NEW YORK -- October 3, 2005 -- On Wednesday, December 7 at 10 p.m. ET/PT, Bravo will launch the second season of the Emmy-nominated, premier reality series focusing on fashion designers, "Project Runway." The premiere episode of the thirteen, one-hour episode run, will pit sixteen designers against one another on the Road to the Runway. These contestants will compete in weekly design challenges at Parsons The New School For Design in New York City, until only three remain and face off once again at New York Fashion Week in February.

Eager to give aspiring designers a chance to break into the notoriously difficult-to-crack fashion world, supermodel Heidi Klum will once again head a panel of industry luminaries, including top women's and men's wear designer Michael Kors and Elle Magazine fashion director Nina Garcia, who will serve as judges and industry mentors charged with selecting and molding the budding designers. There will also be guest judges each week based on the specific challenge. Tim Gunn, Chair of the Parsons The New School For Design, will return to guide the contestants through each of their challenges.

"The first season of 'Project Runway' generated incredible buzz and even more incredible designs," said Bravo President, Lauren Zalaznick. "We are thrilled to bring back this high quality, high drama series with new design challenges that inspire the creativity from the designers that viewers expect."

The new season's sixteen designers are:

Raymundo Baltazar, 24 -- Los Angeles, CA
Kara Janx, 29 -- Johannesburg, South Africa
Chloe Dao, 33 -- Houston, TX
Emmett McCarthy, 42 -- New York, NY
Marla Duran, 51 -- Allentown, PA
Santino Rice, 30 -- Los Angeles, CA
Kirsten Ehrig, 37 -- Los Angeles, CA
Heidi Standridge, 25 -- Atlanta, GA
Diana Eng, 22 -- Jacksonville, FL
Nick Verros, 38 -- Los Angeles, CA
Daniel Franco, 31 -- Los Angeles, CA
Guadalupe Vidal, 29 -- Los Angeles, CA
Andrae Gonzalo, 32 -- Los Angeles, CA
Daniel Vosovic, 24 -- New York, NY
Zulema Griffin, 28 -- New York, NY
John Wade, 24 ? Los Angeles, CA

The winning designer will walk away with $100,000 in seed money to help them launch their own line and a 2007 Saturn SkyRoadster, both provided by Saturn. The winner's designs will be featured in a spread in ELLE, photographed by the magazine's world-renowned Publication Director, Gilles Bensimon. They will also receive a mentorship from the Banana Republic Design Team.

"Project Runway" is executive produced by Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz of Magical Elves ("Project Greenlight," "Last Comic Standing"). Heidi Klum and her managers Desiree Gruber and Jane Cha of NYC-based Full Picture also executive produce the series. Barbara Schneeweiss oversaw the production on behalf of Miramax Television and The Weinstein Company. Jen Berman oversaw the production on behalf of Miramax Television.

Bravo is the cable network that plugs people into arts, culture and pop culture with original programming, movies and by showing a whole different side of celebrities. Currently available in more than 79 million homes, Bravo is known for breaking exciting new personalities, shaking up the way we look at style, media, fame and Hollywood, pulling back the curtain on the creative process and making influential and inventive original programming. Its critically acclaimed and award-winning original programming includes "Inside the Actors Studio," "Celebrity Poker Showdown," "Project Greenlight," as well as the 2004 Emmy winner for Outstanding Reality Program, "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy." The network's latest hits include "Project Runway," "Blow Out" and "Showbiz Moms & Dads."

Bravo is a program service of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBC Universal one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Bravo has been a NBC Cable Network since December 2002 and was the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts when it launched in December 1980.For more information visit www.bravotv.com.