Project Runway season 21: Difference between revisions

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2025 season of television series

Season of television series

Project Runway

Promotional poster for season twenty-one
Judges
No. of contestants 12
Winner Veejay Floresca
Runners-up
No. of episodes 10
Original network Freeform
Original release July 31 (2025-07-31) –
September 25, 2025 (2025-09-25)

The twenty-first season of the American reality competition series Project Runway premiered on July 31 and concluded on September 25, 2025. It was the first season to air on the cable network Freeform, following the show’s previous run on Bravo since its 2004 debut. The season featured twelve contestants competing in garment design challenges, with participants eliminated throughout the competition based on judges’ critiques until a winner was determined.

After initially departing in season sixteen (2017), German model Heidi Klum reprised her role as head judge alongside Colombian fashion journalist Nina García returning, with stylist Law Roach joining the judging panel for the first time. Fashion designer Christian Siriano also came back as a mentor for the designer contestants. Michael Kors returned as a judge for the season finale. Former contestants Jesus Estrada (of season seven) and Caycee Black (of season nineteen) returned to compete again.

Veejay Floresca was announced as the winner of the season. She received a cash prize of $200,000, a 6-months representation from Agentry PR, a mentorship with the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), alongside a magazine spread in the American edition of Elle. Jesus Estrada and Ethan Mundt ultimately finished as runners-up.

Development

During its bankruptcy of the Weinstein Company, the series was considered an asset which was later reacquired from entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal in 2018.[1] They soon rebooted Project Runway for cable network Bravo, starting with its seventeenth season (2019).[2] Coincidentally the former host and mentor, German model Heidi Klum and television personality Tim Gunn, left the series after both signed a project deal for production company Amazon MGM Studios.[3]

After its twentieth season concluding in 2023, it was uncertain if the series would be renewed for a twenty-first season. Later it was speculated that its release window would take place in 2025.[4] The Hollywood Reporter first reported that cable network Freeform renewed the series and closed a distribution deal on October 17, 2024. It is co-produced by Alfred Street Industries and Spyglass Media Group for a ten-episode run premiering the next year.[5] South African film producer Gary Barber, with Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Nan Strait, and Dan Volpe are served as executive producers.[6]

People confirmed that Klum will return for its forthcoming season, after departing from the series since season sixteen (2017) on January 3, 2025.[7] Former mentor Gunn felt “devastated, then kind of humiliated” for being excluded in returning, explaining to People, “I thought, how lucky am I to have had the experiences that I’ve had over the last 20 years? […] I’ve come to terms with it. Am I disappointed? Sure. And most of all, it’s about not working with Heidi, but we move on and […] I don’t know what the reason is yet, but it will be revealed.”[8]

The rest of the judges panel for Project Runway was soon revamped and announced to the public on March 24, 2025.[9] This included Colombian journalist and permanent judge Nina García returning, with stylist Law Roach joining alongside. Fashion designer Christian Siriano, who won in season four (2007), returned as a mentor for the designer contestants.[10]

Marketing

A first-look teaser was later released on May 19, which featured Klum dressed in a peach-colored gown.[11] As she centered herself in a Colosseum-like structure, Klum shouts out, “I’m back! And it’s good to be home.”[12] It showed the season premiere date being on July 31 for Freeform, ending the teaser with, “Get in, or you’re out.”[13]

Eleven guest judges and twelve contestants were revealed on June 11, set to appear in the upcoming season.[14] Jesus Estrada and Caycee Black returned to compete again,[15] alongside Veejay Floresca who competed in the Philippine iteration (2008) of the franchise.[16] A promotional trailer for the season was released on July 1,[17] showcasing the workshop, runway scenes, the main stage, and confessionals.[18] Within nine days of its release, it gave momentum for the series approximately receiving 42 million views across social media platforms, reported by Deadline Hollywood for Freeform.[19]

To further promote the series, Roach and Siriano appeared on televised program Good Morning America (GMA), where they had three contestants design and create an outfit dedicated to caffeinated beverages on July 17.[20] Belania Daley won the challenge with Klum wearing the garment for GMA on August 6.[21] The judges have also promoted the series on various media such as Nightline,[22] The View,[23] and Entertainment Weekly.[24]

Celebrity guests or judges are listed in chronological order:

Episode 2
  • Alycia Scott, actress and producer
  • Sara Foster, actress and producer
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Episode 8
Episode 9
Episode 10

