Project Runway judge Nina Garcia's rumored departure from her day job as fashion director of Elle shouldn't shock readers of Radar's March 2008 fashion issue. As Lera Loeb noted, since the show's 2004 debut, Garcia's gig as Heidi Klum's shill has boosted Elle's newsstand numbers, a rare feat among fashion bibles today. But mostly, it's raised Garcia's profile.
During season one, she and fashion news director Anne Slowey shared judging duties; today Garcia, Klum, Tim Gunn, and Michael Kors are the show's snarky core. The famously over-accessorized Garcia used to cool her Manolos in the second row at fashion shows before her prime-time debut. Now she's more recognizable than all of the editors at Elle combined: