'Project Runway' Returns for Third Season
California designers will play a major role in the third season of the reality TV show “Project Runway,” which returns to the Bravo TV network July 12.
The show’s newest season will feature a cast of 15 designer hopefuls, with more than one-third of them from California. They will be competing for $100,000 in seed money to help the winner launch his or her own collection, get a photo spread in Elle magazine and obtain a mentorship with the Macy’s brand I.N.C. International Concepts design team. The winner of “Project Runway” will ride away in a 2007 Saturn Sky Roadster.
The show’s combination of fashion gantlet and personality cult continues in the third season, as designers navigate challenges in hopes of being among the three reaching the finals—a runway slot during New York Fashion Week in September.
Model Heidi Klum reprises her role as host. Returning as judges are designer Michael Kors, Elle Fashion Director Nina Garcia and Tim Gunn, Fashion Design chair at Parsons The New School for Design.
The 15 contestants on the show hail from California, New York, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Florida, Ohio and Georgia. The six California-based designers are Speedo alum Bradley Baumkirchner, Barbie doll designer Robert Best, Reef women’s designer Bonnie Dominguez, marketing executive Stacey Estrella, design entrepreneur Vincent Libretti and Cosa Nostra designer Jeffrey Sebelia.
—Erin Barajas
