Project Runway (season 1)

Project Runway (season 1)
Host of the show Heidi Klum and season 1 contestants
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	11
Release
Original network	Bravo
Original release	December 1, 2004 – February 23, 2005
No. of contestants	12
No. of tasks	10
Winner	Jay McCarroll
Season chronology
Next → Season 2

December 1, 2004 – February 23, 2005

Project Runway Season 1 was the first season of Project Runway, Bravo's reality competition show 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. Project Runway gave Bravo one of its most successful series since Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.

The winning designer of the first season was Pennsylvania-based designer Jay McCarroll. As his prize for winning the competition among 12 designers, McCarroll won $100,000, a mentorship with Banana Republic 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. McCaroll 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.

The 12 fashion designers competing in the first season were:

(ages listed are the designers' ages at the time the show was taped in the summer of 2004.)

The 12 models competing for an ELLE spread in the first season were: