| Project Runway Season 5 | |
| Heidi Klum, Tim Gunn, Nina Garcia, and Michael Kors, along with Project Runway Season 5 contestants | |
| Winner | Leanne Marshall |
|---|---|
| Original run | July 16, 2008 – October 15, 2008 |
| Filming dates | |
| No. of episodes | 14 |
| No. of designers | 16 |
| Season chronology | |
| Previous | Season 4 |
| Next | Season 6 |
Project Runway season 5 began filming the first week of June 2008 and premiered July 16, 2008 at 9:00 p.m.[1] It was the final season of Project Runway that aired on Bravo. Subsequent seasons were shown on Lifetime.[2]
Returning as judges were supermodel Heidi Klum, fashion designer Michael Kors, and Elle editor-at-large Nina Garcia. Tim Gunn returned as a mentor to the designers.
The final four designers all produced collections for Bryant Park Fashion Week.[3] The winner of this season of Project Runway, Leanne Marshall, received an editorial feature in an issue of Elle magazine, a cash prize of $100,000 from TRESemmé hair care to start her own line, the opportunity to sell a fashion line on Bluefly.com, and a new 2009 Saturn Vue automobile.
The 16 designers in season 5 were (in order of elimination):
| Contestant | Age | Hometown |
|---|---|---|
| Jerry Tam | 32 | Butte, MT |
| Wesley Nault | 23 | Blackstone, MA |
| Emily Brandle | 27 | Sacramento, CA |
| Jennifer Diederich | 27 | East Syracuse, NY |
| Kelli Martin | 27 | Columbus, OH |
| Daniel Feld | 25 | Great Barrington, MA |
| Keith Bryce | 26 | Salt Lake City, UT |
| Stella Zotis | 42 | Astoria, NY |
| Blayne Walsh | 23 | Yakima, WA |
| Terri Stevens | 39 | Chicago, IL |
| Joe Faris | 41 | Troy, MI |
| Stephen "Suede" Baum | 37 | Seven Hills, OH |
| Jerell Scott | 28 | Houston, TX |
| Kenley Collins | 25 | New York, NY |
| Korto Momolu | 33 | Monrovia, Liberia |
| Leanne Marshall (Winner) | 27 | Portland, OR |
The 16 models in season 5 are (in order of elimination):
| Contestant | Age | Hometown |
|---|---|---|
| Janine Bell | 24 | Maryland |
| Runa Lucienne | 19 | Ohio |
| Leslie Manzano | 19 | New Hartford, New York |
| Alex Arace | 24 | New Jersey |
| Elena Abete | 19 | Austin, Texas |
| Shannone Holt | 21 | Brooklyn, New York |
| Alyssa Aparicio | 18 | Bronx, New York |
| Kendall Hightower | 19 | Houston, Texas |
| Germaine Volorioz | 27 | New Jersey |
| Karalyn West | 21 | Columbus, Ohio |
| Polina Frantsena | N/A | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Xaviera Tytler | 22 | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Nicole Zaager | 20 | New York, New York |
| Topacio Pena | 22 | Dominican Republic |
| Katarina Munez | 20 | New Jersey |
| Tia Shipman (Winner) | 21 | Maryland |
| Designers | 1 | 21 | 3 | 4 | 52 | 6 | 7 | 83 | 94 | 10 | 11 | 125 | 13 | 14 | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leanne | IN | LOW | HIGH | IN | LOW | IN | WIN | WIN | HIGH | LOW | LOW | HIGH6 | WIN | WINNER | 14 - Finale, Part 2 |
| Korto | HIGH | LOW | IN | WIN | IN | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | HIGH | WIN | LOW | LOW | RUNNER-UP | |
| Kenley | IN | HIGH | WIN | IN | HIGH | IN | IN | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | LOW | LOW | HIGH | 3RD PLACE | |
| Jerell | IN | IN | IN | LOW | HIGH | LOW | HIGH | IN | WIN | WIN | HIGH | WIN6 | OUT | 13 - Finale, Part 1 | |
| Suede | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | LOW | LOW | LOW | OUT | 11 - Rock N' Runway | |||
| Joe | IN | IN | IN | HIGH | IN | WIN | IN | LOW | HIGH | OUT | 10 - Transformation | ||||
| Terri | IN | IN | HIGH | HIGH | IN | HIGH | IN | IN | OUT | 9 - What's Your Sign? | |||||
| Blayne | LOW | IN | IN | IN | LOW | IN | LOW | IN | OUT | ||||||
| Stella | LOW | HIGH | IN | IN | HIGH | IN | LOW | OUT | 8 - Double 0 Fashion | ||||||
| Keith | IN | IN | LOW | IN | WIN | LOW | OUT | 7 - Fashion That Drives You | |||||||
| Daniel | HIGH | IN | IN | LOW | LOW | OUT | 6 - Good Queen Fun | ||||||||
| Kelli | WIN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | 5 - Welcome To The Jungle | |||||||||
| Jennifer | IN | IN | LOW | OUT | 4 - Rings of Glory | ||||||||||
| Emily | IN | IN | OUT | 3 - Bright Lights/Big City | |||||||||||
| Wesley | IN | OUT | 2 - The Grass Is Always Greener | ||||||||||||
| Jerry | OUT | 1 - Let's Start from the Beginning | |||||||||||||
| Contestants | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 113 | 12 | 134 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tia | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WINNER |
| Katarina | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT |
| Topacio | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT |
| Nicole | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | IN | WIN | IN | OUT |
| Xaviera | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||
| Germaine | WIN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN2 | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||
| Karalyn | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | WIN | WIN | IN | IN | OUT | |||
| Polina | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||
| Kendall | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||||
| Alyssa | IN | IN | IN1 | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||
| Elena | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||||||
| Shannone | IN | IN | WIN | IN | WIN | IN | WD2 | |||||||
| Alex | IN | IN | IN | IN | OUT | |||||||||
| Leslie | IN | IN | IN | OUT | ||||||||||
| Runa | IN | IN | WD1 | |||||||||||
| Bell | IN | OUT | ||||||||||||
Episode summaries are available on the official website of the series.[4]
Repeating the first challenge on Season 1 of Project Runway, the designers were asked to create a look using only materials purchased from a Gristedes grocery store. The designers were given 30 minutes and $75 to shop for items, and then one day to complete the outfit. Most designers were criticized by mentor Tim Gunn for utilizing fabric-substitutes such as tablecloths in their looks, which wasn't what the challenge was about. The winner received immunity for the next challenge.
