Sandhya Garg — Project Runway Season 13 Designer
Project Runway, From the Inside:
My Season 13 Story — and the Complete Guide to the Show
Two Challenge Wins · Tim Gunn’s Workroom · Heidi Klum’s Judging Table · The 2026 Return · By Sandhya Garg
Quick Answer: What Is Project Runway?
Project Runway is America’s defining fashion design competition: aspiring designers face weekly challenges — unconventional materials, celebrity clients, avant-garde briefs — with one or more eliminated each week until the finalists show complete collections at New York Fashion Week. It premiered on Bravo in 2004, won a Peabody Award, has spawned over 30 international adaptations, and returns for Season 22 on July 9, 2026 on Freeform, streaming on Hulu and Disney+, with Heidi Klum hosting, Christian Siriano mentoring, and Nina Garcia and Law Roach judging. I competed on Season 13 — and won two challenges, including the first challenge of the entire season. This is the show explained by someone who has actually stood on that runway.
There is a moment they cannot fully capture on camera: standing under the runway lights while Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, and Zac Posen study a garment you finished sewing at midnight, knowing millions of people will watch their verdict. I lived that moment week after week on Project Runway Season 13 — the wins, the immunity, the 5 a.m. call times, the friendships, and eventually the elimination. It changed my career completely.
With the show back in the spotlight — Season 22 premieres this week with Heidi back at the helm — here is everything about Project Runway: what the show is and how it actually works, my own season from the inside, what happened to my castmates, and how one reality show became the foundation of the artisanal label I run today.
In This Guide
What Is Project Runway? Two Decades in Two Minutes
Project Runway premiered on Bravo on December 1, 2004, and quietly invented the fashion competition genre on television. The format is elegantly brutal: designers receive a challenge — build a gown from movie-theater materials, dress a celebrity, reinvent a vintage suit — with strict limits on time, money, and fabric. A judging panel critiques every look; someone wins, and someone goes home. The final designers each present a full collection at New York Fashion Week. In 2008 the show won a Peabody Award, and its format has been adapted in more than 30 countries.
| Era | Network | The Faces |
|---|---|---|
| 2004–2008 · Seasons 1–5 | Bravo | Heidi Klum hosting, Tim Gunn mentoring, Michael Kors and Nina Garcia judging — the original formula |
| 2009–2017 · Seasons 6–16 | Lifetime | Heidi and Tim continue; Zac Posen joins the panel — my Season 13 (2014) sits here |
| 2019–2023 · Seasons 17–20 | Bravo (return) | Karlie Kloss hosts, Season 4 winner Christian Siriano mentors — then hosts and mentors |
| 2025–now · Seasons 21–22 | Freeform · Hulu · Disney+ | Heidi Klum returns after eight years; Nina Garcia and Law Roach judge, Siriano mentors. Season 22 premieres July 9, 2026 |
The show’s real legacy is the careers it launched — Christian Siriano dressing red carpets, Leanne Marshall’s bridal empire, and hundreds of working designers, myself included, who walked out of that workroom with a masterclass no fashion school teaches: how to design brilliantly, fast, under impossible constraints.
My Season 13, From the Inside
Winning the very first challenge of the season
Season 13 opened with 19 designers and a trunk of six random fabrics each: create a look worthy of your future New York Fashion Week spring collection — and you could barter fabrics with your competitors. Guest judge Julie Bowen sat beside Heidi, Nina, and Zac. When Heidi announced my name as the winner of the season’s first challenge, everything I had risked to be there — leaving India, betting on myself as a designer — felt answered in one sentence. The win came with immunity, which saved me a week later when my team landed at the bottom. Project Runway teaches you fast: triumph and jeopardy live one episode apart.
A second win — designing the future
Episode 4, “Welcome to the Future,” asked us to mine our own memories to design a look for twenty years ahead — with the winning garment photographed for Marie Claire. I won again. Two challenge wins in the first four episodes taught me the lesson my label is built on today: my point of view — Indian heritage, fearless colour, original print — was not something to dilute for judges. It was the thing that won.
The suit-picking episode — yes, that really happened
Winning Episode 4 came with an unusual power in the next challenge: the designers had to transform vintage men’s suits for the modern woman — and I chose first, then chose every other designer’s suit for them. If you watched the season, you remember the workroom’s reaction. Competition television compresses people under pressure; some castmates were thrilled, some very much were not. What I learned standing in the middle of that storm — hold your decisions with grace, let your work answer for you — has served me in business ever since.
Episode 10 — the walk off the runway
My run ended in eighth place on the American Girl challenge, judged alongside guest judge Elisabeth Moss. Standing there as Heidi delivered the German-accented sentence every designer dreads — and then Tim Gunn’s embrace backstage — I already knew the truth that took years to fully appreciate: nobody remembers your elimination episode. They remember that you were a Project Runway designer, that you won challenges on national television, and that Tim Gunn believed in your work. The show does not end careers at elimination; for many of us, that is exactly where the career begins.
What the Cameras Don’t Show You
⏱️ The clock is not television drama
One day — sometimes two — to design, source at Mood, drape, sew, fit, and finish a garment that will be judged by three of the most demanding eyes in fashion. Days start before dawn and the workroom pressure is entirely real. It is the greatest speed-training a designer can receive; I still sketch faster than anyone I know because of it.
