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 usually restricted in time, materials, and theme. Their designs are judged and one or more designers are eliminated each week.

On April 7, 2008, 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. A September 2008 court decision granted NBCU's request for an injunction, preventing Lifetime from promoting or exhibiting "Runway" until further notice.NBCU Wins Round in ‘Project Runway’ Suit

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.artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/01/project-runway-lawsuits-are-resolved/latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/04/project-runway-lawsuit-over-the-runway-series-moves-to-lifetime.html The already-filmed Season 6 began airing on Lifetime on August 20, 2009.online.wsj.com/article/SB123863345447680959.html It will premiere on the Slice channel in Canada September 12.www.slice.ca/Shows/ShowsPage.aspx?Title_ID=87074

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 (Season 1 & 5), edible food items (Season 1 & 4), plants and flowers (Season 2), using their own clothes that they are wearing (Season 2); to designing for a certain high-profile person (such as actress Brooke Shields, figure skater Sasha Cohen or Miss USA Tara Conner), a corporate fashion line (e.g., Banana Republic; Diane von Furstenberg; Macy's INC; 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 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 are sequestered by grouped genders together 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 books 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 (from as short as half a day to two or three days). 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, scoring each look in a number of categories from 0 to 5, or other personal annotations and comments in regards to the designs being presented. 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 before conferring as a group in private after the designers' defense of their outfits. The panel then selects 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 is that 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 supermodel Heidi 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 off'd.

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 also may be thrown an additional challenge, such as designing an additional 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 overbudget or had outsourcing done as favors, both of which are against the rules. Otherwise, they might 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 risk affecting their potential scoring from the judging panel should they stand by their decision to use 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 magazine feature spread in Elle magazine, and a mentorship from a design firm (ended on Season 3). They also receive an opportunity to sell their collection on bluefly.com if they wish. Subsequent seasons have also included a new car as part of the prize package, courtesy of car 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 dwindle, the number of models is also reduced, with one model remaining at the end. In eliminations the models wear little black dresses for who will move on or will be eliminated. Models are randomly pre-assigned to a designer during the first challenge, and from the second challenge onwards, the designers will have an opportunity to pick the model they wish to work with. This usually happens during the start of every episode save for the first, with the winner of the previous challenge receiving first pick, and the other designers picking models in order through host Klum's random draw of large red shirt buttons with their names stored in a black velvet bag. Though, there are times when only the winning designer will be 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. The losing models are also given host Klum's air kiss and Auf Wiedersehen before they leave 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), the 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 includes American designer Michael Kors, Marie Claire fashion director Nina Garcia, and a fourth judge - typically a fashion designer (Diane von Furstenberg, 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 aside from Klum, and accompanies the designers during their fabric shopping at MOOD or on field trips related to a particular challenge.

Season 1

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

Fan favorite 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 "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.

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. The winning designer (paired with model Grace Kelsey) was Chloe Dao, beating out designers Daniel Vosovic (with Rebecca Holliday) and Santino Rice (with Heather Brown), landing the spread in Elle Magazine.

Kara Janx, who placed fourth in the competition after having been eliminated in the "Iman Evening Gown Challenge", produced a decoy collection which served as a distraction at Fashion Week before the finale aired. Many fashion insiders claimed Janx's collection would have won the competition, had she not been eliminated.

During Season 5, Project Runway had a poll consisting the most memorable moments. Season 2 moments consist of Andrae's meltdown, Santino's battle against Nina Garcia about his designs, Zulema telling Kara to "cry and cut", the designers doing a walk-off, Zulema demanding the models to do a walk-off and the case of the missing chiffon. However, of all 22 moments, the fans decided that Santino's impression of Tim Gunn was the best moment of Project Runway.

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 department stores.

In 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. 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.

In a "Reunion" episode that aired on October 4, viewers voted Mychael Knight as their favorite designer, earning him a $10,000 prize.

The season finale aired on October 18, 2006 with Jeffrey Sebelia voted winner by the judges. Winning alongside with designer Sebelia was his model, Marilinda Rivera. They edged out designers Uli Herzner (with Nazri Segaro), Laura Bennett (with Camilla Barungi), and Mychael Knight (with Clarissa Anderson), to take the coveted Elle fashion spread.

Jeffrey 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 and did not violate any rules that would prevent him from continuing in the competition at Fashion Week. 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.

Uli was the runner-up to the title, also highly praised by the judges for her collection. Designer Mychael Knight was first eliminated in the season finale for his collection titled "Street Safari." Mychael was a fan favorite, but his line did not appeal to the judges in Fashion Week. Knight was also eliminated due to his lack of industry experience. Designer Laura was second eliminated in the finale for her collection of cocktail dresses and evening wear, with the judges praising how expensive the items in the collection looked. At the time Laura was pregnant with her sixth child. Jeffrey won the competition, and his girlfriend and son were there to celebrate his win with him. He was also the winner of a 2007 Saturn Sky Roadster.

During Season 5, there was a poll consisting of the most memorable moments of Project Runway. Among those for Season 3 were Keith's disqualification, Jeffrey's issues with Angela's mom and the controversy about Jeffrey's final collection.

Season 4

Casting auditions for Season 4 of Project Runway began in April 2007 and production took place in June and July 2007. 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.Tim Gunn on his new gig and what it means for ''Runway'' | Tim Gunn | The Q&A | News + Notes | Entertainment Weekly 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 Fashion Week. In a new finale twist, Rami Kashou and Chris March were in a deadlock and had to show the three best pieces from their collections to the judges. With these three initial looks, one winner would be chosen to participate in Fashion Week. Rami was selected for the third slot at Bryant Park, and Chris was eliminated.

