Project Runway

*Project Runway*
Project Runway
Created by	Eli Holzman
Starring	Heidi Klum; Tim Gunn; Michael Kors; Nina Garcia
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	125 (including casting and reunion specials)
Production
Running time	40-42 minutes ; (Season 1 – Season 7) ; 62-64 minutes ; (Season 8 – present)
Original release
Network	Bravo (2004–2008); Lifetime (2009–present)
Release	December 1, 2004 –; present

Project Runway is an American reality television series on Lifetime Television, previously on the Bravo network, 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.

On July 4, 2006 the show's producers, Weinstein Company, announced a five-year deal that would relocate the show to Lifetime Television, beginning with Season 6. In response, NBC Universal filed a lawsuit against the Weinstein Company for violating its contract rights.^[1] A September 2008 court decision granted NBCU's request for an injunction, preventing Lifetime from promoting or exhibiting "Runway" until further notice.^[2]

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.^[3]^[4] Season 6 began airing on Lifetime on August 20, 2009.^[5] 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 September 12.^[6]

Format

Project Runway uses progressive elimination to reduce the initial field of 12 or more fashion designers down to 3 before the final challenge. Each non-finale challenge (the scope of one episode) requires the designers to develop one or several 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 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), 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 around 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 to 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. The judges then interview the six remaining designers 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 her catchphrase, Auf Wiedersehen, 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 (Season 2). 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 Elle 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 always appear in barefoot, hair tied back and wearing a little black dress. 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).

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 faculty member of 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 from 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 finalist designers.

Seasons

Overview

Season	Season Premiere Date	Season Finale Date	No. of Designers	Winner	Runner-up	2nd 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	N/A	– $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	N/A	– $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	Mychael Knight & Clarissa Anderson	– $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
4	November 14, 2007	March 5, 2008	15	Christian Siriano & Lisa Nargi	Rami Kashou & Sam Ruggiero	Jillian Lewis & Lauren Browne	N/A	– $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	N/A	– $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	N/A	– $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	N/A	– $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 Clark	Andy South & Lenka Dayrit	N/A	– $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 Nieklasz	Viktor Luna & Erika Kimberly Jones	Kimberly Goldson & Bojana Draskovic	– $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
All-Stars	January 5, 2012	TBA	13	TBA	TBA	TBA	TBA	-Exclusive designer’s boutique in select Neiman Marcus stores and on NeimanMarcus.com - $100,000 dollars in technology and office space to help grow their business from HP and Intel - $100,000 cash from L’Oreal Paris - a feature spread in Marie Claire, for which he or she will serve as a guest editor for one year - a sewing and embroidery studio provided by Brother International.	TBA

Season 1

Project Runway premiered its first season on December 1, 2004. 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.

The winning designer of the firstwas Pennsylvania-based designer Jay McCarroll. Second place was Kara Saun, and third was Wendy Pepper. As his prize for winning the competition among 12 designers, 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. The winning model of the first season, selected by McCarroll, was Julia Beynon, who beat out models Jenny Toth (for Kara Saun) and Melissa Haro (for Wendy Pepper).

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 McCarrol, in conjunction with Here! Films released the feature length documentary "11 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.

The cast members were Jay McCarroll, Kara Saun, Wendy Pepper, Austin Scarlett, Mario Cadenas, Nora Caliguri, Daniel Franco, Starr Ilzhoefer, Kevin Johnn, Vanessa Riley, Robert Plotkin, and Alexandra Vidal.

Season 2

The series' second season began on December 7, 2005. Following a nationwide search earlier in the year, sixteen 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. The winning designer, Houston-based Chloe Dao, received $100,000 in seed money to help launch her own line, a one year contract with Designers Management Agency, a 2007 Saturn Sky roadster, a spread in Elle magazine, and a mentorship with the Banana Republic Design Team. Michael Kors and Nina Garcia returned as judges for the second season. The final judging seat rotated each week, based on the challenge. Tim Gunn, fashion chair at Parsons The New School for Design, returned as a mentor for the designers. Chloe Dao (paired with model Grace Kelsey) beat out rivals Daniel Vosovic and Santino Rice.

Season 2's competitors were Zulema Griffin, Santino Rice, Raymundo Baltazar, Marla Duran, Kirsten Ehrig, Guadalupe Vidal, Emmett McCarthy, Diana Eng, John Wade, Daniel Vosovic, Chloe Dao, Kara Janx, Daniel Franco, Andraé Gonzalo, Heidi Standridge, and Nick Verreos.

Season 3

Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn, Nina Garcia, and Michael Kors returned for season three, which began airing on July 12, 2006. Season 3 introduced a new set of sponsors, notably Macy's replacing Banana Republic, in advance of Macy's conversion of former May Company^{[disambiguation needed]} 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. His model was Marilinda Rivera. Jeffrey's designs edged out fellow designers Uli Herzner (with Nazri Segaro), Laura Bennett (with Camilla Barungi), and Mychael Knight (with Clarissa Anderson), to take the coveted Elle fashion spread. 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.

