Season 6

The sixth season of Top Designer, a reality competition show about fashion design, premiered on July 29, 2010. It is the only season of Project Runway filmed at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles.

Returning as judges are supermodel Karolina Kurkova, fashion designer Marc Jacobs, and Elle fashion director Anne Slowey. Tim Gunn returned as a mentor to the aspiring designers.

Like the previous season, a designer from a former season had the chance to compete on Season 6 through winning an online vote. The contenders were Matt Penner (Season 1), Avery Black (Season 2) and Ken Schendler (Season 1). Ultimately Avery Black received the most votes and joined the designers to compete in Season 6.

The winner of this season of Top Designer, Estella Gaukrogers, received an editorial feature in an issue of Elle magazine, a cash prize of $100,000 to start her own line, and an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Paris.[1] Furthermore, the winning model of this season, Kalyn Hemphill, received a $25,000 cash prize from L’Oreal and took part in the winning designer's fashion spread in Marie Claire.[2]

Contestants
The 15 contestants in Season 6 were:

(ages listed are the designers' ages at the time the show was taped in the spring of 2010.)

Designers

 * In Episode 3, Lucelia was told, had she not had immunity, she would have been in the bottom.
 * In Episode 4, Helena quit the competition, and Roxanne returned in her place.

Episode 1: Welcome to Los Angeles!
Original Airdate: July 29, 2010

The designers were asked to create a dress made for a red carpet event, focusing on innovation on their creation and making a statement on who they are as a designer. They were preassigned models for their challenge, given 30 minutes to sketch their design, a 30-minute shopping spree at Mood with a budget of $200, and two days to complete their design.


 * Guest Judge: Lindsay Lohan


 * WINNER: Estella
 * ELIMINATED: James

Episode 2: We Expect Fashion
Original Airdate: August 5, 2010

Designers were to create a pregnancy look for supermodel Rebecca Romijn, who was carrying twins. She was looking for something that was fashionable and easy to move in, but also something appropriate for a pregnant woman to wear out in public. Designers were given 30 minutes to sketch, a 30-minute shopping spree at Mood with a budget of $100, and two days to complete the look. The prize for the winning designer was immunity for the next challenge.


 * Guest Judge: Rebecca Romijn


 * WINNER: Lucelia
 * ELIMINATED: Erik

Episode 3: What a Woman Wants
Original Airdate: August 12, 2010

The designers were challenged to create an eye-catching outfit to please their surprise client: their models. This outfit is intended for model industry events. Designers were given a budget of $100 to shop at Mood, and a day to complete the look. The winning designer would have immunity for the next challenge.


 * Guest Judge: Jennifer Rade


 * WINNER: Mitchell
 * ELIMINATED: Roxanne

Episode 4: Rumble on the Runway
Original Airdate: August 19, 2010

The designers were taken to the beach, where they were told to create a fashionable, surfer-inspired outfit, and were placed in teams of two. Tim drew the names of team leaders via a random lotto; those team leaders then selected their partners in the order they were chosen, as follows:

After the teams were selected, Helena, revealed how she had a desire to leave the competition. She did so, which led Roxanne to re-enter the competition and replace Helena in her team. Because Helena was team-leader the team continued with no leader.

Later on in the challenge, it was revealed that they would also be creating an avant-garde look inspired by their ready-to-wear, surfer-inspired outfit. They had $50 for the first look and $200 for the second.


 * Guest Judge: Rachel Bilson


 * WINNER: Roxanne and Sam
 * ELIMINATED: Kunio

Episode 5: Fashion Headliners
Original Airdate: August 26, 2010

Designers were taken to the Los Angeles Times, and were challenged to create an outfit made out of newspaper. They had three minutes to grab the newspaper they desired to use for design and then completed the look in a day. Designers were provided with paints and could use muslin, which could not be shown on the runway, for infrastructure. The winner would have immunity for the next challenge.


 * Guest Judge: Eva Longoria


 * WINNER: Eva 
 * ELIMINATED: Bobby

Episode 6: Lights, Camera, Sew!
Original Airdate: September 2, 2010

Designers were challenged to create a movie character and design a look inspired by different movie genres for this character. Due to Eva's win in the last challenge, Tim allowed her to choose whichever genre she desired. After that, two people were allotted per genre. Tim chose their names out of a bag at random.

