Project Runway

*Project Runway*
Project Runway
Genre	Reality competition
Created by	Eli Holzman
Starring	Nina Garcia; Tim Gunn; Heidi Klum; Michael Kors; Zac Posen;
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	15 (Regular series); 5 (All Stars series)
No. of episodes	182
Production
Executive producers	Barbara Schneeweiss; Bob Weinstein; Colleen Sands; David Hillman; Desiree Gruber; Gena McCarthy; Harvey Weinstein; Heidi Klum; Jane Cha; Jon Murray; Meryl Poster; Sara Rea;
Running time	62 to 64 minutes; (Season 8–present); 40 to 42 minutes; (Season 1–7)
Production companies	Miramax Television; The Weinstein Company Television; Bunim/Murray Productions; Full Picture Entertainment; Heidi Klum Productions;
Original release
Network	Lifetime; (2009–present); Bravo; (2004–2008)
Release	December 1, 2004 –; present

Project Runway is an American reality television series on Lifetime, previously on the Bravo Network, created by Eli Holzman which focuses on fashion design and is hosted by model Heidi Klum. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted in time, materials and theme. Their designs are judged, and one or more designers are eliminated each week. During each season, selected competitors are progressively eliminated based on the judges' scores until only a few contestants remain; these finalists prepare a complete fashion collection for New York Fashion Week, from which a winner is determined. It won a Peabody Award in 2007 "for using the 'television reality contest' genre to engage, inform, enlighten and entertain."^[1]

Format

Project Runway uses progressive elimination to reduce the initial field of 12 or more fashion designers down to three or four before the final challenge. Each non-finale challenge (the scope of one episode) requires the designers to develop one or more pieces of new clothing to be presented at a runway show. The challenges range in creative diversity to test the designers' ingenuity while maintaining their personal fashion design aesthetic. These challenges may include creating a garment from non-traditional materials, such as: apartment furnishings (Season 3), recyclable materials (Season 3), items from a grocery store (Seasons 1 & 5), edible food items (Seasons 1, 4 & 10), plants and flowers (Season 2), using their own clothes that they happened to be wearing (Season 2), designing clothing with materials from a party store (season 8) ; or designing for a certain high-profile person (such as actress Brooke Shields, figure skater Sasha Cohen or Miss USA Tara Conner); or designing for a corporate fashion line (e.g., Banana Republic; Diane von Fürstenberg; Macy's; or Sarah Jessica Parker's Bitten); or centered on a specialized theme (such as "cocktail party", "wedding gown", "female wrestling outfit", or "prom dress").

The show took place in New York City for Seasons One through Five (with a short stop in Paris in Season 3) with designers using a workroom at The New School university's Parsons The New School for Design. They shop for materials at a fabric store in New York's Garment District (usually at MOOD Designer Fabrics) – unless the challenge requires otherwise (e.g., denim jackets and jeans from Levi's, confectionery and souvenirs at the Hershey's Store in Times Square, or fabric at Spandex House in Season 4). The designers live together, grouped by gender, at Atlas New York (an apartment building near Parsons) during Seasons 1–3 (back again at Season 5) and at New Gotham during Season 4. Along with the network change to Lifetime, the location changed from New York to Los Angeles for Season 6. While on the show, the designers are prohibited from leaving the apartments without authorization, making unauthorized communication with family or friends, or using the Internet to research designs. Designers are also forbidden to bring pattern books or similar how-to materials with them during the show, or risk being disqualified from the competition (as was the case of Keith Michael in Season 3).

The designers are given a budgeted stipend to select and purchase fabric and notions, and then provided a limited amount of time to finish their designs (the shortest being 5 hours and the longest being two or three days, with the exception of fashion week when they are given 12 weeks). Often, the designers work independently, although on some challenges, contestants must work in teams or as a single collective group. Once the deadline is reached, the designers must dress their models and select their hair, make-up, and accessories. Each model walks down the runway, and the garment the contestant made is rated by a panel of judges, who score each look in several categories from 0 to 5, and often provide personal annotations and comments regarding the presented designs. Each contestant does a voiceover while the model is walking down the runway. The judges then interview the remaining designers (usually six) who garnered the highest and the lowest scores (usually a top 3 and a bottom 3), and share their opinions while listening to the designers' defense of their outfits, then confer as a group in private. The panel then announces the winning and losing designers based on their scores and other considerations. Typically, the winner receives immunity for the next challenge, and therefore cannot be eliminated. As the season progresses, immunity is disregarded during later challenges to prevent the designers from getting an easy pass to make it into the final round. Other incentives given to the contestants aside from winning immunity include: The winning garment may be featured in print media, integrated into a limited edition look for a particular clothing brand, or sold at an online fashion store (e.g., BlueFly.com beginning in Season 4 onwards). Generally, the loser of each challenge is eliminated from the competition, with host Klum giving him or her a double air kiss on the runway and wishing the eliminated designer farewell her catchphrase, Auf Wiedersehen (formal German for goodbye with literal translation "until we meet again"), before they depart. Thus, elimination from the show is sometimes called "being auf'd"—a play on words as it can be interpreted as offed.

After the final challenge, the remaining three designers are then told to prepare a complete fashion collection of twelve looks to be presented at New York Fashion Week in Bryant Park. The finalists are given 12 weeks and $8000 for this task, which they perform at their own homes or studios. While some construction work can be outsourced, the majority of the garments must be created by the designers themselves. Prior to the show, the finalists must return to New York City to oversee model casting, hair and make-up consultations, finishing touches to their clothes, final fitting on their models, and possibly an additional challenge, such as designing another outfit to blend in with the collection (as in Seasons 2, 5, 6 and 8). Their receipts are also handed over to the producers of the show to determine if they went over budget or had outsourcing done as favors, both of which are against the rules. If rules are violated, they may be forced to eliminate a crucial aesthetic factor in their presentation (e.g., Jeffrey Sebelia's blond wigs and pleated leather shorts in Season 3); or the judging panel might lower their scoring, if they insist upon using a forbidden item (e.g., Kara Saun's outsourced footwear in Season 1). The ultimate winner is selected by the judges, and receives $100,000 to start his or her own design line, a feature spread in Marie Claire magazine, and a mentorship from a design firm (ended on Season 3). The winner is also given the optional opportunity to sell his or her collection on bluefly.com. Subsequent seasons have also included a new car as part of the prize package, courtesy of the automobile company Saturn.