Contestants

Project Runway season 21 contestants and their backgrounds[a]
Contestant Age Hometown Finish Outcome
Caycee Black[b] 44 Houston, Texas Episode 1 12th place
Alex Foxworth 32 Greensboro, North Carolina Episode 2 11th place
Angelo Rosa 35 Providence, Rhode Island Episode 3 10th place
Joseph McRae 33 Charlotte, North Carolina Episode 4 9th place
Madeline Malenfant 30 Nantucket, Massachusetts Episode 5 8th place
Joan Madison 60 New York City, New York Episode 6 7th place
Yuchen Han 30 Xining, China Episode 7 6th place
Belania Daley 34 Long Island, New York Episode 9 4th place
Antonio Estrada 36 Mazatlán, Mexico
Jesus Estrada[c] 36 Mazatlán, Mexico Episode 10 Runners-up
Ethan Mundt 30 Utica, Minnesota
Veejay Floresca[d] 39 Pasay, Philippines Winner

Progress

Legend:

  WIN indicates that the contestant won the challenge.

  HIGH indicates that the contestant had one of the highest score in the challenge, but did not win it.

  IN indicates that the contestant was declared safe.

  SAVE indicates that the contestant was saved after being eliminated.

  LOW indicates that the contestant had one of the lowest score in the challenge, but was not eliminated.

  OUT indicates that the contestant was eliminated.

Contestant progress with placements in each episode
Contestant Episode
1[36] 2[37] 3[38] 4[39] 5[40] 6[41] 7[42] 8[43] 9[44] 10[45]
Veejay IN LOW IN HIGH WIN IN LOW HIGH IN Winner
Ethan WIN IN LOW HIGH HIGH IN LOW IN WIN Runner-up
Jesus HIGH WIN HIGH IN HIGH IN WIN SAVE IN Runner-up
Antonio LOW IN HIGH LOW LOW HIGH HIGH WIN OUT Guest
Belania IN HIGH WIN IN LOW WIN HIGH SAVE OUT Guest
Yuchen HIGH IN IN WIN IN LOW OUT Guest
Joan IN IN LOW LOW IN OUT Guest
Madeline IN IN IN IN OUT
Joseph LOW HIGH IN OUT Guest
Angelo IN LOW OUT Guest
Alex IN OUT Guest
Caycee OUT Guest

Episodes

Broadcast

The twenty-first season premiered two episodes through Freeform at 9:00 p.m. (EST) on July 31, 2025.[54] It also was released throughout various streaming services such as Crave for Canada simultaneously,[55] alongside Disney+ and Hulu for the United States with next-day availability starting on August 1.[56] Subsequently, the series moved its new time slot to 10:00 p.m next week on August 7.

References

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  2. ^ Sandberg, Bryn Elise (May 14, 2018). “Project Runway returning to Bravo”. The Hollywood Reporter. Eldridge Industries. ISSN 0018-3660. OCLC 44653726. Archived from the original on March 26, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  3. ^ Schwartz, Ryan (September 7, 2018). “Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn leaving Project Runway franchise to develop new reality series at Amazon”. TVLine. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  4. ^ Padwal, Saylee (July 3, 2024). “Project Runway season 21: News, potential release window, potential cast and everything we know”. ScreenRant. Valnet. Archived from the original on June 4, 2025. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  5. ^ Vlessing, Etan (October 17, 2024). “New Project Runway season lands at Disney”. The Hollywood Reporter. Eldridge Industries. ISSN 0018-3660. OCLC 44653726. Archived from the original on December 26, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  6. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (October 17, 2024). “Project Runway moves from Bravo to Freeform; new season set for 2025″. Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on January 29, 2025. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  7. ^ Chiu, Melody; Philips, Hedy (January 3, 2025). “Heidi Klum is returning to Project Runway after 8 years”. People. Dotdash Meredith. ISSN 0093-7673. OCLC 794712888. Archived from the original on May 18, 2025. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  8. ^ Greene, Jordan (February 15, 2025). “Tim Gunn ‘wasn’t asked back’ to Project Runway with Heidi Klum: ‘I was initially devastated’“. People. Dotdash Meredith. ISSN 0093-7673. OCLC 794712888. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  9. ^ Tinoco, Armando (March 24, 2025). “Nina Garcia and Law Roach join Heidi Klum as judges for Project Runway season 21; Christian Siriano returns as mentor”. Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on June 6, 2025. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
  10. ^ Bailey, Alyssa (March 24, 2025). “Nina García returns to Project Runway“. Elle. Louis Hachette Group. Archived from the original on March 24, 2025. Retrieved June 11, 2025.
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