'Project Runway' Contestants Announced for New Season
Fashion designing will become a competitive game again when the eighth season of “Project Runway” debuts on July 29 on Lifetime Television in an expanded 90-minute format.
This season’s contestants on the competitive reality show were announced on July 14, with several coming from California. The 17 aspiring designers will try to make the cut so their designs appear at New York Fashion Week at Lincoln Center in Manhattan.
Among other prizes, the competition’s winner will receive $100,000 from L’Oreal Paris to start his or her own fashion line and the opportunity to sell the collection to Piperlime (www.piperlime.com), owned by Gap Inc.
The contestants for this season of “Project Runway” are A.J. Thouvenot, 26, of St. Charles, Mo.; Andy South, 23, of Honolulu; April Johnston, 21, of Savannah, Ga.; Casanova, 33, of Astoria, N.Y.; Christopher Collins, 30, of San Francisco; Gretchen Jones, 28, of Portland, Ore.; Ivy Higa, 30, of New York; Jason Troisi, 33, of Greenwich, Conn.; Kristen Haskins-Simms, 38, of Philadelphia; McKell Maddox, 20, of Layton, Utah; Michael Costello, 27, of Palm Desert, Calif.; Michael Drummond, 31, of St. Louis; Mondo Guerra, 32, of Denver; Nicolas D’Aurizio, 31, of New York; Peach Carr, 50, of Lake Forest, Ill.; Sarah Trost, 27, of Toluca Lake, Calif.; and Valeria Mayen, 28, of Cleveland.
The show will be hosted again by supermodel Heidi Klum, and designers will be mentored by Tim Gunn, Liz Claiborne’s chief creative officer.—Andrew Asch