Female fashion models, who work with the designers throughout the season, are also in the competition. Each week, as the number of designers dwindles, the number of models is also reduced. Models are randomly pre-assigned to a designer during the first challenge, but from the second challenge onwards, the designers are able to choose the model with whom they wish to work. During weekly model eliminations, the models stand on a runway with Klum, in front of the seated group of designers. The models appear by wearing the same outfit (black dress and barefoot). The designers then pick their models in sequence, based upon their respective scores in the previous design competition. Originally, model selection happened at the start of every episode save for the first. The winner of the previous challenge receiving first pick, and the other designers picking models in order through Klum's random draw of large red shirt buttons with their names stored in a black velvet bag. However, there were times when only the winning designer was given the choice to pick with the following choices: either keep his or her previous model, take the losing designer's model from the last challenge, or switch models with another competing designer. Beginning with Season 6, model selection appears on a companion program, Models of the Runway, usually near the end of that show. At the end of the weekly model selection process, the one unpicked model is sent home. This losing model is also given host Klum's air kiss and Auf Wiedersehen before leaving the runway. Included in the prize package for the winning model is coverage in Elle magazine, featuring the winning designer's twelve-piece collection as part of her prize. However, certain challenges may not require the models at all, such as: giving a competing designer a head-to-toe makeover (Season 2 and 5), designers creating their own looks (Season 3), designing menswear (Season 4), or creating a garment for a specific client (e.g., reconstructed outfits for women who lost weight, or wrestling costumes for the WWE Divas in Season 4). Airing of the model selection ended starting Season 8.

Joining Klum in judging duties are American top designer Michael Kors, Marie Claire fashion director Nina Garcia, and a fourth judge – typically a fashion designer (Diane von Fürstenberg, Vera Wang, Zac Posen, Austin Scarlett, Francisco Costa, Betsey Johnson, Alberta Ferretti, Roberto Cavalli, Monique Lhuillier, Catherine Malandrino), a supermodel (Iman or Alessandra Ambrosio), a celebrity (Victoria Beckham, Sarah Jessica Parker, Christina Aguilera, Nicky Hilton, Natalie Portman), or a professional from an industry related to the challenge given (Nancy O'Dell, Rachel Zoe, Tiki Barber, Apolo Anton Ohno, Patricia Field, Ivanka Trump). Tim Gunn, former Chair of the Fashion School at Parsons The New School for Design and now Chief Creative Officer for Liz Claiborne Inc., acts as mentor to the designers and does not participate in the judging. Instead, he visits the designers midway through each challenge to comment and suggest improvements for each design, as well as announcing additional challenge updates and enforcing the time limit before each runway show. Gunn also usually announces the design challenges along with Klum, and accompanies the designers during their fabric shopping at MOOD or on field trips related to a particular challenge. Gunn serves other functions as well, including bidding farewell to each eliminated designer and model, and visiting the homes of each of the three or four finalist designers.

On July 4, 2006, the show's producers, The Weinstein Company, announced a five-year deal that would relocate the show to Lifetime, beginning with Season 6. In response, NBCUniversal filed a lawsuit against the Weinstein Company for violating its contract rights.^[2] A September 2008 court decision granted NBCU's request for an injunction, preventing Lifetime from promoting or exhibiting "Runway" until further notice.^[3]

On April 1, 2009, the lawsuit between The Weinstein Company and NBCUniversal was settled, with Weinstein agreeing to pay NBC an undisclosed sum for the right to move the show to Lifetime.^[4]^[5] Season 6 began airing on Lifetime on August 20, 2009.^[6] On August 27, 2009, NBC Universal wound up gaining partial ownership of Lifetime, when A&E Television Networks, which was already partially owned by NBC, acquired the channel's parent company, Lifetime Entertainment Services. It premiered on the Slice channel in Canada on September 12.^[7]

