Season 5

Project Runway season 5 began filming the first week of June 2008 and premiered July 16, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. It was the final season of Project Runway to air on Bravo, due to purchase of the show by Lifetime.

Returning as judges were supermodel Heidi Klum, fashion designer Michael Kors, and Elle editor-at-large Nina Garcia. Tim Gunn returned as a mentor to the aspiring designers.

The final four designers all produced collections for Bryant Park Fashion Week. Accessed on September 12, 2008. The winner of this season of Project Runway, Leanne Marshall, received an editorial feature in an issue of Elle magazine, a cash prize of $100,000 from TRESemmé hair care to start her own line, the opportunity to sell a fashion line on Bluefly.com, and a brand new 2009 Saturn Vue Hybrid.

Designers

 * Blayne Walsh, 23, from Yakima, Washington
 * Daniel Feld, 25, from Great Barrington, Massachusetts
 * Emily Brandle, 27, from Sacramento, California
 * Jennifer Diederich, 27, from East Syracuse, New York
 * Jerell Scott, 28, from Houston, Texas
 * Jerry Tam, 32 from Butte, Montana
 * Joe Faris, 41 from Troy, Michigan
 * Keith Bryce, 26, from Salt Lake City, Utah
 * Kelli Martin, 27 from Columbus, Ohio
 * Kenley Collins, 25, from New York, New York
 * Korto Momolu, 33, from Little Rock, Arkansas
 * Leanne Marshall, 27, from Portland, Oregon
 * Stella Zotis, 42, from Astoria, New York
 * Stephen "Suede" Baum, 37, from Seven Hills, Ohio
 * Terri Stevens, 39, from Chicago, Illinois
 * Wesley Nault, 23, from Blackstone, Massachusetts

Winner:
 * Leanne Marshall

Models

 * Alex Arace, 24, from New Jersey
 * Alyssa Aparicio, 18, from Bronx, New York
 * Elena Abete, 19, from Austin, Texas
 * Germaine Volorioz, 27, from New Jersey
 * Janine Bell, 24, from Maryland
 * Karalyn West, 21, from Columbus, Ohio
 * Katarina Munez, 20, from New Jersey
 * Kendall Hightower, 19, from Houston, Texas
 * Leslie Manzano, 19, from New Hartford, New York
 * Nicole Zaager, 20, from New York, New York
 * Polina Frantsena, from Boston, Massachusetts
 * Runa Lucienne, 19, from Ohio
 * Shannone Holt, 21, from Brooklyn, New York
 * Tia Shipman, from Maryland
 * Topacio Pena, 22, from Dominican Republic
 * Xaviera Tytler, 22, from Phoenix, Arizona

Winner:
 * Tia Shipman, from Maryland

Episode summary
Episode summaries are available on the official website of the series.

Episode 1: Let's Start from the Beginning
Repeating the first challenge on Season 1 of Project Runway, the designers were asked to create a look using only materials purchased from a Gristedes grocery store. The designers were given 30 minutes and $75 to shop for items, and then one day to complete the outfit. Most designers were criticized by mentor Tim Gunn for utilizing fabric-substitutes such as tablecloths in their looks, which wasn't what the challenge was about. The winner received immunity for the next challenge.


 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * Guest Judge: Austin Scarlett
 * WINNER: Kelli
 * BOTTOM 3: Blayne
 * BOTTOM 2: Stella
 * OUT: Jerry
 * First Aired: July 16, 2008

Episode 2: Grass Is Always Greener
The designers were asked to create a cocktail dress with their models as their clients. They were asked to use environmentally friendly or conscious fabrics from MOOD, with their models doing the fabric selections without their consultations. They were given $75 and one day to finish their garments. The winner did not receive immunity, but did get to sell their garment on Bluefly.
 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * Guest Judge: Natalie Portman
 * WINNER: Suede
 * TOP: Kenley, Stella
 * BOTTOM 3: Korto
 * BOTTOM 2: Leanne
 * OUT: Wesley
 * First Aired: July 23, 2008

Episode 3: Bright Lights/Big City
The designers were tasked to create a look of their choice inspired by the vibrant nightlife of New York City. Tim Gunn drove the designers around the city via a sightseeing tour bus, then provided them with digital cameras to take photographs of their inspiration. Four groups of designers were dropped off at different stops and had an hour to take their photos. They were given $100 and one day to complete their design. The winner received immunity for the next challenge.

The four groups and their assigned stopovers are as follows:
 * Suede, Daniel, Leanne, and Jennifer at Columbus Circle.
 * Blayne, Keith, Stella, and Kenley at Times Square.
 * Korto, Joe, and Kelli at the New York Public Library.
 * Terri, Jerell, and Emily at Greenwich Village.


 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * Guest Judge: Sandra Bernhard
 * WINNER: Kenley
 * OUT: Emily
 * First Aired: July 30, 2008

Episode 4: Rings of Glory
The designers were brought to the Armory Track and Field Training Center by their mentor, Tim Gunn, and were introduced to U.S. Olympian and speed skater, Apolo Anton Ohno. Their next challenge was to design a womenswear look for the 2008 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies. They were given 30 minutes to sketch and draw inspiration from the National Track and Field Museum, after which they were given $150 and one day to complete their designs. The winner received immunity for the next challenge.


 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * Guest Judge: Apolo Anton Ohno
 * WINNER: Korto
 * OUT: Jennifer
 * First Aired: August 6, 2008

Episode 5: Welcome to the Jungle
Working in teams of two, designers were asked to make an outfit that could transition from day to night, for Brooke Shields's character Wendy Healy on the television show Lipstick Jungle. The winning design will be worn by Brooke on Season 2 of Lipstick Jungle. Each team was given a budget of $150 and one day to complete their designs. After sketching individually for thirty minutes and pitching their ideas to Shields, six designers were picked by Brooke as team leaders (team leaders shown in bold below). The team leaders were picked in a random order and selected a teammate.


 * Blayne and Leanne
 * Keith and Kenley
 * Terri and Suede
 * Korto and Joe
 * Kelli and Daniel
 * Jerell and Stella

The winner did not receive immunity for the next challenge.


 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * Guest Judge: Brooke Shields
 * WINNER: Keith (teamed with Kenley Collins)
 * OUT: Kelli (teamed with Daniel Feld)
 * First Aired: August 13, 2008

Episode 6: Good Queen Fun
The designers were asked to make an outfit for a drag queen. Chris March of Season 4 made a guest appearance to deliver the challenge. The designers were picked at random to they select which drag queen to work with. They were given $200 to shop for supplies and two days to complete their designs. The winner received immunity for the next challenge. The designers' models were not used in this challenge.

Designers and Drag Queens:


 * Blayne with Miss Understood
 * Daniel with Annida Greenkard
 * Jerrell with LeMay
 * Joe with Varla Jean Merman
 * Keith with Sherry Vine
 * Kenley with Farrah Moans
 * Korto with Sweetie
 * Leanne with Sharon Needles
 * Stella with Luisa Verde
 * Suede with Hedda Lettuce
 * Terri with Acid Betty


 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * Guest Judge: RuPaul
 * WINNER: Joe
 * OUT: Daniel
 * First Aired: August 20, 2008

Episode 7: Fashion That Drives You
The designers were required to make an outfit made entirely out of the spare parts and raw materials from a Saturn hybrid car. They were told to walk to 142 West 31st Street in Manhattan. After taking an elevator to the roof of the building, they were instructed to collect as much of the recycled car parts from within the parked Saturn vehicles. They had four minutes to collect the materials and one day to complete their outfits. The winner received immunity for the next challenge.


 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Michael Kors
 * Guest judges: Laura Bennett (sitting in for Nina Garcia), Rachel Zoe
 * WINNER: Leanne
 * OUT: Keith
 * First Aired: August 27, 2008

Episode 8: Double 0 Fashion
The designers were taken to the Meatpacking District and brought to the offices and design showroom of living fashion legend and current CFDA president, designer Diane von Furstenberg. Their challenge was to create a look for her Fall 2008 collection inspired by the movie, A Foreign Affair, starring screen legend, Marlene Dietrich. They were given free rein and 15 minutes inside Diane von Furstenburg's fabric sample room to select fabrics for their designs. The winning garment will be produced in limited quantities and exclusively sold to American Express cardholders, with proceeds going to the CFDA Foundation. The winner did not receive immunity for the next challenge.


 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Michael Kors
 * Guest judge: Fern Mallis (sitting in for Nina Garcia), Diane von Furstenberg
 * WINNER: Leanne
 * OUT: Stella
 * First Aired: September 3, 2008
 * Leanne is the Fifth person to win 2 challenges in a row behind Jeffrey & Michael from season 3, Daniel V. from season 2, and Kara from season 1.

