What These Project Runway Winners Look Like Today

More than two decades have passed since "Project Runway" debuted on the Bravo network in 2004, and in an era of evolving viewer habits, the fashion reality competition series has persevered. Over the years, it found its way to Lifetime, returned to Bravo for a second run, and was later rebooted on Freeform in 2025 with fan-favorite Heidi Klum returning as host after an eight-year absence.

The show has continued to make waves, too, crowning Filipino designer Veejay Floresca as its first trans champion in its comeback season, and raising the bar for its 22nd season in 2026. Even as the series continues to break new ground, though, the creative talents who have duked it out for runway supremacy and the wild moments that have unfolded throughout "Project Runway's" improbable run continue to resonate with fans.

From Season 1's Jay McCarroll to Seth Aaron Henderson and beyond, here's a look at some of "Project Runway's" most memorable winners and what they've been doing in recent years.

The first-ever winner of "Project Runway," Jay McCarroll, famously turned down the prize money and mentoring, and has had a varied career ever since. The designer notoriously shared a challenging relationship with mentor Tim Gunn. In a 2007 interview with The Cut, McCarroll suggested that there was no love lost between the pair when he said, "It's tough because he talked so much s**t about me in the past. And it's hard when you're trying to figure your business out. It's fine. Power to him. He's having his heyday, but I also don't think he's an authority on any designer's life."

According to his LinkedIn profile, after winning the show in 2005, McCarroll took on a teaching role as an adjunct professor at Philadelphia University in 2007 — a job he held until 2016. Meanwhile, the 2008 documentary "Eleven Minutes" tracked McCarroll as he prepared for his first solo runway show, and subsequently attempted to sell his clothing to buyers and retail stores. In 2010, the designer returned to reality TV when he won VH1's Celebrity Fit Club.

More recently, McCarroll brought his flair for style to show business, working as a set costumer on the Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black." According to People, he also worked in the wardrobe department on the 2021 HBO Max miniseries "Mare of Easttown."

Chloe Dao continued to develop her fashion line after winning the second season of Project Runway, and even sold her designs on QVC for a number of years. Using her expertise as a winner of the show, Dao also went on to work as a judge and executive producer on Project Runway Vietnam from 2013 to 2014. She told Houstonia magazine at the time that she believed the Vietnam version of the show to be more challenging: "I actually think they had a harder time than the American designers, because in the U.S. we have Mood fabrics. 

In Ho Chi Minh you have to run around this huge open market crowded with tourists, and sometimes you are only given 30 minutes. It's like 90 degrees, super chaotic, really much more chaotic to shop in. And much more limited."

In addition to killing it in the designing game, Dao is regularly involved in philanthropic ventures, and, per her website, "serves on fashion advisory boards at Houston Community College and The Art Institute." She has also collaborated with a number of charities and community organizations, such as the Think Pink Foundation, Dress for Success, Community Cloth, and the Salvation Army Houston Area Command. Itching for Dao's designs? She sells her creations from her own boutique in Houston and via an online store, and regularly posts updates about her new collections on Instagram.

Prior to winning the third season of "Project Runway," Jeffrey Sebelia already owned his own fashion label, the now-defunct Cosa Nostra, which was worn by the likes of Elton John, Gwen Stefani, and Madonna, according to The Hollywood Reporter. After his win, though, Sebelia had somewhat of a fall from grace. In a now-legendary 2007 interview with New York Magazine, the designer admitted, "I'm totally broke." He also revealed that his first real post-Project Runway job was designing the costumes for "a live-action movie for the Bratz." However, Sebelia proceeded to call the Bratz "those s****y dolls," which swiftly got him fired from the role, as relayed by BuzzFeed.

In early 2025, Sebelia was introduced (via Instagram) as design director for the luxury menswear brand Urbane & Gallant. His profile on the fashion house's website states that his philosophy "centers on creating fashion that is not only beautiful but also meaningful, leaving a lasting impact on the industry and the world." 

Said Sebelia in 2026 of working with Urbane & Gallant (via Faces magazine): "Knowing that [brand founder Andrew Park] would be a partner whose primary concern is improving the world—and who focuses on improving society through men's responsibility — was an exciting prospect."

Since winning Season 4 of "Project Runway," Christian Siriano has become a designer to the stars, with his fits regularly gracing red carpets worldwide. Siriano has reportedly dressed everyone from Michelle Obama to Taylor Swift, and more. Known for his size-and-age-inclusive designs, Siriano was, impressively, responsible for dressing 17 different women at the Oscars in 2018. "My mother was a size 16. But my sister is a 0," he told Elle in 2017. "I've never wanted to leave any woman out of my sight. I want to dress them all."