Seasons

Season	Premiere Date	Finale Date	No. of Designers	Winner	Runner-up	2nd runner-up	Designer Prizes	Model Prizes
Season	Premiere Date	Finale Date	No. of Designers	Winner	Runner-up	3rd runner-up	Designer Prizes	Model Prizes
1	December 1, 2004	February 23, 2005	12	Jay McCarroll & Julia Beynon	Kara Saun & Jenny Toth	Wendy Pepper & Melissa Haro	$100,000 to start his own line A mentorship with Banana Republic An editorial feature in Elle magazine	A spread in Elle magazine
2	December 7, 2005	March 8, 2006	16	Chloe Dao & Grace Kelsey	Daniel Vosovic & Rebecca Holliday	Santino Rice & Heather Brown	$100,000 to start her own line A mentorship with Banana Republic An editorial feature in Elle magazine One year of representation with Designers Management Agency A 2007 Saturn Sky roadster	A spread in Elle magazine
3	July 12, 2006	October 18, 2006	15	Jeffrey Sebelia & Marilinda Rivera	Uli Herzner & Nazri Segaro	Laura Bennett & Camilla Barungi	$100,000 to start his own line A mentorship with INC (Inter-National Concepts) Design An editorial feature in Elle magazine One year of representation with Designers Management Agency A 2007 Saturn Sky roadster	A spread in Elle magazine
3	July 12, 2006	October 18, 2006	15	Jeffrey Sebelia & Marilinda Rivera	Uli Herzner & Nazri Segaro	Mychael Knight & Clarissa Anderson		A spread in Elle magazine
4	November 14, 2007	March 5, 2008	15	Christian Siriano & Lisa Nargi	Rami Kashou & Sam Ruggiero	Jillian Lewis & Lauren Browne	$100,000 to start his own line An editorial feature in Elle magazine The opportunity to sell a fashion line on Bluefly.com A 2008 Saturn Astra automobile	A spread in Elle magazine
5	July 16, 2008	October 15, 2008	16	Leanne Marshall & Tia Shipman	Korto Momolu & Katarina Munez	Kenley Collins & Topacio Pena	$100,000 to start her own line An editorial feature in Elle magazine The opportunity to sell a fashion line on Bluefly.com A 2009 Saturn Vue Hybrid	A spread in Elle magazine
6	August 20, 2009	November 19, 2009	16	Irina Shabayeva & Kalyn Hemphill	Althea Harper & Tanisha Harper	Carol Hannah Whitfield & Lisa Blades	$100,000 to start her own line An editorial feature in Marie Claire magazine An all-expenses-paid trip for two to Paris	$25,000 A spread in Marie Claire magazine
7	January 14, 2010	April 22, 2010	16	Seth Aaron Henderson & Kristina Sajko	Emilio Sosa & Lorena Angjeli	Mila Hermanovski & Brandise Danesewich	$100,000 to start his own line An editorial feature in Marie Claire magazine The opportunity to sell a fashion line on Bluefly.com A $50,000 technology suite from Hewlett-Packard	$25,000 A spread in Marie Claire magazine
8	July 29, 2010	October 28, 2010	17	Gretchen Jones & Millana Snow	Mondo Guerra & Tina Marie Clarke	Andy South & Lenka Dayrit	$100,000 to start her own line An editorial feature in Marie Claire magazine The opportunity to sell a fashion line on Piperlime.com A $50,000 technology suite from Hewlett-Packard	$25,000 A spread in Marie Claire magazine
9	July 28, 2011	October 27, 2011	16	Anya Ayoung-Chee & Sveta Glebova	Joshua McKinley & Sonia Niekrasz	Viktor Luna & Erika K. Jones	$100,000 to start her own line An editorial feature in Marie Claire magazine The opportunity to sell a fashion line on Piperlime.com A $50,000 technology suite from Hewlett-Packard	$25,000 A spread in Marie Claire magazine
9	July 28, 2011	October 27, 2011	16	Anya Ayoung-Chee & Sveta Glebova	Joshua McKinley & Sonia Niekrasz	Kimberly Goldson & Bojana Draskovic		$25,000 A spread in Marie Claire magazine
10	July 19, 2012	October 18, 2012	16	Dmitry Sholokhov & Katt Vogel	Fabio Costa & Hannah Herreid	Melissa Fleis & Lacee Teel	$100,000 from L’Oréal Paris to start his/her own line A fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine A 2013 Lexus GS 350 A $50,000 technology suite by HP and Intel to create his/her own vision and run his/her business The opportunity to design and sell an exclusive collection at Lord & Taylor	$25,000 from L'Oréal Paris EverStyle Appear in the designer's editorial feature in Marie Claire magazine
10	July 19, 2012	October 18, 2012	16	Dmitry Sholokhov & Katt Vogel	Fabio Costa & Hannah Herreid	Christopher Palu & Claudia Ruff
11	January 24, 2013	April 25, 2013	16	Michelle Lesniak Franklin & Lisa Jackson	Patricia Michaels & Katrina Topacio	Stanley Hudson & Anna Kanehara	$150,000 to start her own line A 2013 Lexus GS 350 A $50,000 technology suite by HP and Intel Design and sell an exclusive collection at Lord & Taylor* $25,000 from L'Oréal Paris EverStyle Appear in the designer's Marie Claire editorial feature	$25,000 from L’Oréal A fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine
12	July 18, 2013	October 17, 2013	16	Dom Streater & Rayuana Aleyce	Alexandria von Bromssen & Ya Jagne	Justin LeBlanc & Ji Young Baek	$150,000 from GoBank $100,000 fabric allowance from Tide $50,000 technology suite by HP and Intel $50,000 styling contract with L'Oréal Paris A 2014 Lexus IS 350 A spa retreat for two in the Maldives A chance to design and sell a collection at Belk A complete sewing and crafting studio from Brother Sewing and Embroidery A fashion spread in Marie Claire	$25,000 from L'Oréal Paris. Fashion spread in Marie Claire
12	July 18, 2013	October 17, 2013	16	Dom Streater & Rayuana Aleyce	Alexandria von Bromssen & Ya Jagne	Bradon McDonald & Cameron Corrigan
13	July 24, 2014	October 23, 2014	19	Sean Kelly & Alisar Ailabouni	Amanda Valentine & Nikola Anderson	Kiniokahokula "Kini" Zamora & Lea Mihevc Charketa "Char" Glover & Bella Davis	$100,000 from Red Robin A chance to design fashion accessory for Red Robin A complete sewing and crafting studio from Brother Sewing and Embroidery A Samsung entertainment center A fashion spread in Marie Claire A 2015 Lexus NX F-Sport. From Mary Kay, an entire year's worth of beauty products for their fashion shows and professional makeup artist services for their debut show A shoe and accessory collection from ALDO to help enhance the winner's upcoming runway shows Travel and hotel accommodations to fashion capitals and locations around the world from Best Western International	Fashion spread in Marie Claire
14	August 6, 2015	November 5, 2015	16	Ashley Nell Tipton & Aube Jolicoeur	Kelly Dempsey & Kristina Borgyugova	Edmond Newton & Loli Laneova; Candice Cuoco & Zorana Mitic	$100,000 to launch their line A Celebrity Cruises modern luxury vacation for two to almost anywhere in the world A year supply of Sally Beauty products and the opportunity to consult Sally Beauty to create a limited edition finger paints nail-color collection Travel and hotel accommodations to fashion capitals and locations around the world from Best Western International A 2015 Lexus RC 350 From Mary Kay an entire years worth of beauty products for their fashion shows and professional make-up artist services for their debut show A complete sewing and crafting studio from Brother Sewing and Embroidery	Fashion spread in Marie Claire
15	September 15, 2016		16				$100,000 $25,000 and a year supply of Sally Beauty products A complete sewing and crafting studio from Brother Sewing and Embroidery A fashion spread in Marie Claire A 2016 Lexus IS Sedan From Mary Kay, an entire year's worth of beauty products for their fashion shows and professional makeup artist services for their debut show	Fashion spread in Marie Claire

