Once upon a time, before the dawn of street style blogs and live-streamed runway shows, MTV was the only source for insider information about fashion. Its show House of Style delved into the never-before-seen world of style, from runway shows to the careers of models and designers alike. Hosted for six years by a super-young Cindy Crawford, the show helped fashion figures like Claudia Schiffer, Betsey Johnson, and Patricia Field become household names among the sartorial set, and held interviews with the likes of Versace and Karl Lagerfeld, before the days of his Diet Coke-induced weight loss.
This summer, MTV set about bringing back House of Style, which had become one of fashion’s most iconic television programs over the years. The TV channel resurrected nearly 170 clips of classic footage for their website, reacquainting the world with scenes of Linda Evangelista when she still got out of bed for less than $10,000 a day, Todd Oldham dyeing his hair with kool-aid, and the huge-haired, shoulder-padded fabulousness that were the 80s in general.
The main attraction, however, was the relaunch of the TV show itself. It seemed nearly impossible to find a proper replacement for Cindy Crawford, who managed to create a friendly and relatable personality on the show, giving a glimpse into a world that very few Americans had ever seen until then.
But it seems that MTV might just be able to do it: they have cast Karlie Kloss and Joan Smalls, arguably this decade’s supermodels in their own right, as co-hosts of the relaunched show, and they couldn’t be more excited about it. “Careful,” said Smalls, “soon we’ll be running for president.”
While they’re planning to take the show in new directions, there’s still an appreciation for the original episodes and a desire to revisit House of Style’s roots. “Everything seemed so raw, and so real,” Kloss said of the original episodes. “It was so inspired by music, street style, art, and everything around the people who were making it… It showed exactly what was going on backstage. It was the first time something like that happened.”
If you’ve got ideas for who they should interview, Karlie and Joan are welcome to suggestions via Twitter. If you ask us, we’d love to see Carolina Herrera and Jeremy Scott sit down for a chat – or maybe they could figure out who Martin Margiela really is, once and for all? Needless to say, we’ll definitely be adding House of Style to our fall TV lineup – will you? Â
Photo sources:
Modelinia
Refinery29