For ANTM’s 20th Season, Kelly Cutrone’s Truth Telling Is in Rare Form

In interviews, fashion publicist Kelly Cutrone—she of the razor sharp, tell-it-like-it-is observations on the fashion world—doesn’t talk like someone who is trying to deliberately shock the world. Her manner during interviews is calm and straight forward; there is no manufactured drama or artifice here. Regardless of the delivery, the drama is there. Truth telling can be that way.

Consider, for example, Cutrone’s comments last week during two conference calls for media to promote the 20^th season of “America’s Next Top Model” which begins Friday at 8 p.m. EST on the CW Network. Of course, the big news for this season is that ANTM is celebrating its big anniversary by giving its formula a spin; the competition will, for the first time, feature male contestants who will compete directly against the women as well as share living space. The judging panel, headed by supermodel and producer Tyra Banks—whom Cutrone praised effusively—will feature Cutrone and former male supermodel and boxer Rob Evans. Stylist Johnny Wujek will return as the creative consultant for the photo shoots and blogger Bryanboy will return as the show’s social media correspondent.

Cutrone, founder of the public relations firm People’s Revolution, said despite the addition of male models, the judges’ criteria for selecting weekly winners remains the same. The judges are looking for a great photo and a model that showed they could follow directions and give the photographer what he or she was looking for.

“If we’re looking for sexy, are we getting sexy? Are the shots amazing?” Cutrone said. And almost every time, Cutrone said, there was a clear cut winner. The judges rarely if ever had to choose between a great guy and a great girl; it was one or the other, she said. The inevitable flirting and friction between the models, a regular show feature since contestants must live together, had no impact on the judging Cutrone said since judges aren’t made aware of these types of issues.

The most interesting aspect, she said, was observing the different attitudes between the women and men. “Sometimes the guys forget they’re in a competition and the girls never lose sight of that,” she said. “Guys aren’t as tough as they think. Pretty soon it will be women ruling the world; that’s what you learn.”

Cutrone noted that this mirrored what she has observed in the real modeling world; male models tend to be more laid back in general, she said.  And there is nothing controversial there.

However, Cutrone’s comments at another media roundtable about the fashion industry’s bias towards ultra-thin models have made headlines. According to thefashionspot.com, Cutrone blamed consumers for the fashion industry’s love affair with thinness.

“Society has a hyper emphasis on thin and that trend comes from the consumers—it does not come from the fashion industry,” Cutrone said. “The fashion industry needs to make money. That’s what we do. If people said, ‘we want a 300-pound purple person,’ the first industry to do it would be fashion.”

—Karyn D. Collins