Maker Studios and Macy’s Team Up To Search For ‘The Next Style Star’

Maker Studios is out to give the Internet its own Project Runway. The top multi-channel network has teamed up with Macy’s to launch The Next Style Star, a reality competition for ascendant stylists.

The Next Style Star lives on Maker’s style channel, The Platform, and it borrows heavily from Project Runway. It features a series of themed competitions between 16 young stylists, who are all vying for the $10,000 prize and a chance to be featured in Macy’s flagship Herald Square location. In the first episode, host Jeannie Mai introduces a pair of competitors who must make the best look based around a specific pair of shoes.

As Macy’s VP of Digital Media Jennifer Kasper explained, the featured fashions will “integrate products for Macy’s into every segment,” giving the series deep ties to its brand sponsor. Sarah Malkin, Maker Studios’ VP of Branded Entertainment, added that the network’s viewers can expect “a number of co-branded series upcoming this year.”

The Next Style Star will run for ten episodes, with a new one each arriving each Thursday.