‘Making the Cut’ Host Heidi Klum Explains How Social Media Changed the Fashion Industry

Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn are back with another fashion series for television. The Project Runway stars host and produce Making the Cut for Amazon. They’ll take 12 aspiring designers around the world for design competitions. 

Klum was on a Television Critics Association panel for Making the Cut on Jan. 14 speaking about the show and the industry. She described how the fashion industry has changed since her early days as a model, thanks to the advent of social media. Making the Cut premieres March 27 on Amazon Prime.

Heidi Klum says social media gave independent designers a shot

One of the big ways a designer can get a boost to their brand is to have a celebrity wear them. Before social media, only the big designers were on celebrities’ radar. Now, celebrities can find cool indie designers to support too. 

“Now, I see even small brands can be worn by big stars, or become big all of a sudden,” Klum said. “It is because of social media and how the world has become close because of all our little devices and things. Before, you had to be like a big name in order for someone to wear it on the red carpet or here or there or actually for people to take notice. Now, if someone loves it and someone likes it, it all of a sudden becomes something.”

Streaming ‘Making the Cut’ is new for Heidi Klum too

When Klum got into television, fashion competitions were the bread and butter of cable networks like Bravo and Lifetime. Taking Making the Cut to Amazon was a new world for Klum too.

“What was scary was they call it in America you have a pie in the sky because you don’t know if you’re going to have it, right?” Klum said. “So when I decided to jump ship and I said to Tim, ‘This is not a definite that this is going to work, my idea, but I would like to make what we always wanted to do but bigger.’ We went to many different companies. Many places wanted it but for me, Amazon was the perfect fit.”

You can shop for ‘Making the Cut’ clothes on Amazon

Streaming is the future of television, but only Amazon has a direct connection to shopping. Klum’s dream is for people to watch contestants on Making the Cut and then click to buy the clothes for themselves.

“People can buy these clothes and it’s amazing for the designers because it all of a sudden becomes real,” Klum said. “Picking Amazon I feel like is the biggest, best partner you can have for everything but mainly also, not only because they make great shows now, but also the reality aspect too, people being able to buy these clothes. I went to Netflix, I went to many different places. To me, the best home for this venture is Amazon because it makes the most sense for everybody.”

Heidi Klum has sold on Amazon before

Klum has had fashion items for sale on Amazon before Making the Cut.

“I actually had a line that I sold on Amazon many years ago,” Klum said. “I was designing for New Balance and we sold for a while exclusively on Amazon.”

Making the Cut is all about the contestants though.

“It’s not for me,” Klum said. “The show is much bigger than my little line. I want this to succeed around the world. I love having designers from different countries on the show.”