Project Runway will be premiering its reboot on Bravo in March with a brand new cast of 16 aspiring designers.
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The iconic reality fashion competition's new look and feel will include 16 new designers from across the United States and abroad, who will be competing in an array of high-pressure challenges, including a new "flash sale challenge."
Several of the season's episodes will also give viewers a chance to own a piece of the runway by voting on the outfits they like best, with both the judges' winning look and a fan-favorite look then being manufactured in the USA and made available for purchase on bravotv.com.
Challenges will also include "fast fashion," the inclusion of plus-size models, Instagram, and one inspired by Elton John.
The aspiring designers will have an all-new workroom, and the models will get ready in a "glam room" in preparation to walk a newly-designed runway.
Project Runway's Season 17 winner will also receive the largest prize in the show's history -- $250,000, a magazine feature in ELLE, his or her own featured role in a Bluprint digital series, and $50,000 to put toward their own design studio.
In addition, Project Runway has partnered with CFDA, the Council of Fashion Designers of America, for the first time ever. The CFDA will mentor the winner and supply tools and connections necessary to sustain a business in fashion.
As previously announced, the judging panel of Project Runway will be comprised of ELLE Editor-in-Chief Nina Garcia, famed fashion designer Brandon Maxwell, and journalist and former Teen Vogue Editor-in-Chief Elaine Welteroth.
Celebrated CFDA fashion designer Christian Siriano will serve as the mentor of Project Runway's reboot, which will be hosted by supermodel and entrepreneur Karlie Kloss.
Special guests with knowledge of the fashion industry who will appear on the new season include Marni Senofonte, who is Kendall Jenner's personal stylist as well as the stylist behind Beyonce's Lemonade and Super Bowl 50 looks; actress and Siriano muse Danielle Brooks; famed designer Dapper Dan; and rapper and songwriter Cardi B.
Bravo launched Project Runway in 2004 and aired it through 2008 before Lifetime obtained it in a high-profile, five-year deal.
Bravo announced in May that Project Runway would be coming back to its original home on the network for Season 17 after being on Lifetime for the past 10 years.
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Below are the 16 designers who will be competing on Project Runway this spring:
- Afa Ah Loo from Lotopa, Samoa
- Rakan Shams Aldeen from Homs, Syria
- Cavanagh Baker from Nashville, TN
- Tessa Clark from Greenville, OH
- Bishme Cromartie from Baltimore, MD
- Venny Etienne from Brooklyn, NY
- Jhoan "Sebastian" Grey from Cali, Colombia
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- Sonia Kasparian from Portland, OR
- Kovid Kapoor from Brooklyn, NY
- Frankie Lewis from Louisville, KY
- Lela Orr from Monroe, LA
- Jamall Osterholm from Cranston, RI
- Nadine Ralliford from Stone Mountain, GA
- Gary "Garo Sparo" Spampinato from Bayshore, NY
- Hester Sunshine from Santa Fe, NM
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski