LIFETIME'S EMMY(R) NOMINATED "PROJECT RUNWAY'S" MILESTONE 15th SEASON PREMIERES SEPTEMBER 15

Guest Judges to Include Actresses Priyanka Chopra, Emily Ratajkowski, Camilla Belle, Nina Dobrev, Jaime King and Savannah Guthrie

New York, NY (August 8, 2016) - More than a decade after Project Runway rocked the fashion world, Lifetime's Emmy(R)-nominated series returns Thursday, September 15 at 9pm ET/PT for its milestone fifteenth season. Year after year, Project Runway hopefuls have competed stitch by stitch for the chance to make their mark on the world of fashion. Having propelled aspiring designers into the style spotlight, Project Runway has left no sequin un-sewn. Continuing to uphold the runway legacy, this celebratory season will take fashion to a whole other level with 16 new designers. Determining whether they've created a fashion feat or faux pas are returning judges Heidi Klum, Marie Claire's creative director Nina Garcia, creative director for Brooks Brother Women, fashion designer Zac Posen and mentor Tim Gunn, who once again will have the power to "save" one designer from elimination.

To help decide which designer will be crowned fashion royalty and who will be "cut" from the competition are guest judges, actresses Priyanka Chopra (Quantico), Emily Ratajkowski (Gone Girl), Nina Dobrev (The Vampire Diaries), Camilla Belle (When a Stranger Calls), Jaime King (Hart of Dixie), Shiri Appleby (UnREAL), Sabrina Carpenter (Girl Meets World) and Carly Chaiken (Mr. Robot). Additional influencers joining the judges panel are The Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie, fashion designer Rebecca Minkoff, Project Runway Junior judge Kelly Osbourne, model Lucky Blue Smith and Editor in Chief of Marie Claire, Anne Fulenwider.

The Project Runway Season 15 designers are:

Alex Snyder (30) San Francisco, CA

Brik Allen (26) Baton Rouge, LA

Cornelius Ortiz (24) Boston, MA; hometown: Worcester, MA

Dexter Simmons (32) Oakland, CA

Erin Robertson (29) Cambridge, MA; hometown: Provo, UT

Ian Hargrove (30) Chicago, IL

Jenni Ricetti (22) San Francisco, CA

Kimber Richardson (42) New York, NY; hometown: Houston, TX

Tasha Henderson (33) Shreveport, LA

Laurence Basse (41) Los Angeles, CA; hometown: Paris, France

Linda Marcus (55) Milwaukee, WI; hometown: LaCanada Flintridge, CA

Nathalia JMag (23) Framingham, MA

Rik Villa (31) Los Angeles, CA

Roberi Parra (32) Miami, FL; hometown: Caracas, Venezuela

Sarah Donofrio (34) Portland, OR; hometown: Toronto, Canada

Mah-Jing Wong (28) Philadelphia, PA

The winner of Project Runway will receive $100,000 to launch his or her business. Sally Beauty will supply a year's worth of products along with a $25,000 cash prize. Travel and hotel accommodations to inspiring destinations around the world from Best Western Hotels and Resorts will also be provided, and from Mary Kay, the winner will receive an entire year's worth of beauty products for their fashion shows and professional makeup artist services for their debut show. The winner will also receive a new Lexus IS sedan and a complete sewing and crafting studio from Brother Sewing and Embroidery. The winning designer and model will receive a fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine.

ABOUT PROJECT RUNWAY

Hosted by Emmy(R) Award winner, supermodel and fashion connoisseur Heidi Klum, the hit Emmy(R)-nominated series Project Runway provides budding designers with an opportunity to launch their careers in fashion, under the watchful eyes of mentor and co-host Emmy(R) Award winner Tim Gunn and judges Nina Garcia and Zac Posen. Project Runway is produced by The Weinstein Company, Bunim/Murray Productions, Full Picture Entertainment, and Heidi Klum Company. Executive producers include Bob and Harvey Weinstein (Co-Chairmen of The Weinstein Company) and Patrick Reardon and Barbara Schneeweiss of The Weinstein Company, Jonathan Murray and Sara Rea of Bunim/Murray Productions, Heidi Klum, and Jane Cha and Desiree Gruber of Full Picture Entertainment. Mary Donahue and David Hillman of Lifetime also executive produce, and Gil Goldschein and Teri Weideman of Bunim/Murray Productions serve as Co-Executive Producers.

ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

The Weinstein Company (TWC) is a multimedia production and distribution company launched in October 2005 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the brothers who founded Miramax Films in 1979. TWC boasts an active unscripted television production division which garnered nine Emmy nominations in 2013, five in 2014 and twelve in 2015. In addition to producing the reality powerhouse Project Runway, TCW Television produces its spin-off series and critically-acclaimed Project Runway All Stars, hosted by Alyssa Milano and Project Runway Jr, featuring supermodel Hannah Davis, and fashion critic Kelley Osbourne. In addition, TWC's scripted television produces Marco Polo and Peaky Blinders with Netflix and Scream with MTV, along with the upcoming The Mist,Six and Omert�. TWC will also launch several new projects in 2016 across several networks, including MTV, Lifetime and AMC.

ABOUT BUNIM/MURRAY PRODUCTIONS

Bunim/Murray Productions (BMP) is the leading producer of innovative entertainment content. The Emmy Award-winning company is widely credited with creating the reality television genre with its hit series The Real World (31 seasons on MTV). BMP continued to innovate with the first reality game show, Road Rules (MTV), in 1995; the first reality sitcom, The SimpleLife (E!), in 2003; and the first reality soap opera, Starting Over, in 2003. BMP's current programming includes Mariah's World, I Am Cait, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Rob & Chyna, Total Divas, Total Bellas and Cosmo Life (E!), The Real World and The Challenge (MTV), Project Runway and Project Runway All Stars (Lifetime), Bad Girls Club (Oxygen), Valerie's Home Cooking (Food Network), Born This Way (A&E), Gary Owen Family (BET) and Earth Live (National Geographic). BMP has also produced films, including They Call Us Monsters, Valentine Road (HBO), Pedro (MTV) and the Emmy Award-winning Autism: The Musical (HBO). BMP has launched additional entities including BMP Films, BMP Digital and BMP Latin. Based in Van Nuys, CA, the company was founded in 1987 by Jonathan Murray and the late Mary-Ellis Bunim, who were inducted into the Television Academy's Hall of Fame in 2012. The company joined Banijay Group in 2010.

ABOUT FULL PICTURE ENTERTAINMENT

Full Picture Entertainment's multiple divisions include Television & Digital Production, Publicity/Marketing, Management, Branding/Licensing and online fashion portal Modelinia. Full Picture co-created and executive produces the eleven-time Emmy- nominated, PGA-nominated and Peabody Award-winning series Project Runway. Full Picture has also produced companion series Threads, Project Runway Junior, Models of the Runway, Fashion Nation for TVGN, CW's Stylista, Modelinia Fashion Week TV, as well as Lifetime's Seriously Funny Kids. Full Picture has numerous scripted and reality projects currently in development relating to fashion, food, luxury branding and health-fitness for television and online distribution.

ABOUT LIFETIME

Lifetime is a premier entertainment destination for women dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning scripted series, non-fiction series and movies. The critically acclaimed UnREAL, Devious Maids, Project Runway, Dance Moms, Bring It!, The Rap Game and Little Women franchises anchor the network's programming, in addition to its over 25 original movies annually that continue to define the TV movie genre. In 2015, Lifetime launched Broad Focus, a major global initiative dedicated to supporting and hiring female directors, writers and producers to make its content which totals over 450 original hours. Lifetime's Fempire positions the network as a curator of feminist content and conversations, as well as a place where women connect, learn and are entertained. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.