy's, H&M and Saks Fifth Avenue. Judges include Caprice Willard, Nicole Christie and Terron E. Schaefer, representing each of the retailers.

Each program is a runway show of the designers' collections, featuring musical performances, dancers and models in front of a studio audience.

After each show, viewers can immediately purchase the items showcased on the program the day after, in stores and online.

"One of the things that was important to us . . . was to create a show that is as much about shopping as it is about fashion - capitalizing on interactive capabilities and technology so that people can actually buy what they're seeing immediately," Elle Macpherson, the host and co-executive producer of the program, said.
"That's new, and very relevant to where we are today."

"We wanted to create a fashion series that gave designers an immediate and tangible afterlife, where they could become relevant the moment the show aired," according to co-producer Rick Ringbakk.

"We wanted to create a situation where the winner would have a real chance of riding off the show and becoming a big-time designer. Our core concept was to create a show that would provide the viewer an experience to do with fashion that would be unlike anything they've seen before, with big, network-television-level spectacle and excitement, but also allow the viewer to immediately buy the clothes and wear the winner."

"Fashion Star" will air its series premiere at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 13.