Project Runway (season 1)

Project Runway Season 1 was the first season of Project Runway series. The season aired first on December 1, 2004. The winner was Jay McCaroll. He won several prizes including an Elle spread, a $100,000 cash prize to start his own line and more. 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.

Contestants

(In order of elimination)

Contestant	Age	Hometown	Place Finished
Daniel Franco	32	Los Angeles, California	12th
Mario Cadenas	23	Pembroke Pines, Florida	11th
Starr Ilzhoefer	27	Charlotte, North Carolina	10th
Vanessa Riley	34	London, England	9th
Nora Caliguri	21	Cheshire, Connecticut	8th
Alexandra Vidal	21	Miami, Florida	7th
Kevin Johnn	37	New York, New York	6th
Robert Plotkin	28	New York, New York	5th
Austin Scarlett	22	New York, New York	4th
Wendy Pepper	39	Middleburg, Virginia	3rd
Kara Saun	37	Los Angeles, California	Runner-up
Jay McCarroll	29	Dallas, Pennsylvania	Winner

(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:

Model	Age	Hometown	Place Finished
Mary Henderson	19	Texas	12th
Alison Zebelian	19	Michigan	11th
Josiane Barboza	21	Brazil	10th
Audrey Chihocky	18	Virginia	9th
Joy Pursell	21	Texas	8th
Morgan Quinn	21	Iowa	7th
Erin Denardo	21	New Jersey	6th
Olga Kononova	18	Czech Republic	5th
Martinique Mitchell	21	California	4th
Melissa Haro	17	California	3rd
Jenny Toth	22	Ohio	Runner-up
Julia Beynon	20	California	Winner