Rick Ringbakk: Fashion Star

Rick Ringbakk said it plainly: "America is not going to be voting on this show. The buyers are the ones making this huge investment — they'll be leading…" — and Premier Guide Miami was in the room when it happened.

Rick Ringbakk is an Emmy award-winning executive producer and director whose credits include Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and, as a producer with Ben Silverman, The Biggest Loser, The Office, and The Tudors. His latest project is Fashion Star, a new NBC competition series built around real retail buyers and mass-market design. Premier Guide Miami spoke with him ahead of the show's launch.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Brands like Juicy, among others, have become aggressive and very popular with creative marketing and fashion that appeals to the masses. What will this new star have to bring to create such an impact, and will there be continued support after the show?

RICK RINGBAKK: What we're trying to do here — in the past, shows centered around fashion have really focused specifically just on design acumen. What we're really looking for here is somebody that can become a full-fledged household name brand. We are looking for designers who are not necessarily just designing couture, but really designing for the mass market — denim, swimwear, lingerie, the types of things that real people wear. And we're going to be pushing them not only to stretch their lines and their creations in terms of the apparel, but also we want to see how they present that brand to America. How do they present it in billboard advertising, how do they present it in commercial advertising — and all of that is going to be woven into the show. One of the big differences of this show from everything we've seen before is that every week these designers are going to be presenting their lines to three of the largest retailers in the country. Those retailers are there ready to start purchasing the items they see on the show on the spot. They'll be the ones narrowing down the contestant pool to the winner — the Fashion Star — and that person is going to receive a multi-million dollar contract that will see their wear landing in all three of those retailers.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Why is Elle Macpherson considered the perfect package for this show?

RICK RINGBAKK: She's the perfect package. When we started thinking about who would be the face and the voice to lead us on this, Elle was our first choice — the first person we went to. Not only does everybody know Elle Macpherson as an icon associated with fashion and the modeling world, she has done exactly what we're going to be asking these designers to do herself, in terms of building a full-fledged brand that is now global and permeates every aspect of the market. That's what we're looking to find: exciting new designers who have an incredible vision and deserve the opportunity to get their lines out on a big level.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: With viewers being able to buy the designs at home each week, how does that tie into the voting to keep designers around?

RICK RINGBAKK: That's one of the things that's really special about this show. We're going to see these designs presented in big, exciting presentations. The buyers are going to be choosing the items they like from the very first week forward, buying these items, and then we are going to be manufacturing those items and making them available to America immediately following the show — in stores the next day. America is not going to be voting on this show. It's a new twist: the buyers, because they are the ones making this huge investment, will be leading the decision-making process and narrowing down the designers, and America will have the chance to buy the items immediately if they see something they like.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: The show focuses on the importance of brands and creating a lifestyle brand for consumers. In terms of casting, what are you looking for in the designers' own personal brand or personality?

RICK RINGBAKK: We're looking at designers from all levels. It could be somebody who has owned their own boutique for years and has been successfully selling their wares on a small level. It could be a soccer mom who's been working two jobs and secretly designing an amazing swimwear line in her basement — and this is the opportunity for that dream to come true. We're looking for somebody that's got something new, something different, something that we want to see and that we want to wear. In the past, a lot of fashion shows have really focused on the kinds of clothes that very few of us will ever put on — the $10,000 red carpet dress. We're looking for somebody who's got a fresh take and a unique vision on clothes that most Americans wear: leather jackets, denim, t-shirts, swimwear, lingerie — that type of thing. But they've got to have their own unique take on it. It's got to be something we haven't seen before.

PREMIER GUIDE MIAMI: Are there any green or sustainable design challenges or elements that are going to be present in the show?

RICK RINGBAKK: Green design is at the forefront of a lot of trends happening right now, and it is something that we are absolutely looking at. As we get deeper into this with our retail partners — who are going to be very much a part of what this whole process is for the designers, because they're the ones ultimately having to make a major, major big-money commitment behind one of these designers — it's something that we will probably see on the show.

For more upcoming events across South Florida, visit the Premier Guide Miami Events Calendar .