Siriano also replaced Tim Gunn on the rebooted "Project Runway" in 2019, serving as the show's new mentor. Launching a new capsule collection with J.Jill that same year, Siriano told People, "J.Jill and I believe that style is for every size and age." Fast-forward to the 2020s and Siriano's presence continues to be felt on the red carpet. As reported by Red Carpet Fashion Awards, several stars wore his creations at the 2026 Tony Awards, including Laurie Metcalf, Dylan Mulvaney, Rachel Dratch, and others.

During an appearance on "Live with Kelly & Mark," Siriano broke down his continuing role on "Project Runway," explaining, "I just try to keep these designers on track. I try to give them, like, real experience of what's going on in the industry."

Leanne Marshall's winning stint on Season 5 of Project Runway in 2008 led to a successful design business, which ultimately saw her flexing her creative muscles in the bridal industry. She even designed her own wedding gown; her picture-perfect Wyoming elopement was featured in Brides magazine in 2018. Marshall told the publication that creating her dream gown was surprisingly stressful, as she revealed, "I had no constraints whatsoever on what I could make for myself, and ended up trying on every single sample in our studio and making dozens of patterns."

More recently, though, she has decided to focus her efforts elsewhere. A 2022 update on her website noted that Marshall had "officially quit the bridal industry after nearly 12 years," adding that she had always considered herself "a misfit in the bridal industry of outdated traditions and its lack of sustainability." While she continues to make custom fits using recycled and remnant pieces, she has pivoted toward performance pieces and ready-to-wear casual with her namesake line.

In 2025, the Leanne Marshall on Ice fashion show and fundraiser was held at Brooklyn's Domino Park to benefit the families of those members of the U.S. figure skating community who died in the headline-making mid-air plane collision over the Potomac River that January.

Season 6 victor Irina Shabayeva has been making an impact on the fashion world since winning "Project Runway." In 2011, she launched an exclusive bridal collection with Kleinfeld Bridal, the store famously featured in the reality TV show "Say Yes to the Dress" (via CNBC). The publication also noted that the designer has forged several successful collaborations with brands since her time on "Project Runway," from creating "jewelry and a white-feathered evening gown made with Tupperware" to designing a dress "with Campbell's Soup to raise awareness for heart disease."

As chronicled in her LinkedIn profile, Shabayeva became the creative director of the Paris-based luxury brand Maison MJZ in 2019. It lists designing "ready to wear and couture collections from concept to development, refinement, and execution" as one of her primary responsibilities and notes that she debuted the brand at Paris Fashion Week.

Her Irina Shabayeva Couture website appears to be accepting custom, made-to-measure evening and bridal wear as of this writing. Shabayeva promoted a fashion show for her namesake brand at Yonkers' Untermyer Gardens via Instagram in 2026. And her bio spotlights her exploits as an artist, photographer, and designer.

Seth Aaron Henderson won Season 7 of "Project Runway," but that wouldn't be his last run to the top in the reality TV space (or the "Project Runway" world). He returned to the fray in 2013 for the third season of "Project Runway All Stars," eventually emerging as the last designer standing once again. He would return for Season 7 of "Project Runway All Stars," but was ultimately eliminated early. Nevertheless, he has enjoyed a successful career in fashion since his initial breakout.

He launched his SA by Seth Aaron collection on QVC in 2014. Then, in 2017, he collaborated with Feetz on a collection of custom-made, 3D-printed shoes. Like many other "Project Runway" winners, Henderson's creations have been worn by the crème de la crème of the entertainment industry. He continues to work with female celebrities, creating custom fits for a wide swath of performers.

Since 2024, he has served as the design director of celebrity women's customs for L.A. Roxx Atelier, according to his LinkedIn profile. In doing so, he has created custom looks for WWE superstars like Jade Cargill and Chelsea Green, and country stars such as Miranda Lambert, Lainey Wilson, and Megan Moroney, to name a few.

One of the most controversial winners of "Project Runway" has to be Season 8's Gretchen Jones, mainly because she beat out fan-favorite Mondo Guerra. While the merits of the judges' decision continue to be debated, Jones had earned her spot among the final contenders after honing her design talents from an early age. According to Retail Info Systems, Jones was creating portfolios as a second-grader, and even designed her own First Communion dress.

After her "Project Runway" win, Jones continued her fashion journey by building her own brand and, in 2013, joining the design team of Pendleton Woolen Mills. In the mid-2010s, however, she opted to flip the script on her career path. "Though I on paper appeared to be quite successful, it was a career path and lifestyle that was more of a struggle of survival than one in flow with ease. I'm honored to have had the talent to play the game, but the game itself didn't suit me," Jones told Amelia Wrede Davis in 2020.

So, she resigned from Pendleton and got her MBA from the London College of Fashion. These days, Jones owns a consulting practice, Weird Specialty, where she attempts to "bridge the gap between creative expression and strategic business development," per a 2026 reintroduction post on Instagram.

Anya Ayoung-Chee won Season 9 of "Project Runway" despite having only started learning to sew four months before the show began shooting. As she told Entertainment Weekly in 2011, "Most designers don't sew themselves anyway, and in terms of like mass producing, obviously, you don't sew." Prior to her involvement with the series, she represented Trinidad and Tobago in the 2008 Miss Universe Pageant.

