Season 5
Returning to the runway for a fifth season, host and supermodel Heidi Klum heads a panel of industry luminaries, including as judges top women's and menswear designer Michael Kors, and fashion expert Nina Garcia, as they decide who is "in" and who is "out."
Tim Gunn, Chief Creative Officer at Liz Claiborne, Inc., will once again act as a mentor to the designers as they take on weekly fashion challenges.
The 16 Project Runway contestants will be whittled down week-by-week to the finalists who will show their own line in front of an audience of fashion industry movers and shakers at Bryant Park Fashion Week.
Project Runway's fifth-season grand prize winner will receive a $100,000 TRESemme-sponsored cash prize intended to help launch their own clothing line; a 2009 Saturn Vue Hybrid; an Elle magazine editorial feature; and the opportunity to sell a fashion line on Bluefly.com.
Celebrity guest judges this season include fourth-season Dancing with the Stars champ Apolo Anton Ohno, HGTV Design Star judge Cynthia Rowley, reality show star Rachel Zoe, designers Francisco Costa and Diane Von Furstenberg, comedian Sandra Bernhard, actress Brooke Shields, rapper LL Cool J, and RuPaul.
Alex Arace, 24, from New Jersey
Alyssa Aparicio, 18, from Bronx, New York
Elena Abete, 19, from Austin, Texas
Germaine Volorioz, 27, from New Jersey
Janine Bell, 24, from Maryland
Karalyn West, 21, from Columbus, Ohio
Katarina Munez, 20, from New Jesey
Kendall Hightower, 19, from Houston, Texas
Leslie Manzano, 19, from New Hartford, New York
Nicole Zaager, 20, from New York, New York
Polina Frantsena, from Boston, Massachussetts
Runa Lewisey, 19, from Ohio
Shannone Holt, 21, from Brooklyn, New York
Topacio Pena, 22, from Dominican Republic
Xaviera Tytler, 22, from Phoenix, Arizona