Alexa Chung Lands Another Reality TV Gig

Alexa Chung, the British-born designer and style icon who many credit with helping Mulberry become the world’s most commercially successful luxury fashion label, is giving the world of reality TV another go. It was announced recently that Chung would be the host of a new fashion centric reality TV show tentatively titled 24-Hour Catwalk which is scheduled to debut this fall on Lifetime’s US networks. Ms. Chung is no stranger to reality TV stardom having already hosted MTV’s  It’s On With Alexa Chung and currently serving as host for Gonzo with Alexa Chung on MTV UK. It is also rumored that she will be doing a shopping show for PBS called Thrifting America later this year.

However her first foray into reality TV in America, It’s On With Alexa Chung, was scrapped back in 2009 after two seasons due to lack of viewers. What little is known about 24-Hour Catwalk comes from Women’s Wear Daily who first broke the story and described the new Lifetime series as a competition that “pits designers against each other in runway challenges” which does not do much to help quiet complaints that it is simply a Project Runway knock off. In addition to Project Runway‘s new season which boasts Reality TV’s most dynamic and popular fashion trio of Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn and Michael Kors, 24-Hour Catwalk will also be competing for viewers with NBC’s new reality show Design Star which features Elle MacPherson as host and recently announced the acquisition of Jessica Simpson, John Varvatos and Nicole Richie to be the shows celebrity mentors.

Considering Ms. Chung’s track record with American reality TV and the myriad of new fashion shows and Project Runway clones that will be entering the market this fall it does seem odd that she would choose this time to attempt to boost her popularity across the pond. Combine these facts with the performance Mulberry has put on in the last year, thanks in large part to Ms. Chung’s designer bags that have become a cornerstone of the brand, and one has to wonder whether Alexa Chung’s time could be better spent.