According to an earlier version of her website, Ayoung-Chee launched her own women's clothing brand, PILAR, in 2009, and followed that with a lingerie line dubbed Anya de Rogue the following year. In 2012, she was appointed tourism ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago. Ayoung-Chee returned to reality TV as a mentor on Tim Gunn's "Under the Gunn" in 2014, and also appeared on "Project Runway All Stars" five years later.

Among her myriad endeavors, Ayoung-Chee has continued on in the fashion industry over the years, recently bridging the gap between her creative vision and emerging technology by using generative AI tools to assist her design work. "I consider the technology very empowering because it gives smaller entities access to tools that would not typically have been available to micro/small businesses," she explained to Trinidad's Daily Express in 2025.

Winning Season 12 of "Project Runway" allowed Dom Streater to quit her job as an animal-care technician at the University of Pennsylvania and focus on fashion. "I am able to wake up every day and design full time," she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013. "I still do work at night occasionally [as a hostess at a restaurant]. I don't do that all the time but occasionally." Streater later went on to be victorious when she appeared on Season 5 of "Project Runway All Stars."

Of course, Streater had been preparing for that path for many years before reality TV provided her with an in, having graduated from Moore College of Art and Design in 2010. She later launched her Philadelphia-based namesake brand with a stated goal to "create limited edition pieces inspired by global textiles, travel, and history," per her now-defunct website.

According to her LinkedIn profile, she became a designer at Urban Outfitters in 2016 and eventually landed a role as the brand's senior designer of fully fashioned sweaters, cut & sew knits, and lounge product. She joined Moore College's design department in 2022, telling Moore.edu that year, "There's an excitement of having a whole career behind you [and the idea] that you can pass on some of that knowledge."

Season 16's "Project Runway" winner, Kentaro Kameyama, clinched his win with a runway show featuring fits inspired by classical music. That merger of fashion and music was a natural one for Kameyama, who is also a classical pianist and composer, with a number of degrees and qualifications in music (his models walked to one of his original compositions in the show). Since winning, he has been a major player in the fashion industry.

Kameyama's eponymous label appears to be running strong, and he has shown several collections at New York Fashion Week and L.A. Fashion Week over the years. In 2026, Kameyama turned heads with a showcase that "brought avant-garde precision" to the runway at the latter event, according to New York Style Guide/Instagram. That same year, The Klara peptide skincare announced a collaboration with the designer.

Like Dom Streater, Kameyama is another designer who ultimately sought to pass on what he has learned to up-and-coming creatives. He was on faculty at L.A.'s FCI Fashion School and, in 2022, became the chair of fashion design at Idyllwild Arts Academy, despite coming to the game late and sans formal training. "I feel very natural in education," he said in a 2022 interview published on the latter school's blog. "It's true that in fashion design I'm almost entirely self-taught. But I've been a fashionista since I was quite young."

Jhoan "Sebastian" Grey wowed the judges and viewers of "Project Runway's" 17th season, which aired in 2019. However, his journey as a designer and fashion creative goes back decades, when he was plying his trade in his native Colombia. According to his LinkedIn profile, between 2006 and 2013, he worked as a designer for Andres Otalora and Johanna Ortiz, after which he launched his namesake brand. 

This reality TV star is passionate about designing beautiful clothes for women and explained in a 2019 Miami New Times interview, "My goal as a designer is to be able to dress all the beautiful women in this world." His main aim, he added, is "to make them feel happy and comfortable and secure, and that they are able to do everything they imagine with my clothes."

Grey took his talents to HSN in 2024, using his heritage as the inspiration for his Grey by Jhoan Sebastian Grey collection, as reported by Elle. According to Grey, the pieces in the collection were created "for the woman who is not afraid to stand out." Meanwhile, his own brand continues to feature fresh fits in 2026.

Like Gretchen Jones before her, Shantall Lacayo created controversy with her Season 19 "Project Runway" win. For her part, fellow finalist Kristina Kharlashkina intimated that the judges had committed a grievous offense for crowning Lacayo, saying on the Bravo aftershow, "I appreciate the judges decision. I don't think it's a smart decision and I don't think it's right," and pushing back on the notion that she and the other finalists weren't ready to take the next step in their career. Outlets like Screen Rant also called Lacayo's win into question.

Nevertheless, Lacayo remains a fashion industry veteran who has been building her industry cred for years. Prior to her big win, she finished as the first runner-up on "Project Runway Latin America" in 2010. And going back to her youth, she founded a business at 13, designing and selling stretch shirts to her friends for $2 to help her single mother cover their living expenses.

In the immediate aftermath of her win, she launched her own jewelry line. Meanwhile, Lacayo's eponymous label is in full effect, through which she also operates a kids' fashion summer camp.