Kathleen "Sweet P." Vaughn, the last designer eliminated before the finale, produced a decoy collection for Fashion Week, along with Chris March, the designer eliminated in the first part of the finale. Siriano won $10,000 as the Project Runway Season 4 Fan Favorite. Season 3 Fan Favorite winner, Mychael Knight, brought out the cheque to Christian during the Reunion episode. In the final days of Fashion Week, Christian beat out fellow contestants Jillian and Rami to become the fourth and youngest winner of Project Runway. Winning alongside Christian was his model, Lisa Nargi, who won the coveted 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 wherein 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, Elisa's spit marks, the designers talking about their wrestling names, Jack's departure/Chris's return, Christian's drama with a teen, Sarah Jessica Parker surprising the designers, and Victoria Beckham telling Christian 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.www.bravotv.com/Project_Runway/season/4/sew_not_over/index.php It's Sew Not Over (Bravo Official Site)

Season 5

Further information: Project Runway (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. This first episode was the first time that they repeated a challenge from a previous season which was the Gristedes challenge, in which the designers had to make a design of their choice by what they could find at a grocery store. The episode, featuring a special guest judge appearance by 1st season star favorite Austin Scarlett, was intended as an homage to the glories of past PR seasons, the 5th season being the last on Bravo and by original producers Magical Elves.

This season also featured more stars in the acting and music industry than usual. Natalie Portman, Sandra Bernhard, Apolo Anton Ohno, Brooke Shields, RuPaul, LL Cool J all were a special guest judge in a challenge. Jennifer Lopez also was supposed to be the guest judge at the finale, but bowed out at the last minute.

For the first time, six people showed collections for Fashion Week. Joe Faris & Stephen "Suede" Baum, the last 2 designers eliminated before the finale, produced a decoy collection. In addition, Jerell Scott, who was eliminated in the first part of the Finale, also showed his collection as a decoy.

This is the first season in which 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 praised; however, Kenley was praised for her well tailored designs, but was eliminated first for some of her designs were compared to other professional designers' collections. The judges admired Korto's ethnic touches on her designs, but disliked the fact that a few were overworked and she was eliminated second. Leanne was declared the winner for her wave patterns. Winning along with Leanne Marshall was model Tia Shipman, who will receive a spread in Elle magazine. The three finalists' models also consisted of Katarina Munez (for Korto) and Topacio Pena (for Kenley)

For the first time since Season 1, there was no reunion or proper Opening Introduction due to the time restraints. However, Bravo continued to have the fan favorite contest in which Korto Momolu received $10,000, which was revealed to the audience during the Finale.

Season 6

Further information: Project Runway (season 6)

The sixth season was the first season of Project Runway to be filmed in Los Angeles rather than New York. The season was filmed at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising,Corcoran, Monica. "They've Got the Project Runway Blues." LA Times. February 1, 2009. and pre-finale filming concluded on Friday, October 17, 2008.bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/2008/10/heidi-klum-wears-rami-kashou-design.html

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."Lifetime Seeks Copyright Ruling in ‘Runway’ Suit." TVWeek.Com, October 17, 2008"Will Legal Battle Delay Project Runway?" TV Guide, Nov 20, 2008"Lifetime Files 'Runway' Countersuit." Variety, Nov. 19, 2008

The three finalists of the sixth season showed their collections at New York Fashion Week at Bryant Park on February 20, 2009, but the finalist designers were not named and did not appear onstage. Their identities were kept secret to protect the suspense when the season airs on television."Project Runway Stages Finale Show Amid Legal Limbo." Wall Street Journal. February 20, 2009. (retrieved March 3, 2009)

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. The season began airing on Lifetime on August 20, 2009 and features guest judges such as Eva Longoria Parker and Lindsay Lohan. For one of the show’s biggest challenges, the designers will have to work their magic on Christina Aguilera and designer Bob Mackie, the so-called Sultan of Sequins, and make a costume for Aguilera to wear in concert.news-briefs.ew.com/2009/04/project-runwa-2.html

Season 7

In April 2009, Bunim/Murray Productions announced the casting process for Season 7 that began May 2009.www.bunim-murray.com/index.php?session=casting&id=17

International versions

International versions of Project Runway closely follow the US series format in terms of design briefs, designer and model eliminations, winning prize package, and other related factors such as urban cinematography as well as candid interviews with the designers. The judging panel for these international franchises also mimic the original US version: hosted and judged by a well-known local model or celebrity, a famous local fashion designer and a fashion publishing editor to act as regular co-judges, and a weekly rotating roster of guest judges. The mentors for the competing designers are also selected based on their reputation and knowledge of fashion design and the industry in general. While keeping true to the US series, the international versions try to inject a bit of local flavor and original design challenge concepts in order to differentiate themselves from Project Runway USA. So far, Project Runway has versions in the United Kingdom, Canada, Norway, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Australia, the Philippines, Korea, Israel and Belgium, Hong Kong, with Finland (Muodin huipulle in Finnish, "To the Top of Fashion") currently in casting. There is also a version in Lebanon but the show is called Project Fashion instead. George Levendis of ANT1 has expressed his desire to add the Greek version of Project Runway to the channels schedule. It is likely to start in 2010.