Styled to Travel

Umay Ayaz, the head of acquisitions at Global Agency, talks to TV Formats about the fashion-themed formats in the company’s catalog.

Fashion-themed formats have remained in vogue—from those centered around a lighthearted competition to others simply about style. Their universal themes make them primed to travel, with cultural nuances that can be showcased organically in local versions.

“Style/fashion is one of the genres that come from real life itself,” says Ayaz. “It contains a high level of reality. From a financial perspective, this type of format is also more convenient for a low-budget production. Being a global concept is another advantage of this genre. If we take into consideration the fashion tips given during this kind of show, I don’t hesitate even saying ‘edutainment’ and ‘guiding’ for this genre.”

Shopping Monsters has been a hit for the company, licensed to 20-plus territories with more than 6,000 episodes aired so far. The show was launched at MIPTV 2011, and Constantin Entertainment was the first to license the format, for VOX TV in Germany, where it is still on-air with 2,500 episodes to date. France came next, through Hervé Hubert for M6, and 2,000 episodes have been aired so far and are still airing. Multiple seasons of the show have broadcast in Greece, Belgium, Poland, Hungary, Croatia and Ukraine. In Turkey, Shopping Monsters debuted on Kanal D and soon became the most-watched daytime show, proving especially popular in the younger demographic with a share of up to 47 percent. “It can be easily adapted to every country and every economic condition,” Ayaz says.

The format combines the best of style, fashion and timed competition, she adds. Every week, five women from different backgrounds with individual styles, tastes and perspectives are chosen to compete. None of them have met each other before, and their fellow competitors are their judges, as they vie to see who can be the most stylish on a limited budget with only four hours to prepare. “The four-hour time limit is a big challenge,” Ayaz says. “At the end of her shopping trip, the contestant shows off her new look on the catwalk in front of her four other competitors. The other women make comments on her style choices in the studio. A top fashion designer also adds commentary on the contestant’s look and gives general style tips to the show’s viewers. There is plenty of gossip and backstabbing as the women rate each other on their style choices.”

A newer title in the Global Agency catalog, Save My Style sees five fashion bloggers create fresh looks for five women in a battle for a $10,000 cash prize. Each day of the week, a different woman will be the center of attention, and she will choose her favorite blogger, who will update her style.

My Style Rocks, Stylish Plus, Wardrobe Wars and The Perfect Wardrobehave also been strong sellers for the company. “All these formats combine fashion/style with a reality element in the best way,” says Ayaz. “Those formats also reflect competition and disagreements between women through fashion very well.”

Generally, this genre plays well in daytime slots, often stripped across the week. But elements can be supersized to bring it into prime time.

While these types of fashion and style shows seem to have an obvious female draw, Ayaz believes there is also co-viewing appeal. “We know how much men are also interested in and care about this issue in recent years. However, we see that these TV shows are still mostly women-oriented. Having said that, we would love to receive male-oriented fashion/style programs from the creators. I don’t think any commissioner would ignore a well-designed format with a high potential audience, whatever the gender in focus is. And I believe that there is still a gap in [the market for] fashion shows regardless of gender target.”