Episode 9: What's Your Sign?
The designers teamed up in pairs with eliminated designers to create an avant-garde garment around one of the two astrological signs of their group. They had one day and 8 hours to complete the look. The night before the runway, they were brought to the American Museum of Natural History in New York. There the designers were greeted with surprise guest appearances of former Project Runway designers and winners Kara Janx, Alison Kelly, Jay McCarroll, Robert Plotkin, Christian Siriano, Daniel Vosovic, & Carmen Webber, who all voted on a winning look. This episode featured a surprise double elimination & the winner no longer had the advantage of immunity going forward.

Teams:
 * Blayne and Stella (Libra)
 * Jerell and Jennifer (Sagittarius)
 * Joe and Daniel (Aries)
 * Kenley and Wesley (Aquarius)
 * Korto and Kelli (Aquarius)
 * Leanne and Emily (Scorpio)
 * Suede and Jerry (Libra)
 * Terri and Keith (Leo)


 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * Guest judge: Francisco Costa
 * WINNER: Jerell (teamed with Jennifer Diederich)
 * OUT: Blayne (teamed with Stella Zotis) and Terri (teamed with Keith Bryce)
 * First Aired: September 10, 2008

Episode 10: Transformation
The designers were assigned recent college graduates and are given the task of giving them a fashion makeover to help them enter the workforce. Each designer was to gear their look to their client's specific profession, whilst keeping their style and pleasing both the clients and their mothers. The clients wore the outfits down the runway; the models were not used in this challenge.


 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * Guest judge: Cynthia Rowley
 * WINNER: Jerell
 * OUT: Joe
 * First Aired: September 17, 2008
 * Jerell is the Sixth person to win 2 challenges in a row behind Leanne also in season 5, Jeffrey and Michael from season 3, Daniel V. from season 2, and Kara from season 1.

Episode 11: Rock N' Runway
The designers were given the task of designing for each other. The looks were to be inspired by different genres of music. The designers wore their outfits down the runway; the models were not used for this challenge.

Teams (Designers names are in bold; genre applies to teammate):
 * Jerell designed for Kenley (Pop Music)
 * Kenley designed for Leanne (Hip Hop Music)
 * Leanne designed for Korto (Country Music)
 * Korto designed for Suede (Punk rock)
 * Suede designed for Jerell (Rock and Roll)


 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * Guest judge: LL Cool J
 * WINNER: Korto
 * OUT: Suede
 * First Aired: September 24, 2008

Episode 12: Nature Calls
Drawing inspiration from nature, the remaining designers headed to the New York Botanical Garden to design an evening gown.


 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * Guest Judge: Georgina Chapman
 * WINNER: Jerell
 * OUT: None: (However, all four are on the elimination block when the final three are determined in the next episode).
 * First Aired: October 1, 2008

Episode 13: Finale Part I
The designers were given the task, prior to leaving to create their collections, of creating a wedding dress for their collections. In addition to the wedding dress, they were judged on an 11th look, a bridesmaid dress to go with it. This is the first time that all of the finalists are of the same gender (female).
 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * FINALISTS: Kenley, Korto, and Leanne
 * OUT: Jerell
 * First Aired: October 8, 2008

Episode 14: Finale Part II
Prior to the runway show, the finalists, who each had twelve outfits ready for the runway, were informed that they would only be able to show ten, forcing last minute editing of their collections. The guest judge was originally scheduled to be Jennifer Lopez, but she was unable to participate due to a foot injury and was replaced by Tim Gunn. Following the presentation of all three collections, the judges stated that Leanne Marshall had created the best collection, and named her the winner of Season Five of Project Runway.
 * Judges: Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Michael Kors
 * Guest judge: Tim Gunn
 * First Aired: October 15, 2008
 * WINNER of Project Runway Season 5: Leanne Marshall
 * OUT: Korto Momolu (1st Runner-Up), Kenley Collins (2nd Runner-Up)

Trivia

 * Jerell Scott and Kenley Collins later appeared in Project Runway: All Stars in 2012, with Jerell coming 5th, and Kenley 4th. S
 * tephen "Suede" Baum, in the same year, competed in the second season of the All Stars edition placing 11th out of 13. *Korto Momolu competed in the third season of All Stars, placing 2nd of 11.
 * Stella Zotis appeared in the fifth season of All Stars, placing 11th of 13.

Contestants' official websites

 * "Suede" Baum Official Website
 * Emily Brandle Official Website
 * Keith Bryce Official Website
 * Kenley Collins Official Website
 * Jennifer Diederich Official Website
 * Joe Faris Official Website
 * Kelli Martin Official Website
 * Leanne Marshall Official Website
 * Korto Momolu Official Website
 * Jerell Scott Official Website
 * Terri Stevens Official Website
 * Jerry Tam Official Website