As the new season gears up, TODAYshow.com catches up with some of the former contestants, who are doing everything from working on new TV projects to writing books and creating their own collections.
So where are the designers now? Click on the left to find out.
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Season 1 winner Jay McCarroll’s journey to prepare for a New York Fashion Week show after \"Project Runway\" can be seen in the documentary \"Eleven Minutes,\" which is currently traveling to film festivals. He’s also selling a line on QVC.
\"This line has been in development for 16 months now and I’m super excited it’s seeing the light of day,\" McCarroll wrote on his blog(JayMcCarroll.wordpress.com).
He recently reported on his blog that he plans a mini-collection to be sold on his Web site in the fall.
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Season 1 runner-up Kara Saun is currently a costume designer for MTV’s \"America’s Best Dance Crew\" with Mario Lopez. In the past she's done costume design for shows like MTV’s \"Celebrity Rap Superstar\" and the WB’s \"What I Like About You.\"
She also creates red carpet looks, and her clothes have been worn by celebrities like Queen Latifah and Vanessa Williams.
Saun does a lot of traveling to speaking engagements and charity events that benefit causes like breast cancer research and the Girl Scouts.
\"‘Project Runway’ has given me the ability to do more things,\" she said. \"I honestly never know what’s going to come up, and I kind of like that.\"
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Austin Scarlett, who won the first-ever challenge on \"Project Runway,\" recently returned to be a guest judge for the first episode of season 5. Scarlett has gone on to be the creative director of the bridal couture line for Kenneth Pool.
\"I think in the bridal world you definitely have to be on your toes at all times,\" Scarlett told Brides.com when explaining how \"Project Runway\" helped him prepare for his current job. \"The different challenges each day on the show helped me to quickly come up with something professional that would work for the bridal industry.\"
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TDY_ProjectRunway_WATN[i++] = new Array("","Chloe Dao","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo/_new/chloe_dao_project_runway_season2.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "", "", "238", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
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Season 2 winner Chloe Dao recently launched a wholesale line to sell to stores, with showrooms in Dallas, Texas and New York City. She said the line is more edgy than the outfits she designed on \"Project Runway.\"
\"This season it’s really fitted and very stylized,\" Dao said. \"No more baby-doll. I am so over it.\"
She’s also continuing with her electronic accessory line, available at stores like OfficeMax and JCPenney. Dao makes regular appearances to sell a line of clothing on QVC, and recently sold 17,000 units of a jacket in half a day.
Lot 8, her boutique in Houston, Texas, will celebrate its eight-year anniversary in August. And finally, after years of designing in her mother’s garage, living room and dining room, she has her own design studio.
But no matter how busy she gets, Dao said she will make time to watch \"Project Runway.\"
\"I am a crazy-addicted fan,” she said. “I will watch until Season 100.\"
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South African-born designer Kara Janx has continued to work on her line after season 2 ended, and it is sold in more than 200 stores in the United States and abroad and also online. She said that her collection is edgier than what she designed on \"Project Runway,\" but that her best-seller remains the kimono-inspired dress that appeared on the show.
Since appearing on \"Project Runway,\" the “brand sells itself,” Janx said. \"Buyers know the person behind it, and what it represents.\"
Since season 2 ended, Janx has married and in Nov. 2007 gave birth to a baby girl, Dylan.
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\"I basically have a business where I am dressing 30 women in the world,\" said season 2 finalist Santino Rice. \"I’m keeping everything exclusive and very luxury-driven. It’s all custom and one-of-a-kind pieces.\"
He eventually would like to create pieces that would be sold in finer department stores, but right now is enjoying flying around the world to meet with private clients. Rice also worked on a project for Camel cigarettes, creating the new package for Camel 9 and pieces to be auctioned off by R.J. Reynolds for charity, he said.
He’s been back on TV, too, making an appearance on VH1’s \"America’s Most Smartest Model\" in 2007. He also has another TV show in the works and can’t talk about details, but did say it was fashion related.
\"I have been blessed to be an artist and be creative and do something that I love,\" Rice said. \"Nothing I do feels like work or feels like a job.\"
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Three years after winning the Barbie challenge on \"Project Runway,\" Verreos manages a career in fashion as well as multiple television appearances. He’s given red carpet commentary on the TV Guide Channel, E! and SOAPnet as well as created webisodes giving fashion advice on MSN.com’s Style Studio.
Verreos continues to teach at the Fashion Institute of Design in Los Angeles, where he serves as a “mini Tim Gunn” to advanced design students and as a spokesman for the school. His line NIKOLAKI, which he works on with design partner David Paul, is frequently worn by celebrities such as Marlee Matlin, who wore his fashion to the 2008 Oscars, and recently by Heidi Klum on \"Late Night with Conan O’Brien.\"
Eventually, Verreos would like to expand NIKOLAKI to an online business as well as write how-to design guidebooks.
\"I’ve always been a workaholic,\" Verreos said. \"The way I see it, at least I’m young enough to do this. I will worry when the phone stops ringing. I don’t want to look back and think ‘shoudla, coulda, woulda.’\"
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Daniel Vosovic was a recent grad when he started filming season 2, so he has spent the years after \"Runway\" gaining experience in the industry.
\"I’ve done freelance work, done assisting, done the nitty-gritty stuff that I wanted to learn,\" said the season 2 runner-up. \"I’ve been building the foundations of the company I want to have.\"
Meanwhile, he has designed a collection that is being used for staff uniforms at NYLO, a new hotel chain. The first location opened in Texas in March, and will expand to more than 150 sites in the next few years. Customers can buy the clothes, as well as his handbag and luggage line, in the hotel boutique.
