Tyra and Co. Looking in Chicago for Next Top Fashionista

By Laura Oppenheimer in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 30, 2008 6:10PM

Attention, aspiring Jaslenes: Tyra and Co. have developed a new reality-TV show for fashionistas, but this one actually requires contestants to be able to read, unlike ANTM (and possibly write, too). The contestants on the yet-to-be-named show will compete in two challenges on each episode, "an individual competition and a team competition, in which each squad will submit a page for "The Book," a mock edition of [a fashion] magazine." The season winner will win a vaguely defined "job in the fashion industry." Please tell us the job us being Ms. Jay Alexander's assistant. Please?

Lest you wonder to yourself why this is at all relevant to you, as a Chicagoan, it's because you, too, have a chance to make it on the yet-to-be-named show. The CW will be in town on Feb. 2 at the Hyatt Regency on E Wacker Drive for an open casting call. We downloaded the eligibility requirements for being on the show, and besides the age restrictions (18-28), and an agreement that you won't mind being filmed 24 hours a day nor will you object to being filmed naked, we liked this requirement the best:

The Producers are looking for a dynamic group of individuals who are articulate, interesting and exhibit enthusiasm for the Series as well as a willingness to share their most private thoughts in an open forum of strangers. This group of individuals, while meeting the technical requirements of the Series, must also have sufficient physical, psychological, and mental capacity to endure approximately two months in a monitored house under extraordinary conditions.

Extraordinary conditions, eh? If you go to the casting call, make sure to download the written application; those who show up without it won't be eligible.

Image via Tyra's ANTM portfolio.