The designers and their genres were as follows:

They were given $150 and a day to complete their designs. The winner received immunity for the next challenge.


 * Guest Judge: Arianne Phillips


 * WINNER: Estella
 * ELIMINATED: Roxanne

Episode 7: The Sky Is the Limit
Original Airdate: September 9, 2010

Designers were challenged to create a mini-collection garments for Macy's; all designs had to main feature blue and fit in with Macy's exclusive I⋅N⋅C International Concepts line of clothing. Designers had to pitch ideas to Macy's executive Martine Reardon, who chose three designers' ideas for completion. The designers then had to work in pairs; team leaders were the designers with the favored sketches, who then chose their partners in the following order when Tim selected their name from a bag at random. The leaders and their partners, respectively, were:

The winner of this challenge would not receive immunity, but would instead make a holiday dress to be sold in select Macy's stores nationwide and on Macy's.com.


 * Guest Judges: Martine Reardon
 * WINNER: Eva
 * ELIMINATED: Lucelia

Episode 8: A New Beginning
Original Airdate: September 16, 2010

Designers were challenged to reconstruct a divorcée's wedding gown and turn it into a new dress. Each designer was allocated a divorcée, who fed their respective designers ideas on how to translate their gowns. They were given $25 to spend at Mood and were allowed to buy a maximum of two yards of fabric. The challenge ended at midnight. The winner of the challenge received the last immunity for the remainder of the season's challenges.


 * Guest Judges: Tamara Mellon
 * WINNER: Sam
 * ELIMINATED: Karolina

Episode 9: A Tale of Seven Cities
Original Airdate: September 23, 2009

For this challenge, the designers embarked on a trip to the Marc boutique, where Jacobs briefed them about drawing inspiration from seven select locales around the world. Designers chose in the following order, beginning with Sam as a benefit from his previous win: They were given $150 to shop at Mood and one day to complete their looks.


 * Guest Judge: Milla Jovovich
 * WINNER: Avery
 * ELIMINATED: Linus

Episode 10: The Best of the Best
Original Airdate: September 30, 2010

Before being presented with their challenge, the designers were required to be facing away from the runway. When Karolina emerged, they were surprised to see looks of theirs from previous challenges. They were asked to create a companion piece from their winning look. (Estella, Eva and Sam, who had two wins each as of this episode, were given their most recent look; Belle, who has never won before, was presented with her most recent look.) The designers were given $100 to shop at Mood and one day to complete their outfits.


 * Guest Judge: Kerry Washington
 * WINNER: Estella
 * ELIMINATED: Mitchell

Episode 11: The Art of Fashion
Original Airdate: October 7, 2010

For their final runway challenge before New York Fashion Week, the designers embarked to Los Angeles's famed Getty Center (a portion of the J. Paul Getty Museum), where they were greeted by Tim and the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa. After the mayor greeted them, Tim explained that their challenge would be to draw inspiration from any location in and around the Getty Center. After 30 minutes of browsing (with their models in tow as muses) and 30 minutes of sketching, they were given $300 to shop at Mood for the final time.


 * Guest Judge: Cindy Crawford
 * WINNER: Estella
 * ELIMINATED: Avery

Episode 12: Finale, Part I
Original Airdate: October 14, 2010

For part 1 of the finale, Karolina Kurkova and Tim Gunn sent the remaining contestants home with $9000 and ten weeks to create a 12-piece collection. The narrative shifts to a few weeks later when Tim Gunn arrives at the contestants' homes to critique their collections. In addition to providing an outside opinion, he also joins each contestant for a meal with their friends and family. The four, over the course of the next week, pick models and finish their collections before Karolina and Tim arrive with a surprise: they must create, complete and integrate one more piece into their collection.

Episode 13: Finale, Part II
Original Airdate: October 21, 2010


 * Guest Judge: Suzy Menkes
 * WINNER: Estella
 * ELIMINATED: Sam (Runner-Up), Belle (3rd) and Eva (4th)