✂️ Tim Gunn is exactly who you hope he is
The workroom walkthroughs — “make it work,” the raised eyebrow, the genuine care — are not performed for cameras. His gift is telling you the truth about your garment while leaving your confidence intact, a mentoring standard I hold myself to with young designers today.
🎯 The judges see everything
A crooked seam invisible on television is not invisible from the judges’ chairs. Heidi, Nina, and Zac examined construction up close — hems, linings, finishing. That scrutiny rewired my standards permanently: it is why every piece in my boutique is finished as if Nina Garcia might inspect the inside.
Project Runway Season 13: The Season in Facts
| Aired | July 24 – October 23, 2014, on Lifetime |
| Designers | 19 competing for a $300,000+ prize package |
| Judges | Heidi Klum, Nina Garcia, Zac Posen · Mentor: Tim Gunn |
| Winner | Sean Kelly (New Zealand), with Amanda Valentine runner-up and Kini Zamora third |
| Guest judges included | Julie Bowen, Dita Von Teese, Chiara Ferragni, Christian Siriano, Elisabeth Moss, Emmy Rossum |
| My result | 2 challenge wins (Episodes 2 and 4) + immunity · 8th place of 19 |
| A detail I love | My model, Alisar Ailabouni, went on to win the entire Season 13 model competition |
Where Season 13 went next
Season 13 became one of the franchise’s great launching pads: Kini Zamora fought to runner-up on All Stars 5, Emily Payne and Char Glover returned for All Stars runs, Sean Kelly competed against worldwide winners on All Stars 7, Korina Emmerich built an acclaimed independent label — and I took two challenge wins, McQueen and Temperley training, and an unshaken point of view, and built the boutique you are reading right now.
How Project Runway Built the Label You’re Browsing
Everything about my boutique traces back to lessons from that workroom. The challenge that rewarded an unapologetic point of view became a label built on original prints you will not find anywhere else. The judges’ construction scrutiny became hand-finished, limited-edition garments. And designing for real women under real constraints — different bodies, budgets, occasions — became a size range of XS through 3XL with custom sizing, because the runway taught me fashion fails the moment it excludes.
After the show came the Marie Claire Future of Fashion win, a Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week collection preview, Macy’s Herald Square Designer Workshop, and features in Vogue Italia, Elle, and Cosmopolitan — the full story lives on my About page and Press page.
Designed by a Project Runway Designer · XS to 3XL
Wear the Point of View That Won
Original prints, hand embroidery, limited editions — the same design philosophy that won challenges on national television.
All pieces XS · S · M · L · XL · XXL · XXXL · Custom sizing available · Free US shipping over $250
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I watch Project Runway in 2026?
Project Runway Season 22 premieres July 9, 2026 on Freeform, with episodes streaming on Hulu and Disney+. Heidi Klum hosts and judges, Christian Siriano mentors the designers, and Nina Garcia and Law Roach complete the judging panel. Earlier seasons — including my Season 13 — are available across streaming platforms depending on region.
Who was Sandhya Garg on Project Runway?
I competed on Project Runway Season 13 (2014) as a designer from Delhi, India, trained at London College of Fashion with experience at Alexander McQueen and Alice Temperley. I won two challenges — including the first challenge of the season, which came with immunity — and finished 8th of 19 designers. After the show I won Marie Claire’s Future of Fashion award, previewed a collection at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week, and founded my Los Angeles artisanal dress label at sandhyagarg.com.
Who won Project Runway Season 13?
Sean Kelly, a designer from Wellington, New Zealand, won Season 13 in October 2014, with Amanda Valentine as runner-up and Kini Zamora in third. The prize package was valued at over $300,000. Sean later represented the season against worldwide Project Runway winners on All Stars season 7.
Is Project Runway real, or is it staged?
Having lived it: the fashion is completely real. The time limits, the budgets, the sewing at midnight, the judges’ scrutiny of every seam — all real, and more intense than television conveys. Editing shapes the story arcs, as with any reality series, and cameras naturally amplify conflict. But nobody sews your garment for you, and no producer can save a badly constructed dress from Nina Garcia’s front-row eyes.
What do Project Runway designers do after the show?
The show is a launching pad more than a finish line. Alumni have built red-carpet houses (Christian Siriano), bridal labels (Leanne Marshall), and independent brands of every kind. From my season alone: All Stars returns, acclaimed indie labels, and in my case a limited-edition artisanal boutique built on the exact point of view that won my challenges — original prints, Indian heritage, and dresses in sizes XS–3XL. In many ways, the real season begins after the finale airs.
Keep Reading
The Full Story
About Sandhya Garg
Delhi to McQueen to Project Runway to Los Angeles.
In the Media
Press & Features
Vogue Italia, Elle, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and more.
Personal Story
My Indian Wedding
The heritage behind the label — ceremonies, story, and style.
Fashion History
70s Fashion for Women
The decade fashion cannot stop reviving.
Style Guide
All Wedding Dress Codes Explained
A designer’s decoder for every invitation.
Project Runway S13 · 2 Challenge Wins · Marie Claire Future of Fashion · Vogue Italia
One day you’re in. I made sure to stay.
Sandhya Garg is a Los Angeles boutique by a Project Runway Season 13 designer — limited-edition artisanal dresses with original prints and hand embroidery, sizes XS–3XL, each one finished to survive a judges’ table.
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