“You have to do a lot of tweaking and airbrushing to get the same from a celebrity that you would get from a model. A lot of celebrities — I’m gonna tell you right now — they’re not 5’11”; they’re not a size 2 to fit into these designer dresses.” —Tyson Beckford’s cold hard truth on celebrities stealing magazine covers from models.

The Y-3 show, a marriage between Yohji Yamamoto and Adidas, is all about the front row, and nobody pretends otherwise. But when we got to Pier 40 and saw how scaled down the show was in comparison to the last time Y-3 showed there, we had a feeling it might be different this time.

We were right: Tyson Beckford, who we saw minutes earlier on the side of a bus for Make Me a Supermodel, was surrounded by photographers as if he was Brad Pitt. Veronica Webb was being treated like she was Veronica Lodge (read: unreal). We were seated behind the “celebrity” section, only to be accosted by a fierce semi-circle of photogs flashing their hearts out over some “celebrity” we didn’t even recognize (indeed, the post-show tip sheet confirms the best celebrities other than Kanye, who slipped in a few minutes before the show’s start, were Kim Kardashian, Rufus Wainwright and somebody named Ricky Jackson).

The video at left is of the nonstop flashes our unknown man induced (it suddenly occurred to us today that celebrities must lose their vision at a much younger age than the rest of us), so you can just imagine what it’s like when JLo shows up.

PS This was the second show to include actual little kids on the runway - the models really are getting younger and younger these days.

During the last couple Fashion Weeks, you were like to spot either Tyson Beckford or Niki Taylor with a camera crew in tow, since they were filming Bravo’s Make Me a Supermodel.

Now, you can add Nicole Trunfio to that list, since she’s just been brought on by the show as “a mentor to the female models.” The Bravo press release also says you can count Catherine Malandrino in as a judge, whom you might remember from an earlier episode of Project Runway.

We’re a little surprised Nicole took this gig - We wouldn’t have pegged the skateboarder and summer housemate of Gemma Ward as the reality TV type, but hey, does anyone on television surprise you anymore?

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

For more, check out RoidRage.

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

Oh - and Niki Taylor’s in there, too…

—PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY KOST

For more, check out RoidRage.

“We say that some guys are model cute and some guys are boyfriend cute.” — Tyson Beckford on the pilot episode for Make Me a Supermodel.

We’re not sure what to make of Make Me a Supermodel, the new Bravo reality show with Tyson Beckford and Niki Taylor. The series claims to be like American Idol for fashion models, with the audience voting each week for their favorite face.

Our gut feeling is the show will stink, but it is produced by Bravo, who can even make cooking look interesting, so who knows.

But even if the show is dull, its behind-the-scenes makeup is fascinating, because of one thing:

The show is produced by Tiger Aspect Productions, a division of IMG Media. But while IMG is making money off the series, it won’t be lending its name in support:

Despite having arguably the best modeling agency in the world, IMG isn’t offering the show’s winner a chance to share their roster with Stam, Freja, Gemma, and Tanya D. Instead, the prize comes from New York Model Management, which boasts Daisy Lowe on its boards.

Maybe IMG learned their lesson during Season Two of Top Model, when they inherited the gorgeous but not-quite-fashion-focused Yoanna House from the series.

Or maybe it’s more practical than that - half of Make Me a Supermodel’s cast is men, and IMG recently sold off their boys’ division, which could leave their eventual winner in a really lonely spot.