The designers were asked to create a cocktail dress with their models as their clients. They were asked to use environmentally friendly or conscious fabrics from MOOD, with their models doing the fabric selections without their consultations. They were given $75 and one day to finish their garments. The winner did not receive immunity, but did get to sell their garment on Bluefly.
The designers were tasked to create a look of their choice inspired by the vibrant nightlife of New York City. Tim Gunn drove the designers around the city via a sightseeing tour bus, then provided them with digital cameras to take photographs of their inspiration. Four groups of designers were dropped off at different stops and had an hour to take their photos. They were given $100 and one day to complete their design. The winner received immunity for the next challenge.
The four groups and their assigned stopovers are as follows:
The designers were brought to the Armory Track and Field Training Center by their mentor, Tim Gunn, and were introduced to U.S. Olympian and speed skater, Apolo Anton Ohno. Their next challenge was to design a womenswear look for the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies. They were given 30 minutes to sketch and draw inspiration from the National Track and Field Museum, after which they were given $150 and one day to complete their designs. The winner received immunity for the next challenge.
Working in teams of two, designers were asked to make an outfit that could transition from day to night, for Brooke Shields's character Wendy Healy on the television show Lipstick Jungle. The winning design will be worn by Brooke on Season 2 of Lipstick Jungle. Each team was given a budget of $150 and one day to complete their designs. After sketching individually for thirty minutes and pitching their ideas to Shields, six designers were picked by Brooke as team leaders (team leaders shown in bold below). The team leaders were picked in a random order and selected a teammate.
The winner did not receive immunity for the next challenge.
The designers were asked to make an outfit for a drag queen. Chris March of Season 4 made a guest appearance to deliver the challenge. The designers were picked at random to select which drag queen to work with. They were given $200 to shop for supplies and two days to complete their designs. The winner received immunity for the next challenge. The designers' models were not used in this challenge.
Designers and Drag Queens:
The designers were required to make an outfit made entirely out of the spare parts and raw materials from a Saturn hybrid car. They were told to walk to 142 West 31st Street in Manhattan. After taking an elevator to the roof of the building, they were instructed to collect as much of the recycled car parts from within the parked Saturn vehicles. They had four minutes to collect the materials and one day to complete their outfits. The winner received immunity for the next challenge.
The designers were taken to the Meatpacking District and brought to the offices and design showroom of living fashion legend and current CFDA president, designer Diane von Furstenberg. Their challenge was to create a look for her Fall 2008 collection inspired by the movie, A Foreign Affair, starring screen legend, Marlene Dietrich. They were given free rein and 15 minutes inside Diane von Furstenburg's fabric sample room to select fabrics for their designs. The winning garment will be produced in limited quantities and exclusively sold to American Express cardholders, with proceeds going to the CFDA Foundation. The winner did not receive immunity for the next challenge.
The designers teamed up in pairs with eliminated designers to create an avant-garde garment around one of the two astrological signs of their group. They had one day and 8 hours to complete the look. The night before the runway, they were brought to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. There the designers were greeted with surprise guest appearances of former Project Runway designers and winners Kara Janx, Alison Kelly, Jay McCarroll, Robert Plotkin, Christian Siriano, Daniel Vosovic, & Carmen Webber, who all voted on a winning look. This episode featured a surprise double elimination & the winner no longer had the advantage of immunity going forward.
Teams:
The designers were assigned recent college graduates and are given the task of giving them a fashion makeover to help them enter the workforce. Each designer was to gear their look to their client's specific profession, whilst keeping their style and pleasing both the clients and their mothers. The clients wore the outfits down the runway; the models were not used in this challenge.
The designers were given the task of designing for each other. The looks were to be inspired by different genres of music. The designers wore their outfits down the runway; the models were not used for this challenge.
Teams (Designers names are in bold; genre applies to teammate):
Drawing inspiration from nature, the remaining designers headed to the New York Botanical Garden to design an evening gown.
The designers were given the task, prior to leaving to create their collections, of creating a wedding dress for their collections. In addition to the wedding dress, they were judged on an 11th look, a bridesmaid dress to go with it. This is the first time that all of the finalists were of the same gender (female).
Prior to the runway show, the finalists, who each had twelve outfits ready for the runway, were informed that they would only be able to show ten, forcing last minute editing of their collections. The guest judge was originally scheduled to be Jennifer Lopez, but she was unable to participate due to a foot injury and was replaced by Tim Gunn. Following the presentation of all three collections, the judges stated that Leanne Marshall had created the best collection, and named her the winner of Season Five of Project Runway.
| Preceded by Season 4 |
Project Runway Season 5 |
Succeeded by Season 6 |
| Preceded by Christian Siriano |
Project Runway winner Leanne Marshall |
Succeeded by Irina Shabayeva |
| Preceded by Christian Siriano |
Fan Favorite Korto Momolu |
Succeeded by Christopher Straub |
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