Internationally acclaimed designer Isaac Mizrahi returns for season two of "The Fashion Show," which follows professional designers as they strive to make their mark in the dog-eat-dog world of fashion and compete for a chance to have their winning designs sold for the mass retail market. “The Fashion Show” averaged more than one million viewers in its freshman season. Produced by Left/Right Productions for Bravo with Banks Tarver and Ken Druckerman as executive producers.

• IsaacMizrahiLive! by Isaac Mizrahi
• Rachel Zoe
• M by Marc Bouwer
• Thuy by Thuy D.
• Gypsy by Mara Hoffman

• Bradley by Bradley Bayou
• Simply. by Chloe Dao
• Davies by Erica Davies

• Special Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week edition of PM Style, featuring QVC Program Host Lisa Robertson

• Pamela Dennis
• M by Marc Bouwer
• Twist by Christian Francis Roth

• Logo by Lori Goldstein
• Edition by Erin Fetherston
• Bradley by Bradley Bayou
• Sterling for Pamella Roland

It's hard to imagine the ever-elegant Carolina Herrera shopping at Target, much less even talking about Target. So when we caught up with her at the New York City Opera's theater debut last night, surrounded by swanky rich folks in expensive formalwear, we expected a blank look from her when we asked if she'd ever consider doing a diffusion line for, oh, someplace like Target. "Of course!" she said without hesitation. "If they asked me, of course."

Herrera says a line for a television network like HSN or QVC is not for her, but not because it's too declasse. "Isaac Mizrahi is a natural actor; he can be on television," she said in reference to his forthcoming QVC line. "Not many designers can do it, but he can."

Macy's, for one, is not sorry to see the Liz Claiborne brand go. "The brand has not been performing for us," said Jeff Gennette, chief merchandising officer at Macy's, which carries the brand in 220 of its 810 doors. "We always look at underperforming locations and we were doing that with Liz in both the petite and the misses' areas. That's really been the trajectory over the years. We have been paring it down and the brand continues to underperform its competitors." Gennette noted some changes in the Mizrahi-designed offerings this year, but said the brand continued to be a laggard. "There's no brand out there that, if the product is not right, is going to do well," he said. "It depends on the design talent at those wholesale partners."

To compete, he said wholesalers also have to work to get fashions to the stores as quickly as possible. "You have to have your pipeline shortened and you have to be able to react in season," Gennette said. "The ones that are figuring that out are the winners."

QVC is erecting an expensive set within Mr. Mizrahi's New York studio that can capture his day-to-day life in high-definition video, a first for the network. "Once in a while you make a calculated bet," says Mike George, president and chief executive of the Liberty Media unit. QVC, which reported a 10% drop in first-quarter sales to $1.6 billion, says it aims to turn Mr. Mizrahi into one of its top five brands, like Philosophy or Bare Escentuals -- brands the network says garner more than $100 million in annual sales apiece. Mr. Mizrahi will receive a percentage of sales as part of the arrangement.

Doug Howe, chief merchandising officer of QVC, says he was fascinated by the way Mr. Mizrahi spoke, leaping from tea patterns to sheets then rain boots. "We were just sitting there watching him talk, thinking, 'My God!' On air, you are going to resonate so strongly with our consumers!" Mr. Howe says.

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While he'll be designing a large range of items for QVC, Mr. Mizrahi professes the most excitement about designing foodstuffs. At 10, he says he was browsing through recipes and became intrigued by the word "saute." "I liked the way it sounded—saute, saute, saute!" says Mr. Mizrahi, who says he used to spend weekends cooking peppers and mushrooms in a pan until they were mushy. "Call my other. This is what I did on Saturday mornings." He recently decided to make a cheesecake using goat cheese. “It’s amazing. It sounds bad, but it is so good,” he says, launching into a story about a Thanksgiving cheesecake disaster. Mr. Gardini notes that when Mr. Mizrahi called her up after signing the QVC deal, his first words were "Finally, I can design petits fours."

The collection will bring Mizrahi's touch to many categories, from apparel to handbags, shoes, jewelry and home decor and kitchen accessories. The designer and the network have reached a long-term deal, which will kick off with a show featuring the designer in December, though a specific date is not confirmed at this point.

Reached on Friday, Marisa Gardini, president and chief executive officer of Isaac Mizrahi, said the collection will be "very signature Isaac." "It will encapsulate Isaac's design aesthetic, and it's not going to be too far from what he loves, what he has done in the past and what he intends to do," Gardini said.

The unit will be the designer's first freestanding store in Manhattan, said Marisa Gardini, president and chief executive officer of Isaac Mizrahi, and will showcase his accessories, shoes and sportswear.

At one time, Mizrahi's name was associated only with high-end fashion. He won three Council of Fashion Designers of America awards and operated a fashion house bankrolled by Chanel until the French luxury firm decided to pull the plug in 1998. At the time of its closing, Mizrahi's collection business was estimated to do $8 million to $10 million at wholesale, plus another $15 million to $20 million for the bridge line, Isaac.

"I do, and obviously we would be the ones to do it," responded McComb.

The strength of Gunn - who skyrocketed to fame through television’s popular "Project Runway" reality series - is his impeccable eye, McComb said.

"Tim is not a designer. He does not design. What he would bring to the table is the common sense edit of how to build a wardrobe," said McComb.

"He could do the black dress, the white top, the work pants ... it would be not necessarily high faloutin' fashion, but really smart."