Joanna Coles (Getty Images)

Marie Claire editor Joanna Coles is to be the official mentor on the upcoming Project Runway: All Stars. The perhaps misleadingly titled show presents past fan favorite designers still struggling to make it in the fashion game; Ms. Coles's role will be analogous to that of Tim Gunn in the regular-flavor Project Runway.

Marie Claire, and Ms. Coles, have a long association with the reality franchise: Ms. Coles has appeared on the show for several seasons and the magazine's fashion director Nina Garcia is a judge on the program (on the new All-Stars series, her role will be played by Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman). In 2010, Ms. Coles told The Observer: “We’re developing more television," declining to give details, and noted that few believed she was actually a TV-fashion guru. An acquaintance told Ms. Coles "'Well, obviously you’d never be on a show like Project Runway’ because she only ever sees me when I have on, like, jeans and a T-shirt." Well, the British editor is a literary type.

ddaddario@observer.com :: @DPD_