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

Casting auditions for Season 4 of Project Runway began in April 2007, with production taking place in June and July. The fourth season premiered on November 14, 2007, with Heidi Klum returning as host and Tim Gunn returning as design mentor. Earlier in the year Gunn was named Chief Creative Officer for Liz Claiborne Inc.^[7] 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. Christian Siriano, who had won the last challenge, was assured of presenting his designs at Fashion Week. Jillian Lewis, the runner up in the last challenge, was also guaranteed a spot. In a new finale twist, Rami Kashou and Chris March had to show the three best pieces from their collections to the judges. Kashou was selected.

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.^[8]

Seasons cast members: Christian Siriano, Ricky Lizalde, Steven Rosengard, Carmen Webber, Kevin Christiana, Marion Lee, Rami Kashou, Elisa Jimenez, Victorya Hong, Simone LeBlanc, Kathleen Vaughn, Christina Scarbo, Jillian Lewis, Jack Mackenroth, and Chris March.

Season 5

Season five began on Wednesday July 16, 2008 at its new time of 9/8c on Bravo with Heidi Klum returning as host and Tim Gunn returning as design mentor with 16 new designers: Jerell Scott, Korto Momolu, Leanne Marshall, Kenley Collins, Daniel Feld, Joe Faris, Keith Bryce, Kelli Martin, Stella Zotis, Jennifer Diederich, Stephen "Suede" Baum, Emily Brandle, Terri Stevens, Wesley Nault, and Blayne Walsh.

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.

This season also featured more stars from the acting and music industries than usual. Natalie Portman, Sandra Bernhard, Apolo Anton Ohno, Brooke Shields, RuPaul, LL Cool J all acted as special guest judge in a challenge. Jennifer Lopez also 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, 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. The second part of the season finale was aired October 15, 2008. All three collections were well received. Kenley was praised for her well-tailored designs, but was eliminated first for 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, received a spread in Elle magazine. The other models were Katarina Munez (for Korto) and Topacio Pena (for Kenley).

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

The sixth season was the first season of Project Runway to be filmed in Los Angeles, at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising,^[9] rather than New York. The pre-finale filming concluded on Friday, October 17, 2008.^[10]

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]

The three finalists of the sixth season showed their collections at New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park on February 20, 2009, but the finalists were not named and did not appear onstage that day.^[14] Irina Shabayeva won the competition with her model Kalyn Hemphill. Althea Harper and her model Tanisha Harper placed second in the competition, followed by Carol Hannah Whitfield and her model Lisa Blades.

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.^[3]^[4] The season began airing on Lifetime on August 20, 2009 and featured guest judges such as Christina Aguilera, Eva Longoria and Lindsay Lohan.

The designers were: Nicolas Putvinski, Ra'mon-Lawrence Coleman, Shirin Askari, Qristyl Frazier, Malvin Vien, Louise Black, Mitchell Hall, Epperson, Althea Harper, Ari Fish, Carol Hannah Whitfield, Johnny Sakalis, Irina Shabayeva, Gordana Gehlhausen, Christopher Straub, and Logan Neitzel.

Season 7

The casting process for Season 7 began in May 2009.^[15] The show returned to New York City for Season 7, and premiered on January 14, 2010.^[16] Nina Garcia and Michael Kors are returning as judges for the entire length of the season, along with mentor Tim Gunn and host Heidi Klum.

The cast members were: Amy Sarabi, Seth Aaron Henderson, Emillio Sosa, Jonathan Joseph Peters, Jay Nicolas Sario, Maya Luz, Mila Hermanovski, Christiane King, Pamela Ptak, Ping Wu, Jesus Estrada, Anna Lynett, Janeane Marie Ceccanti, Jesse LeNoir, Ben Chmura and Anthony Williams.

Seth Aaron Henderson was declared the winner of Season 7 on April 22, 2010, who beat out rivals Emilio Sosa and Mila Hermanovski.

Season 8

The eighth season of Project Runway began airing 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. Heidi Klum, Michael Kors, and Nina Garcia returned as judges. Tim Gunn returned to mentor the 17 competing designers, the most in the show's history.

The designers were A.J. Thouvenot, Andy South, April Johnson, Casanova, Christopher Collins, Gretchen Jones, Ivy Higa, Jason Troisi, Kristen Haskin Simms, McKell Maddox, Michael Costello, Michael Drummond, Mondo Guerra, Nicholas D'Aurizio, Peach Carr, Sarah Trost, and Valerie Mayen.

