In all of the madness for Mad Men, I sort of forgot that one of my other favorite shows was finally coming back, at long last. Project Runway is returning, this time on Lifetime. The premiere episode will show on August 20 (this Thursday), and the Project Runway team is now in Los Angeles. The judges – Heidi Klum, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia – plus my favorite Silver Fox, Tim Gunn, sat down with Newsweek for a great roundtable discussion about the show, fashion, politics and why Tim needs a boyfriend. Beware – this is for lovers of Project Runway. If you don’t like the show, you’ll probably find this boring. One of the most interesting pieces of information was Heidi Klum talking about the one-sided war of attrition with Karl “Anger Bear” Lagerfeld:

NEWSWEEK: OK, we’re going to start with an easy question. If you had to name one person who forever influenced the way you look at fashion, who would it be?
Michael Kors: For me it would be Halston. He was American and proud of it, and I think that women really felt sexy in his clothes, but at the same time were comfortable.
Nina Garcia: I would have to say Coco Chanel. She set up such iconic classics: the tweed jacket, the little black dress, the chain bag. All those things still live today and have continued to keep that house so relevant.
Heidi Klum: For me it was probably Karl Lagerfeld, because he was German, and when I was in Germany I didn’t really know that fashion or modeling was, like, a serious job.

Heidi, aren’t you having a feud with Lagerfeld now? He’s been attacking you in the press.
Klum: I personally don’t have a problem with him, but I read things and I hear things.

Does he know that you admire him?
Klum: Well, that wasn’t the question. He was definitely a designer in Germany who was known. I think the country was very proud of him, and [his clothes] looked different.

The winners of American Idol are all instant successes. But that doesn’t seem to be the case with the winners of Project Runway . Why?
Klum: We get asked that question all the time. “What happens to the winners of Project Runway?”
Garcia: It takes years for a designer to get established.
Kors: And to figure out how to make it last. I think at the end of the day, the great thing about the show is that it gives you the platform. It gives you the spotlight, and then, quite frankly, it’s up to them to navigate these torturous waters.
Gunn: You have to have a tenacity to see through the bad reviews and persist. And with our Project Runway “alumni,” I’ll call them, it depends on how ambitious they are, and also how willing they are to relinquish making something to a production team.

Of all the contestants who have been on the show, who do you think has the best vision?
Klum: For me it would be Christian Siriano, because I still see him around. I wore one of his beautiful gowns to the Emmys and many people were like, “Who is this gown?”
Kors: I think to succeed in fashion, like in Hollywood, you need to have all of it. And Christian has it. He has the talent, he’s driven, and this is his life—he breathes it, he eats it—and on top of it all, he’s got a personality!

How is Runway going to be different on Lifetime?
Klum: I think so many people are afraid of us moving to L.A. But honestly, I’ve always said that we can shoot Project Runway on the moon, because we’re sort of in our own Project Runway world. But Tim, you were worried about the earthquakes.
Gunn: Well, that I was. I still am. But we were only there for a couple of days and I was reminded that before World War II, Hollywood was really the center of American fashion.

We’re just impressed that you invited Lindsay Lohan to be a guest judge, and she actually showed up.
[Silence]

Everybody’s so quiet now.
Klum: You’re such a gossip girl!
Kors: Ohmigod!

How do you think the Obamas have influenced the fashion world?
Gunn: Hugely.
Klum: I think it’s the first time that people actually look at women in politics wanting to look like them. Most women in politics, they wear a suit and look like a man.

Are you talking about Hillary?
[Laughter]
Klum: No. I’m not picking a person.
Kors: I think the other thing that’s interesting is that suddenly you have both a president and a first lady who are incredibly accomplished, incredibly bright, well read, obviously juggling 70 balls up in the air, and both very upfront about the idea that, you know what? It’s OK to look great doing it. Like, it does not make you suddenly a second-class citizen, or shallow.

Tim, I don’t want to put you on the spot. But the last time we talked, you were single. Is there a Mr. Tim Gunn in your life now?
Gunn: I couldn’t be more single. I don’t have time. Relationships take time, and I’d have to give something up, and there’s nothing I would want to give up. I really mean this: I’m the luckiest guy in the world.
Klum: You’re missing out on a few things.
Gunn: It’s been so long, Heidi, I’ve forgotten.
Klum: I just have to say, too, this is one of the biggest shames on the planet, because he’s such a wonderful man. I call him James Bond, because he is like our James Bond. And Tim is one of the nicest men: charming, handsome, smart. And I’m sure there is, like, fan mail that is coming in every day. Maybe he’s just really picky. Are you just really picky?
Gunn: No. I just don’t have my radar up.

[From Newsweek]

Aw, Tim does need a boyfriend. I wish I had a really amazing gay friend to send Tim. Alas, all of the gay men I know are total bitches. I also loved the part where everyone went dead silent at the mention of Lindsay Lohan’s name. She must have made a cracked-out judge if none of them could come up with something nice to say about her. Sigh. Now I’m really looking forward to Project Runway’s return!

Here’s Heidi Klum enjoying a day at the park in Soho with her mother Erna, daughter Leni and son Henry on July 16th. Images thanks to BauerGriffinOnline.