Season 1

Project Runway premiered its first season on December 1, 2004, featuring 12 designers. Heidi Klum, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia served as judges while Tim Gunn, fashion chair at Parsons The New School for Design, served as the mentor for the designers. During this season, Project Runway received critical acclaim, including an Emmy nomination for outstanding competitive reality series. Growth in audience popularity was also dramatic from its debut to the season finale, making it a sleeper hit. Project Runway gave Bravo one of its most successful series since Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

Pennsylvania-based designer Jay McCarroll won the competition with his model Julia Beynon. Kara Saun and her model Jenny Toth placed second, while Wendy Pepper and her model Melissa Haro placed third. Austin Scarlett won the fan favorite award. As his prize for winning the competition, McCarroll was eligible to receive a $100,000 cash prize, a mentorship with Banana Republic to aid in developing his own fashion label (both of which he turned down), and display of his work in the American edition of Elle magazine.

Austin Scarlett produced a decoy collection for Fashion Week after being eliminated in the controversial "Nancy O'Dell Grammy Challenge", causing outrage among fans. His appearance at Fashion Week was an 11th hour decision made by the show's producers who were concerned that the identity of the three finalists would be revealed before the Project Runway Season 1 finale aired. The ploy was later adopted for the show's succeeding seasons.

In 2008, Jay McCarroll, in conjunction with Here! Films released the feature-length documentary "Eleven Minutes". The feature documentary chronicles his year-long post Project Runway journey preparing his first independent runway show for New York's Fashion Week in Bryant Park and the subsequent selling of his line to stores. Also in 2008, Jay McCarroll launched his own online fashion boutique, The Colony.

Season 2

The second season premiered on December 7, 2005. Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the second season. Following a nationwide search earlier in the year, 16 designers were chosen as semi-finalists and brought to New York City in June 2005. After the first challenge, called Road to the Runway, fourteen went on to compete as finalists.

Chloe Dao won the competition with her model Grace Kelsey. Daniel Vosovic and his model Rebecca Holliday placed second, while Santino Rice and his model Heather Brown placed third. Daniel Vosovic also won the fan favorite award.

Season 3

The third season premiered on July 12, 2006, featuring 15 designers. Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the third season. This season introduced a new set of sponsors, notably Macy's replacing Banana Republic, in advance of Macy's conversion of former May Company department stores.

The season finale aired on October 18, 2006. Mychael Knight was the first to be eliminated in the season finale for his collection titled "Street Safari." Knight was a fan favorite, but his line did not appeal to the judges. In a "Reunion" episode that aired on October 4, 2006, viewers voted Mychael Knight as their favorite designer, earning him a $10,000 prize. Laura Bennett was the second eliminated for her collection of cocktail dresses and evening wear, though the judges praised her for how expensive her items looked. During taping, Bennett found out she was pregnant with her sixth child. Jeffrey Sebelia was voted the winner by the judges. Uli Herzner was the runner-up and was also highly praised by the judges for her collection. Sebelia's girlfriend and son were there to celebrate his win with him. Jeffrey's model, Marilinda Rivera, won the Elle fashion editorial featuring his winning designs at Fashion Week, over fellow models Nazri Segaro (for Uli Herzner), Camilla Barungi (for Laura Bennett) and Clarissa Anderson (for Mychael Knight).

There were many dramatic scenes which played out this season. Designer Keith Michael became the first designer to be asked to leave the show for multiple rule violations. He was found to be in possession of prohibited pattern-making books and left the production site for several hours, during which time he used the internet. Sebelia was accused of having outside help to finish his garments by fellow competitor Laura Bennett. The issue was investigated, and it was declared that he had followed the guidelines. Because he could not produce a receipt for a pair of leather shorts he had sent out for pleating, he removed that item from the show. In addition, because he had gone over budget by $227.95, he removed the blonde wigs he had planned for his runway models in order to drop below budget. Also, for the first time, the last four designers were selected as finalists (Jeffrey Sebelia, Laura Bennett, Ulrike "Uli" Herzner, and Mychael Knight), with no decoy collection to serve as a distraction before the finale aired, and allowed to compete at New York Fashion Week.

During Season 5, there was a poll consisting of the most memorable moments of Project Runway. Among the most notable were Keith's disqualification, Sebelia's issues with competitor Angela Kesler's mother, and the controversy about Sebelia's final collection.

Season 4

The fourth season premiered on November 14, 2007, featuring 15 designers. Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the fourth season. Earlier in the year Gunn was named Chief Creative Officer for Liz Claiborne Inc.^[8] Cast members for Season 4 were revealed during episodes of Tim Gunn's Guide to Style.

This was the first season a designer was compelled to quit the competition for medical reasons. Jack Mackenroth left in Episode 5 and was replaced by Chris March, who had been the most recently eliminated designer.

This was also the first season in which four designers were chosen to prepare collections for Fashion Week, but only three proceeded on in the competition to show their collections at Fashion Week. In a new finale twist, Rami Kashou and Chris March, the bottom 2 of the last challenge, had to show the three best pieces from their collections to the judges.

Kathleen "Sweet P." Vaughn, the last designer eliminated before the finale, produced a decoy collection for Fashion Week, along with Chris March. Siriano won $10,000 as the Project Runway Season 4 Fan Favorite. Season 3 Fan Favorite winner Mychael Knight brought out the check to Siriano during the Reunion episode. Siriano became the fourth and youngest winner of Project Runway. His model, Lisa Nargi, won the Elle fashion editorial featuring his winning designs at Fashion Week, over fellow models Sam Ruggiero (for Rami Kashou) and Lauren Browne (for Jillian Lewis). This was also the first season of the show in which the final three models did not wear the finale pieces of their respective designers.

