''Project Runway Season 1'' was the first season of ''

Project Runway ''Project Runway'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004. The series focuses on fashion design. The contestants compete with each other to create the best clothes and are restricted by time, mate ...

'',

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reality competition show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

for fashion designers. The season 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 In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...

. ''Project Runway'' gave Bravo one of its most successful series since ''

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ''Queer Eye'' is an American reality television series that premiered on the cable television network Bravo in July 2003. Originally ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'', the title was later shortened to broaden the overall scope. The series was cr ...

''. The winning designer of the first season was

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-based designer

Jay McCarroll Jay McCarroll (born October 11, 1974) is a fashion designer who gained fame after winning the debut season of the competitive reality show ''Project Runway'' in 2005. Career McCarroll lists Alexander McQueen as his favorite designer. He origin ...

. As his prize for winning the competition among 12 designers, McCarroll won $100,000, a mentorship with

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to aid in developing his own fashion label, and a feature of his work in the American edition of ELLE magazine. The winning model of the first season, selected by McCarroll, was Julia Beynon. McCarroll later turned down both the $100,000 and the mentorship with Banana Republic, stating that the prizes came with too much contractual baggage. Austin Scarlett later appeared in Project Runway: All Stars in 2012, where he finished runner-up. Wendy Pepper, in the same year, competed in the second season of the All Stars edition placing 12th out of 13. In 2016, Daniel Franco competed in the fifth season of the All Stars edition, placing 12th out of 13.

Contestants

The 12 fashion designers competing in the first season were: The 12 models competing for an ''

ELLE ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the ...

'' spread in the first season were:

Challenges

;Results : The designer won Project Runway Season 1. : The designer won that challenge. : The designer had the second highest score for that challenge. : The designer had one of the highest scores for that challenge, but did not win. : The designer had one of the lowest scores for that challenge, but was not eliminated. : The designer was in the bottom two, but was not eliminated. : The designer lost and was out of the competition. : Although Nora's team was voted the best, the judges thought that Nora's teamwork was very poor, therefore she was placed in the bottom two.

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Models

: The model was the winner of Project Runway Season 1 : The model wore the winning designer's outfit : The model wore the losing designer's outfit : The model was eliminated :Notes: * Designers chose their models prior to each challenge, with the winner of the previous challenge choosing first and the other designers choosing in random order. The model who was not chosen would be eliminated. * Since models are eliminated at the beginning of the next episode, no model was eliminated in episode 1. * There are only 10 sections for models instead of 11 because no models were out in the reunion episode. * During Episode 8, while Jay had selected Julia, she was unable to attend the runway showing. Austin walked in her place. Designer legend *Alexandra Vidal: AV *Austin Scarlett: AS *Daniel Franco: DF *Jay McCarroll: JM *Kara Saun: KS *Kevin Johnn: KJ *Mario Cadenas: MC *Nora Caliguri: NC *Robert Plotkin: RP *Starr Ilzhoefer: SI *Vanessa Riley: VR *Wendy Pepper: WP

Episodes

Episode 1: Innovation

''Original airdate:'' December 1, 2004 Designers created a sexy, glamorous outfit for a night on the town made only from materials bought at a Manhattan supermarket. The designers had a budget of $50 and one hour to make their purchases. They had one day to complete the design and the winner had

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for the next challenge and could not be eliminated. *Guest Judge:

Patricia Field Patricia Field (born February 12, 1942) is an American costume designer, stylist and fashion designer. Early life Field was born in 1942 in New York City to an Armenian father and a Greek mother, who emigrated from Plomari, Lesbos, Greece. F ...

. :WINNER: Austin :ELIMINATED: Daniel

Episode 2: Vision

''Original airdate:'' December 8, 2004 Designers used plain white cotton jersey to build a garment that conveys "envy." They had a budget of $50 and one day to complete the design. *Guest Judges:

Constance White Constance White was an African American woman who fought against racism and social injustices. She went to the Soviet Union in 1932, accompanied by other Harlem Renaissance members, to make a film that would depict the racial inequalities in the ...

Paul Berman Paul Lawrence Berman (born 1949) is an American writer on politics and literature. His books include ''Terror and Liberalism'' ( a ''New York Times'' best-seller in 2003), ''The Flight of the Intellectuals'', ''A Tale of Two Utopias'', ''Power and ...

:WINNER: Kara :ELIMINATED: Mario

Episode 3: Commercial Appeal

''Original airdate:'' December 15, 2004 Designers created a holiday dress to fit with

's current line. They had to pick their fabrics at the studios and had two days to complete their designs. *Guest Judge:

Deborah Lloyd According to the Book of Judges, Deborah ( he, דְּבוֹרָה, ''Dəḇōrā'', "bee") was a prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible. Many schol ...

:WINNER: Wendy :ELIMINATED: Starr

Episode 4: Collaboration

''Original airdate:'' January 5, 2005 The designers created a new look for rising rock star Sarah Hudson. A team event with three teams, each with a lead designer and two assistants. Each team had $150 and one day to complete the design. *Guest Judge: Sarah Hudson :WINNER: Kevin :ELIMINATED: Vanessa

Episode 5: "Model" Clients

''Original airdate:'' January 12, 2005 Working with their chosen models, the designers created a wedding dress for that model. The designers had a budget of $300 and two days to complete the design. *Guest Judges:

Anne Slowey Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in th ...

& Amsale Aberra :WINNER: Kara :ELIMINATED: Nora

Episode 6: Making A Splash

''Original airdate:'' January 19, 2005 Designers made swimsuits, then attended an evening party with their swimsuit-clad models. The designers had a budget of $75 and five hours to complete their garments. The winner was the designer who received a mention from ''

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'' reporter Richard Johnson on "Page Six," the newspaper's gossip column. *Guest Judges: Constance White, Anne Slowey & ''New York Post'' reporter Richard Johnson :WINNER: Austin :ELIMINATED: Alexandra

Episode 7: Design A Collection

''Original airdate:'' January 26, 2005 Designers created a collection for the year 2055 as one team. Kevin was the team leader for this challenge. Each designer had a budget of $50 and one day to complete the collection. *Guest Judge:

Betsey Johnson Betsey Johnson (born 1942) is an American fashion designer best known for her feminine and whimsical designs. Many of her designs are considered "over the top" and embellished. She also is known for doing a cartwheel ending in a split at the ...

:WINNER: Kara :ELIMINATED: Kevin

Episode 8: Postal Uniform Challenge

''Original airdate:'' February 2, 2005 Designers redesigned the uniform worn by

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the Federal government of the Uni ...

workers. The designers had a budget of $100 and one day to complete the design. This episode is particularly notable for the fact that Jay's model was unable to attend the runway showing in time. As a result, Austin walked in her place and received positive feedback for doing so by the judges. *Guest Judge: United States Postal Service worker Becky Negich. :WINNER: Kara :ELIMINATED: Robert *Note: Kara is the first designer to win two challenges in a row.

Episode 9: Design For The Red Carpet

''Original airdate:'' February 9, 2005 Designers created a dress for ''

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'' reporter

Nancy O'Dell Nancy O'Dell (born Nancy Evelyn Humphries; 1966) is an American television host and entertainment journalist. She served as co-anchor of the syndicated entertainment news show ''Entertainment Tonight'' from January 3, 2011, to August 2, 2019. E ...

to wear to the

Grammys The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. The designers had $300 and two days to complete the design. *Guest Judge: Nancy O'Dell :WINNER: Wendy :ELIMINATED: Austin

Episode 10: Reunion

''Original airdate:'' February 16, 2005 All of the participating designers gathered for a reunion hosted by Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn on the eve of Olympus

New York Fashion Week New York Fashion Week (NYFW), held in February and September of each year, is a semi-annual series of events in Manhattan typically spanning 7–9 days when international fashion collections are shown to buyers, the press, and the general publ ...

at which the final three designers displayed their collections.

Episode 11: Finale

''Original airdate:'' February 23, 2005 The final three designers—Jay, Kara Saun and Wendy—were visited by Tim Gunn at their homes to show the progress of their collections. Each designer created a twelve piece collection for a showing at New York Olympus Fashion Week. Kara Saun had designer shoes created for her collection, however producers determined that was in breach of the contract. *Guest Judge:

Parker Posey Parker Christian Posey (born November 8, 1968) is an American actress and musician. Posey is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award nomination, a Satellite Award nomination and two Independent Spirit Award nominations. Posey made her film deb ...

:WINNER: Jay :ELIMINATED: Kara (1st Runner-Up), Wendy (2nd Runner-Up)