Season 10
It's time to cut - or be cut! - as Project Runway celebrates its 10th Anniversary milestone with 16 new designers.
Not only will this season's designers have to prove they have the creativity, skills and passion to dazzle Heidi Klum, mentor Tim Gunn and judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia, they'll also have to show off their garments to the critical eyes of a live audience in one of New York's most visited and highly visible sites for their first challenge of the new season.
Filmed on location in the Big Apple, each episode of the 10th season showcases the talent of the designers on the runway, and the drama that takes place behind-the-seams as the designers attempt to make the cut to show at New York Fashion Week at Lincoln Center.
With some new twists for the designers along the way, who will make the cut?
As part of the winner's prize package, this season's victorious designer will receive $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 and the opportunity to design and sell an exclusive collection at Lord & Taylor.
The model paired with the winner of Project Runway will also appear in the designer's editorial feature in Marie Claire and receive $25,000 from L'Oréal Paris EverStyle.
Hosted by supermodel and fashion maven Heidi Klum, Project Runway provides budding designers with an opportunity to launch their careers in fashion, under the watchful eyes of mentor and Liz Claiborne Chief CreativeOfficer Tim Gunn and judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia.
Project Runway is produced by The Weinstein Company, Miramax Films, Bunim-Murray Productions and Full Picture. Executive producers include Bob and Harvey Weinstein (Co-Chairmen of The Weinstein Company), Meryl Poster of The Weinstein Company, Jonathan Murray, Sara Rea and Colleen Sands of Bunim/Murray Productions, Heidi Klum, and Jane Cha Cutler and Desiree Gruber of Full Picture.
Barbara Schneeweiss oversees the production on behalf of The Weinstein Company. Rob Sharenow, Gena McCarthy and David Hillman of Lifetime also executive produce.
Season 10 Contestants
Alicia Hardesty, 27, from Brandenburg, Kentucky
Andrea Katz, 58, from Oceanside, New York
Beatrice Guapo, 29, from Orange County, California
Buffi Jashanmal, 32, from London, England/Dubai UAE
Christopher Palu, 24, from Brooklyn, New York
Dmitry Sholokhov, 33, from Novopolotsk, Belarus
ElenSlivnyak, 28, from Kiev, Ukraine
Fabio Costa, 29, from Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Gunnar Deatherage, 22, from LaGrange, Kentucky
Kooan Kosuke, 30, from Himeji-shi, Japan
Lantie Foster, 48, from Sacramento, California
MelissFleis, 31, from Rogers City, Michigan
Nathan McDonald, 33, from Zanesville, Ohio
Raul Osorio, 27, from Canoga Park, California/Honduras
SonjiWilliams, 27, from Boston, Massachusetts
Ven Budhu, 28, from Berbice, Guyana
Format
In Project Runway designers compete against one another in weekly design challenges held at the Parsons New School For Design in New York City.
Eager to give aspiring designers a chance to break into the notoriously difficult-to-crack fashion world, supermodel Heidi Klum heads a panel of industry luminaries, including top women's and men's wear designer Michael Kors and Elle Magazine fashion director Nina Garcia, who serve as judges and industry mentors charged with selecting and moulding the budding designers.
The judges eliminate one contestant each week until only three top performers remain. The final three face off during New York's Olympus Fashion Week in February.
There are also guest judges each week based on the specific challenge. Tim Gunn, Chair of the Parsons The New School For Design, guides the contestants through each of their challenges.
The winning designer walks away with $100,000 in seed money to help them launch their own line, as well as other prizes which vary from season to season.
Project Runway takes place in New York City with designers using a workroom at Parsons School of Design, shopping for materials at a fabrics store in New York's Garment District, and living together at Atlas New York (an apartment building near Parsons).
At the beginning of each challenge, the designers are given the outlines of their assignment, usually to create a garment from non-traditional materials, such as recycled materials or items from a grocery store, or to design for a certain person (such as figure skater Sasha Cohen or Miss USA Tara Conner), corporate fashion line, or specialised theme.
The designers are given a stipend and limited amount of time to finish each garment. Often the designers work independently, although on some challenges contestants must work in teams.
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 judged by a panel of judges. The judges then interview the designers and share their opinions before conferring as a group and selecting winning and losing designers.
Generally, the loser of each challenge is eliminated from the competition.