Season 5 had a series poll consisting the 22 most memorable moments of Project Runway. The season 4 moments consist of Michael Kors losing it during a competition, designer Elisa Jimenez's spit marks, the designers talking about their wrestling names, Mackenroth's departure/March's return, Siriano's drama with a teen, Sarah Jessica Parker surprising the designers, and Victoria Beckham telling Siriano she would love to wear any of his clothing.

"It's Sew Not Over", a post-show competition, designers were asked to create a three piece collection that would be voted online by the viewing public. Jillian Lewis was chosen as the winner.^[9]

Season 5

The fifth season premiered on July 16, 2008, at its new time of 9/8c on Bravo, featuring 16 designers. Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the fifth season.

This first episode was the first time that they repeated a challenge from a previous season: the Gristedes challenge, in which the designers had to make a design of their choice using what they could find at a grocery store. The episode, featuring a special guest judge appearance by first season competitor Austin Scarlett, was intended as an homage to the glories of past seasons, the fifth season being the last on Bravo and by original producers Magical Elves.

Similar to season 4, four designers were chosen to prepare collections for Fashion Week, but only three proceeded on in the competition to show their collections at Fashion Week. However, unlike the previous season, the last challenge does not have a bearing on this decision and any of the four remaining designers could be eliminated before fashion week.

For the first time, six people showed collections for Fashion Week. Joe Faris and Stephen "Suede" Baum, the last two designers eliminated, and Jerell Scott, who was eliminated in the first part of the finale, showed decoy collections.

For the first time, all of the finalists (Kenley Collins, Korto Momolu and Leanne Marshall) were female. All three collections were well received. Kenley was praised for her well-tailored designs, but was eliminated first because some of her designs were reminiscent of other professional designers' collections. The judges admired Korto's ethnic touches on her designs, but thought that a few were overworked. Leanne was declared the winner for her wave patterns. Her model, Tia Shipman, won the Elle fashion editorial featuring her winning designs at Fashion Week, over fellow models Katarina Munez (for Korto Momolu) and Topacio Pena (for Kenley Collins). Jennifer Lopez was supposed to be the guest judge in the finale, but bowed out at the last minute, so Tim Gunn took her place.

For the first time since Season 1, there was no reunion or opening introduction due to time restraints. However, Bravo continued to stage the fan favorite contest, with Momulu winning.

Season 6

Season six premiered on August 20, 2009, featuring 16 designers. Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the sixth season. This season was the first season of Project Runway to be filmed in Los Angeles, at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising,^[10] rather than New York.

The sixth season had been announced to begin airing in January 2009 on Lifetime, but was delayed due to legal issues. The announcement occurred before NBC Universal sought preliminary injunctive action effectively enjoining production. The launch was further delayed due to Lifetime's request that the suit between NBC Universal and The Weinstein Co. be removed to federal court.^[11]^[12]^[13] On April 1, 2009, the lawsuit between Weinstein Co. and NBC Universal was settled, with Weinstein agreeing to pay NBC an undisclosed sum for the right to move the show to Lifetime.^[4]^[5]

The premiere was preceded by a two-hour special episode of Project Runway: All-Star Challenge where eight past contestants (Daniel Vosovic, Santino Rice, Jeffrey Sebelia, Uli Herzner, Mychael Knight, Chris March, Sweet P, and Korto Momolu) competed in one challenge with a cash prize of $100,000.^[14] Vosovic won the challenge, while Momolu came in second place, Sweet P in third, and March in fourth.

For the first time in Project Runway history, only three contestants showed their collections at New York Fashion Week. The three finalists of the sixth season showed their collections at Bryant Park on February 20, 2009, but the finalists were not named and did not appear onstage that day.^[15] Irina Shabayeva won the competition with her model Kalyn Hemphill. Althea Harper and her model Tanisha Harper placed second, while Carol Hannah Whitfield and her model Lisa Blades placed third. This was the second season overall (and the second consecutive season) where all three finalists were female. Christopher Straub won the Fan Favorite Award.

Season 7

The seventh season premiered on January 14, 2010, featuring 16 designers.^[16] Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the seventh season. This season featured the return of the show to New York City, following a move to Los Angeles for Season 6.

This was the first season a designer was compelled to quit the competition for personal reasons. Maya Luz, who left the competition unexpectedly in Episode 11 after deciding that she did not have enough experience to "go all the way", was replaced by Anthony Williams, who had been the most recently eliminated designer.

Similar to season 4, four designers were chosen to prepare collections for Fashion Week, but only three proceeded on in the competition to show their collections at Fashion Week. In a finale twist, Mila Hermanovski and Jay Nicolas Sario, the bottom 2 of the last challenge, had to show the three best pieces from their collections to the judges.

For the first time, ten designers showed collections for Fashion Week. The final 11 designers (except Maya Luz) all showed decoy collections.

Seth Aaron Henderson won the competition with his model Kristina Sajko. Emilio Sosa and his model Lorena Angjeli placed second, while Mila Hermanovskie and her model Brandise Danesewich placed third. Maya Luz won the fan favorite award.

Season 8

The eighth season premiered on July 29, 2010, on the Lifetime network with a new 90-minute format for each episode and in a new time-slot, 9pm PT/ET. This season featured 17 competing designers, the most in the show's history. Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the eighth season.

This season featured the longest winner deliberation in Project Runway history. Kors and Garcia voted for Gretchen Jones to win, while Klum and guest judge Jessica Simpson voted for Mondo Guerra. In the end, Jones won the competition with her model Millana Snow. After the show, Tim Gunn publicly aired his disappointment in Kors' and Garcia's choice for the winner. Mondo Guerra and his model Tina Marie Clarke placed second, while Andy South and his model Lenka Dayrit placed third. Mondo Guerra also won the fan favorite award.

