Zac Posen Replaces Michael Kors On 'Project Runway'

Michael Kors is stepping down from his role on Lifetime’s Project Runway after ten years as a judge on the show because of a scheduling conflict and Zac Posen, another talented male designer, will take Kors’s place, joining the ranks of incumbents Heidi Klum (pictured), Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn.

"Welcome Zac!” Klum wrote on Twitter. “I will miss you this season my brother Michael Kors. I love you!"

Posen, 32, had been a guest judge on the show before, and while he is ecstatic to be included, a part of him longed to be more involved with the contestants.

"I wanted to be behind the scenes with Tim [Gunn],” Posen told The New York Times. “I was seeing the clothes on the runway, but Tim had all the background interaction."

Posen's skill as a designer will certainly be a welcome addition to the show, as will his eye for not only the fashion world, but the real world. ''I don't believe in one ideal beauty,'' Posen told Times in a 2002 interview. ''You have to reinterpret what you do based on whether the body belongs to a real woman who is 5-foot-2 or a model who is 6-foot-1.''

The new season of Project Runway, which will be a team competition as opposed to the traditional individual format of years past, will feature guest judges such as Bette Midler, John Legend and Miranda Lambert. Kors will return to judge the season finale.

Project Runway returns with its 11th season on Lifetime on Jan. 24 at 9 p.m. ET.