Vosovic also has a book, \"Fashion Inside Out,\" which will be released in October. He did more than two dozen interviews with fashion insiders for the book, which he says dissects the design process. He still stays in touch with the creators of \"Project Runway\" blogging for Bravo, and is planning on helping with the casting for season 6.
He recently did some work for NBC’s \"Lipstick Jungle\" on issues of the fictional \"Bonfire\" magazine, which serves as an online supplement to the show. Each week, photos of Vosovic’s clothes – which he styled – were released online.
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Since designing the winning gown during the challenge to dress Miss USA Tara Conner in season 3, Gillaspie has continued to create custom pageant and evening gowns. He designs for WOW Prom, which is carried in more than 600 stores in the United States, and has his own evening wear and shoe lines called Johnathan Kayne. He’s also working on a doggie clothes line, Kayne 9, and an upcoming swimsuit collection.
\"I love doing celebrity gowns,\" Gillaspie said. \"Eventually, I want to see my stuff at the Oscars and other awards shows.\"
Gillaspie has appeared on an E! special, \"Beauty Queens Gone Wrong: 15 Shocking Pageant Scandals,\" and is working on negotiating a job on a makeover-themed TV show.
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Season 3 winner Jeffrey Sebelia has continued with his edgy line Cosa Nostra, but said he'll soon be debuting a pretty women’s line, Good Vig, which will be at stores including Nordstrom. He’s also developing a TV show, but can’t talk about it until the contract is finalized.
In his other spare time Sebelia has been working on freelance projects, including designing costumes for a friend’s feature film and an electronic opera. He also is working on developing the uniforms for Sushi Roku, a chain of restaurants.
\"I have stayed really busy,\" said Sebelia of the two years since he was on the show. \"It’s been a lot of me having to decide what the right things to do are.\"
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Being eliminated from \"Project Runway\" didn’t stop Victorya Hong from showing her line na•be, which means \"butterfly\" in Korean, at Fashion Week in New York in Feb. 2008. She said the reception to the contemporary-wear line has been good, and she’s shipping to 15 stores.
\"It’s young, sophisticated and very wearable,\" Hong said. \"I think of dresses that I would want to wear.\"
She doesn’t plan a return to TV anytime soon.
\"I would be shocked if someone offered me a TV gig,\" she said. \"I’m not TV material. Right now, I’m trying to focus on my designs.\"
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Finalist Rami Kashou didn’t miss a collection while participating on season 4. He continues to sell his ready-to-wear line, and has been doing more custom-order designs for celebrities like Heidi Klum and Dita Von Teese.
\"I love working one-on-one with clients, you can be really creative as well,\" Kashou said. \"It’s really fun and a pleasure for different women to trust my taste and then get what they want in the end.\"
In line with his reputation for outstanding draping, Kashou has been asked to design a Grecian collection for the Helios Dance Theater in Los Angeles. His work from \"Project Runway\" will also be the first reality show to be represented at an exhibit of Outstanding Art in Television Costume Design in Los Angeles, beginning in late July.
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Jack Mackenroth had to leave \"Project Runway\" early because of health reasons, but he’s planning a return to TV soon. He can’t talk much about it because the details aren’t finalized, but says the show is \"a little bit like ‘Queer Eye’ for women meets ‘Project Runway’ … there are hooks that make it original.\"
Mackenroth plans to host the show with \"Runway\" alum Kevin Christiana.
Meanwhile, he’s been working on freelance design projects, such as creating a dress for Heather Tom of \"The Bold and the Beautiful\" which she wore to the Daytime Emmys and was later auctioned off for charity, as well as designing a T-shirt for Clothing of the American Mind (cotam.org), both to benefit HIV/AIDS research. In the future, he’d like to work on a capsule collection for a major designer as well as his own line.
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Season 4 contestant Sweet P is collaborating with her husband, painter Sage Vaughn, to create a limited-edition collection to be sold in Seattle-based store Pulp Lab, as well as online (PulpLab.com).
\"I’m very excited about it,\" Sweet P said. \"We have wanted to work together for a long time, so when the store called us and approached us with the idea, we went to town.\"
The collection will be called \"Ghost in the Garden,\" and will include five to six garments. One piece is a gown that will have flowers painted at the hem of the dress, which is vaguely visible through bone-colored chiffon.
Sweet P recently designed a dress for \"LA Ink\" star Kat Von D for the Bravo \"A-List Awards,\" but shies away from doing many custom dresses. She’s also got a TV show and a how-to book in the works, but can’t talk about details.
Being a contestant on \"Project Runway\" has given Sweet P the freedom to pick and choose projects she’d like to work on.
\"I feel like I’m able to forge my own path,\" she said.
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After season 4 aired, Kit Pistol has continued to dress Samantha Harris for E! News and \"Dancing With the Stars\" as well as design clothes, including wedding gowns, for private clients. She has made on-camera appearances to do \"Project Runway\" updates for E News, and is considering doing work for the Style Network.
Pistol just finished creating a Kit Pistol paper doll project for Kiki magazine, which she describes as a cross between Highlights and Teen Vogue for girls who are interested in fashion.
In the coming months, Pistol plans to visit different cities to do trunk shows as well as to speak at colleges about her experiences in the fashion and entertainment industries.
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Season 4 prodigy Christian Siriano has stayed busy since winning \"Project Runway,\" designing clothes for the upcoming movie \"Eloise in Paris\" and getting his line ready for New York Fashion Week in September. His collection at Bluefly.com, one of the prizes from the show, recently went on sale.
Siriano has also been creating looks for celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg and Victoria Beckham. He even shows up on TV – from a guest appearance on \"Ugly Betty\" to being spoofed on \"Saturday Night Live.\"
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