Season 9

The ninth premiered on July 28, 2011, featuring 20 designers.^[17] Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the ninth season. For the first time since season 3, four designers were chosen to show their collections at Fashion Week.

Anya Ayoung-Chee won the competition with her model Sveta Glebova. Joshua McKinley and his model Sonia Niekrasz placed second, Viktor Luna and his model Erika K. Jones placed third and Kimberly Goldson and her model Bojana Draskovic placed fourth. Anya also won the fan favorite award.

Season 10

The tenth season premiered on July 19, 2012, featuring 16 designers. Celebrating the show's tenth season milestone, this season launched with a fashion show in front of a live audience.^[18] As with the previous season, four designers were chosen to show their collections at Fashion Week. Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the tenth season.

This season featured the first time two designers quit on the same season. Andrea Katz and Kooan Kosuke both quit on Episode 3 due to personal reasons.

Dmitry Sholokhov won the competition with his model Katt Vogel. Fabio Costa and his model Hannah Herreid placed second, Melissa Fleis and her model Lacee Teel placed third and Christopher Palu and his model Claudia Ruff placed fourth. Elena Slivnyak won the fan favorite award.

Season 11

The eleventh season premiered on January 24, 2013, featuring 16 designers. Zac Posen replaced Michael Kors as one of main judges due to scheduling conflicts with Kors.^[19] Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the eleventh season. Dubbed as "Teams Edition", the designers had to work in teams for every challenge this season.

Michelle Lesniak Franklin won the competition with her model Lisa Jackson. Patricia Michaels and her model Katrina Topacio placed second, while Stanley Hudson and his model Anna Kanehara placed third. Originally, Michelle would have been eliminated in Episode 11, but the judges gave her a second chance.

Season 12

The twelfth season premiered on July 18, 2013, featuring 15 new designers and 1 returning designer as voted by the public.^[20] Kate Pankoke from Season 11 won the public voting for the 16th spot to compete once again over Ra'mon Lawrence of Season 6 and Valerie Mayen of Season 8. Heidi Klum, Zac Posen, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the twelfth season.

Five designers were chosen to prepare collections for Fashion Week, but only three were supposed to proceed on in the competition to show their collections at Fashion Week. Alexandria von Bromssen, Justin LeBlanc and Helen Castillo, the bottom 3 of the last challenge, had to show the three best pieces from their collections to the judges. In a final twist, both von Bromssen and LeBlanc were chosen to show their collections at Fashion Week, making this the fourth time four people were competing in the finale.

Dom Streater won the competition with her model Rayuana Aleyce. Alexandria von Bromssen and her model Ya Jagne placed second, Justin LeBlanc and his model Ji Young Baek placed third and Bradon McDonald and his model Cameron Corrigan placed fourth. Originally, Justin would have been eliminated in Episode 6, but he was given a second chance due to the newly instituted "Tim Gunn Save."^[21]

Season 13

The thirteenth season premiered on July 24, 2014, featuring 18 new designers and 1 returning designer as voted by the public. Amanda Valentine from Season 11 won the public voting for the 19th spot to compete once again over Alexander Pope and Ken Laurence of Season 12. Heidi Klum, Zac Posen, Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn all returned for the thirteenth season.

Some of the celebrity judges for this season are Olympian Lindsey Vonn, Mad Men‘s Elisabeth Moss, burlesque queen Dita Von Teese and former Project Runway winner Christian Siriano.^[2]

The contestants are Alexander Knox, Amanda Valentine, Angela Sum, Carrie Sleutskaya, Char Glover, Emily Payne, Emmanuel Tobias, Fäde zu Grau, Hernan Lander, Jefferson Musanda, Kiniokahokula Zamora, Korina Emmerich, Kristine Guico, Mitchell Perry, Nzinga Knight, Samantha Plasencia, Sandhya Garg, Sean Kelly and Tim Navarro.

Sean Kelly won the competition. Amanda Valentine placed second, Kini Zamora placed third and Char Glover placed fourth. Originally, Char would have been eliminated in Episode 6, but she was given a second chance and returned to the show by Tim Gunn who used his "Tim Gunn Save."

Season 14

The fourteenth season premiered on August 6, 2015. The judges included: Heidi Klum, Zac Posen and Nina Garcia. Tim Gunn returns for his 14th season as a mentor.

Some of the celebrity judges for this season were Ciara, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kiernan Shipka, Ashley Tisdale, Kelly Osbourne, Coco Rocha, Melanie Brown and Hannah Davis.

The designers are: Amanda Perna, Ashley Nell Tipton, Blake Patterson, Candice Cuoco, David Giampiccolo, Duncan Chambers-Watson, Edmond Newton, Gabrielle Arruda, Hanmiao Yang, Jake Wall, Joseph Poli, Kelly Dempsey, Laurie Underwood, Lindsey Creel, Merline Labissiere and Swapnil Shinde.

Ashley Nell Tipton won the competition. Kelly Dempsey placed second, Edmond Newton placed third and Candice Cuoco placed fourth. Originally, Edmond would have been eliminated in Episode 12, but he was given a second chance and returned to the show by Tim Gunn who used his "Tim Gunn Save."

Season 15

The fifteenth season premiered September 15, 2016. The judges included: Heidi Klum, Zac Posen and Nina Garcia. Tim Gunn returns for his 15th season as a mentor.

Some of the celebrity judges for this season were Priyanka Chopra, Kelly Osbourne, Shiri Appleby, Savannah Guthrie, Carly Chaikin, Emily Ratajkowski, Sabrina Carpenter, Nina Dobrev, Camila Belle, Jaime King, Lucky Blue Smith, and Anne Fulenwider.

The designers are: Alex Snyder, Brik Allen, Cornelius Ortiz, Dexter Simmons, Erin Robertson, Ian Hargrove, Jenny Ricetti, Kimber Richardson, Laurence Basse, Linda Marcus, Mah-Jing Wong, Nathalia JMag, Rik Villa, Roberi Parra, Sarah Donofrio, and Tasha Henderson.

Future seasons

In May 2016, Lifetime renewed the show for three seasons more (16-18) in a deal with Weinstein Co. The series spinoffs, Project Runway All Stars and Project Runway Junior, also are renewed for two and one seasons more respectively. ^[22]

Spinoffs

All Stars

Project Runway All Stars is a spin-off of Project Runway, featuring designers from previous seasons of Project Runway. The show has run for 5 seasons. Angela Lindvall and Carolyn Murphy have each hosted one season, and the last three seasons have been hosted by Alyssa Milano. As on the regular Project Runway, the designers are judged by the host, two permanent judges and 1-2 guest judges. The permanent All Stars judges has been the designers Isaac Mizrahi and Georgina Chapman. Joanna Coles mentored the designers in the first two seasons and Zanna Roberts Rassi mentored in the last three season.

Season	Host	Premiere Date	No. of Designers	Winner
1	Angela Lindvall	January 5, 2012	13	Mondo Guerra
2	Carolyn Murphy	October 25, 2012	13	Anthony Ryan Auld
3	Alyssa Milano	October 24, 2013	11	Seth Aaron Henderson
4		October 30, 2014	14	Dmitry Sholokhov
5		February 11, 2016	13	Dom Streater

Under the Gunn

Hosted by Tim Gunn, Project Runway: Under the Gunn brings back Project Runway alumni Anya Ayoung-Chee, Nick Verreos and Mondo Guerra to mentor and manage the designer contestants. The mentors must show they have the business savvy to manage their team of four designers, or else leave the show themselves. Designer Rachel Roy, celebrity stylist Jen Rade, and Marie Claire senior fashion editor Zanna Roberts Rassi serve as the judges with Tim.

Project Accessory

Project Accessory aired directly after the season finale of Project Runway season 9, premiering on October 27, 2011. The show featured 12 contestants who participated in challenges to design and display the most amazing accessories. With the help of their mentor, Eva Jeanbart-Lorenzotti, they needed to impress host Molly Sims and judges Kenneth Cole and Ariel Foxman, editor of InStyle. Kelly Osbourne and Debra Messing were among the guest judges appearing this past season. The winner was Brian Burkhardt.

Project Runway: Threads

Project Runway: Threads aired directly after the season finale of Project Runway Season 13, premiering on October 23, 2014. Each week of eight three young designers competed for a scholarship to study fashion design in addition to sewing materials and equipment. The host was Vanessa Simmons. The judges were Christian Siriano (Project Runway Season 4 winner), Seventeen magazine Fashion Director Gina Kelly and Accessories Editor Jasmine Snow, and Ingrid Nilsen who is a video blogger on YouTube. Since each week there are three new competitors, there is no one winner, but rather eight spread across the eight episodes.

Project Runway: Junior

Project Runway: Junior is a direct spin-off of Project Runway, featuring twelve teen designers aged between 13 and 17. The show premiered on November 12, 2015.

Project Runway: Fashion Startup

Project Runway: Fashion Startup is a spin-off of Project Runway, that showcases aspiring fashion and beauty entrepreneurs as they pitch their concepts for the chance to secure funds from a panel of investors to help grow their budding ventures. The show premieres on October 20, 2016. ^[23] ^[24]

International versions

Countries highlighted in red indicate a version of the show that is no longer airing. Of the versions still airing, Mission Catwalk (from Jamaica) has been on the longest after the US version, having completed 5 seasons. Of the versions no longer airing, Project Runway Korea had the longest run with 5 seasons.

