Project Runway All Stars is an American reality competition television series devised as a spin-off series from Project Runway which features designers from previous seasons of the original series competing for a variety of prizes with a new host, new judges and a new mentor.
Eager to give these second-chance designers a chance to break into the notoriously difficult-to-crack fashion world, supermodels Angela Lindvall (Season 1) and Carolyn Murphy (Season 2); then Alyssa Milano (since Season 3) head a panel of industry luminaries, including fashion icons Georgina Chapman and Isaac Mizrahi, 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 Fashion Week.
There are also guest judges each week based on the specific challenge. Joanna Coles, editor-in-chief of Marie Claire and later Cosmopolitan, 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.
Project Runway All Stars is produced by The Weinstein Company and Bunim/Murray Productions. Executive producers are Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein (Co-Chairmen of The Weinstein Company), Meryl Poster and Barbara Schneeweiss of The Weinstein Company, Jonathan Murray and Gil Goldschein of Bunim/Murray Productions, Rob Bagshaw (Top Chef Masters, Paradise Hotel, Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge) and Rob Sharenow, Eli Lehrer, Mary Donahue and David Hillman of Lifetime.
Winners
Season 01: Mondo Guerra
Season 02: Anthony Ryan Auld
Season 03: Seth Aaron Henderson
Season 04: Dmitry Sholokhov
Season 05: Dom Streater