This winner of Project Runway season eight received $100,000 from L'Oréal Paris, a fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine, a $50,000 technology suite by HP and Intel, and the opportunity to design and sell an exclusive collection on Piperlime.com. The model paired with the winning designer won a designer's editorial feature in Marie Claire magazine and received $25,000 from L'Oréal Studio Secrets Professional.^[17]

Gretchen Jones was declared the winner of Season 8 on October 28, 2010.

Season 9

Season 9 of Project Runway premiered on July 28, 2011.^[18]

The desigers of Season 9 are Anthony Ryan Auld, Anya Ayoung-Chee, Becky Ross, Bert Keeter, Bryce Black, Cecilia Motwani, Danielle Everine, Fallene Wells, Joshua McKinley, Joshua Christensen, Julie Tierney, Kimberly Goldson, Laura Kathleen, Olivier Green, Rafael Cox, and Viktor Luna.^[19]

Anya Ayoung-Chee was declared the Winner of Project Runway Season 9 on October 27, 2011. Anya won over rivals Joshua McKinley, Viktor Luna, and Kimberly Goldson.

Season 10

Season 10 was announced during the reunion episode of season 9 on November 3, 2011.

All Stars

Lifetime is working on "Project Runway All Stars", a series of twelve one-hour episodes [1] featuring past contestants competing in a series of challenges. An airdate was set for November 3, 2011, but it will now premier Jan 5 2012. ^[20] ^[21]

Project Accessory

Project Accessory will air directly after the season finale of Project Runway Season 9, premiering October 27, 2011. The show will feature 12 contestants who participate in challenges to design and display the most amazing accessories. With the help of their mentor, Eva Jeanbart-Lorenzotti, they’ll need to impress host Molly Sims and judges Kenneth Cole and Ariel Foxman, editor of InStyle. Kelly Osbourne and Debra Messing will be among the guest judges appearing this season.

Home media

On November 29, 2005, Miramax released season 1 on DVD. The Weinstein Company released DVDs of seasons 2–8 between 2006 and 2011.

Both a PC and Wii video game were released in 2010.

Project Runway around the world

Country	Name	Host	Channel	First Premiere	Regular Judge	Seasons
Arab World	المصمم العربي El Musamim El Arabi	Norma Naoum	Future TV	February 26, 2006	Norma Naoum Maria Aziz Rabih Keyrouz (mentor)	2
Australia	Project Runway Australia	Kristy Hinze (2008–2009) Megan Gale (2011–present)	Arena	September 15, 2008	Jarrad Clark Kirrily Johnston Alex Perry (mentor)	3
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 11, 2011	Reinaldo Lourenço Susana Barbosa Alexandre Herchcovitch (mentor)	1
Canada	Project Runway Canada	Iman	Slice Global	October 8, 2007	Shawn Hewson Rita Silvan Brian Bailey (mentor)	2
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
Hong Kong	時裝世界精英大獎 Fashion World Talent Awards	Terence Yin	TVB Pearl	2009	Tina Liu Judy Mann Wing Shya	1
Israel	פרויקט מסלול Proyekt Maslul	Shiraz Tal	TVA	June 17, 2009	Vivi Bleish Gal Afel Sason Kedem (mentor)	1
Latin America	Project Runway Latin America	Rebecca de Alba	Fashion TV	September 20, 2010	Claudia Pandolfo Ángel Sánchez Mariano Toledo (mentor)	1
Malaysia	Project Runway Malaysia	Bernie Chan	8TV	August 3, 2007	Bernie Chan Datuk Bernard Chandran	1
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
Norway	Designerspirene	Vendela Kirsebom	TV3	February 26, 2007	Vendela Kirsebom Peter Løchstøer Petra Middelthon William Jensen (mentor)	1
Philippines	Project Runway Philippines	Teresa Herrera (2008–2009) Tweetie De Leon (2011–present)	ETC SBN 21	July 30, 2008	Apples Aberin-Sahdwani Rajo Laurel Jojie Lloren (mentor)	3
Portugal	Projecto Moda	Nayma Mingas	RTP1	July 25, 2010	Manuel Alves Fátima Cotta Cristina Pinho Paulo Gomes (mentor)	1
Russia	Проект Подиум Project Runway Russia	Anna Sedokova	MTV Russia	October 8, 2011	TBA	1
South Korea	프로젝트 런웨이 코리아 Project Runway Korea	Lee So-ra	TVA	February 7, 2009	Shin Yoo-jin Kim Seok-won Kan Ho-sup (mentor)	2
Taiwan	Super Designer	Li Jing	TTV	August 26, 2010	Ku Yu Wen Hong Wei Ming Lu Shu Fen Lin Li Wen Xiao Hong
Turkey	Proje Moda	Güzide Duran	Star TV	July 9, 2007	Cemil İpekçi Işın Görmüş Murat Süter (mentor)
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
United States	Project Runway	Heidi Klum	Lifetime	December 1, 2004	Nina Garcia Michael Kors Tim Gunn (mentor)	9