Country	Name	Host	Channel	First Premiere	Regular Judge	Seasons	Winners
Arab World	Project Fashion: El Musamim El Arabi	Norma Naoum	Future TV	February 26, 2006	Norma Naoum Maria Aziz Rabih Keyrouz (mentor)	2	Season 1, 2006 Julien Abboud Season 2, 2007 Mohammed Ashi
Arab World	Project Runway Middle East	Jessica Kahawaty	MBC 4	September 17, 2016	Elie Saab Afef Jnifen Faris Al Shehri (mentor)		Season 1, 2016 Upcoming season
Asia	Project Runway Asia	Cindy Bishop	STAR World	2017	Kelly Tandiono Kenneth Goh Nguyễn Công Trí Daniel Boey (mentor)		Season 1, 2016 TBA
Australia	Project Runway Australia	Kristy Hinze (First 2 seasons) Megan Gale (Season 3 onwards)	Arena	Season 1: 7 July 2008 – 15 September 2008 Season 2: 8 July 2009 – 16 September 2009 Season 3: 4 July 2011 – 12 September 2011 Season 4: 8 October 2012 – 17 December 2012	Jarrad Clark Kirrily Johnston Alex Perry (mentor)	4	Season 1, 2008 Juli Grbac Season 2, 2009 Anthony Capon Season 3, 2011 Dylan Cooper Season 4, 2012 Christina Exie
Belgium	De Designers	Evi Hanssen	VTM	December 16, 2008	Christophe Coppens Veerle Windels Ann Claes Erik Verdonck (mentor)	2	—
Brazil	Projeto Fashion	Adriane Galisteu	Band	September 17, 2011	Susana Barbosa Reinaldo Lourenço Alexandre Herchcovitch (mentor)	1	Season 1, 2011: Cynthia Hayashi
Canada	Project Runway Canada	Iman	Slice Global	October 8, 2007	Shawn Hewson Rita Silvan Brian Bailey (mentor)	2	Season 1, 2007 Evan Biddell Season 2, 2009 Sunny Fong
Finland	Muodin huipulle	Minna Cheung (season 1) / Nora Vilva (season 2)	MTV3	November 1, 2009	Minna Cheung (hostess and judge season 1) Nora Vilva (hostess and judge season 2) Anssi Tuupainen (judge season 1) Jaakko Selin (mentor season 1, judge season 2) Janne Renvall (mentor season 2)	2	Season 1, 2009 Katri Niskanen Season 2, 2011 Linda Sipilä
Indonesia	Project Runway Indonesia	Becky Tumewu	TV3	TBA	Darius Sinathrya Donna Agnesia (mentor)	TBA	Season 1, 2016 TBA
Israel	פרויקט מסלול Proyekt Maslul	Shiraz Tal	Channel 2 (Reshet)	June 17, 2009 – October 2009	Vivi Bleish Gal Afel Sason Kedem (mentor)	1	Season 1, 2008-2009 Alon Livne
Jamaica	Mission Catwalk	Keneea Linton-George	TVJ	March 15, 2011	Keneea Linton-George (mentor season 2, hostess and judge seasons 1-3) Novia McDonald-Whyte Carlton Brown Sandra Kennedy (mentor Season 1) Kay Davitian (mentor)	5	—
Latin America	Project Runway Latin America	Rebecca de Alba	Fashion TV (season 1), Glitz* (season 2 & 3)	September 20, 2010	Claudia Pandolfo Ángel Sánchez Mariano Toledo (mentor in Season 1-2) Jorge Duque Velez (mentor season 3)	3	Season 1 Jorge Duque Velez Season 2 Karin Koo Season 3 Matias Hernan
Malaysia	Project Runway Malaysia	Bernie Chan	8TV	August 3, 2007	Bernie Chan Datuk Bernard Chandran	1	Season 1, 2007 Felix Chin
Mongolia	"Project Runway Mongolia"			2017			Season 1, 2017
Netherlands	Project Catwalk	Renate Verbaan (season 1 & 2) Stacey Rookhuizen (season 3)	RTL 5	October 8, 2007	Simone Dernee (season 1) Cecile Narinx (season 2) Daryl van Wouw (season 1 & 2) Olcay Gulsen (season 3) Jan Taminiau (season 3)	3	Season 1, 2007 Django Steenbakker
Norway	Designerspirene	Vendela Kirsebom	TV3	February 26, 2007 – May, 2007	Vendela Kirsebom Peter Løchstøer Petra Middelthon William Jensen (mentor)	1	Season 1, 2005-2006 Daniel Sørensen
Philippines	Project Runway Philippines	Teresa Herrera (2008–2009) Tweetie De Leon (2011–present)	ETC SBN 21	Season 1: July 30, 2008 – November 12, 2008 Season 2: August 12, 2009 – December 2, 2009 Season 3: March 25, 2012 – May 13, 2012 Season 4: June 14, 2015 – August 2015	Apples Aberin-Sahdwani Rajo Laurel Jojie Lloren (mentor)	4	Season 1, 2008 Aries Lagat Season 2, 2009 Manny Marquez Season 3, 2012 Milka Quin Redoble Season 4, 2015 Jose Joy Chicano
Poland	Project Runway TVN	Anja Rubik	TVN	March 2, 2014	Anja Rubik Joanna Przetakiewicz Marcin Tyszka (season 2) Mariusz Przybylski (season 1) Tomasz Ossoliński (mentor)	2	Season 1, 2014 Jakub "Jacob" Bartnik Season 2, 2015 Michał Zieliński
Portugal	Projecto Moda	Nayma Mingas	RTP1	July 25, 2010 – September 26, 2010	Manuel Alves Fátima Cotta Cristina Pinho Paulo Gomes (mentor)	1	Season 1, 2010 Carina Duarte
Russia	Проект Подиум Project Runway Russia	Anna Sedokova	MTV Russia	October 8, 2011	Elena Sotnikova Leonid Alexeyev Pavel Kaplevich (mentor)	1	Season 1, 2011-2012 Dmitry Neu
South Korea	프로젝트 런웨이 코리아 Project Runway Korea	Lee So-ra	Onstyle	February 7, 2009	Shin Yoo-jin Kim Seok-won Kan Ho-sup (mentor)	5	Season 1, 2009 Lee Woo-kyung Season 2, 2010 Jung Go-woun Season 3, 2011 Shin Joo-yeon Season 4, 2012 Kim Hye-ran All-Stars 1, 2015 Hwang Jae-geun
Sweden	Project Runway Sverige	Sofi Fahrman	TV3	October 1, 2012	Rossana Mariano Marcel Marongiu Rohdi Heintz (mentor)	1	Season 1, 2012 Naim Josefi
Taiwan	Super Designer	Li Jing	TTV	August 26, 2010	Ku Yu Wen Hong Wei Ming Lu Shu Fen Lin Li Wen Xiao Hong		—
Thailand	Project Runway Thailand			2016			Season 1, 2016: TBA
Turkey	Proje Moda	Güzide Duran	Star TV	July 9, 2007	Cemil İpekçi Işın Görmüş Barbarossa
United Kingdom	Project Catwalk	Elizabeth Hurley (2006) Kelly Osbourne (2007–2008)	Sky One	2006–2008	Julien Macdonald Lorraine Candy (2006) Paula Reed (2007–2008) Ben de Lisi (mentor)	3	Season 1, 2006 Kirsty Doyle Season 2, 2007 Wayne Aveline Season 3, 2008 Jasper Garvida
Vietnam	Project Runway Vietnam	Ngô Thanh Vân (2013) Trương Ngọc Ánh (2014-2015)	VTV3	Season 1: April 28 – June 16, 2013 Season 2 : May 11, 2013 – July 6, 2014 Season 3 : December 19, 2015 - January 30, 2016	Đỗ Mạnh Cường (2013) Chloe Dao (2013) Trần Nguyễn Thiên Hương (2013-2016) Nguyễn Công Trí (2014-2016) Nguyễn Thanh Tùng (mentor)	3	Season 1, 2013 Hoàng Minh Hà Season 2, 2014 Lý Giám Tiền Season 3, 2015-2016 Nguyễn Tiến Truyển
Vietnam	Project Runway Junior Vietnam	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA