LOS ANGELES, CA — The Emmy Award nominated series, "Project Runway," kicks off its ninth season with 20 talented designers—the most in series history—beginning Thursday, July 28, at 9pm ET/PT on Lifetime Television. In the show's 90-minute format, the new crop of designers will encounter host Heidi Klum, mentor Tim Gunn and judges Michael Kors and Nina Garcia and top-name guest designers and judges from the worlds of fashion, film and television, including Christina Ricci for the premiere episode, as they face inventive challenges, unexpected eliminations and other surprises along the way. Other guest judges include Kim Kardashian, Zoe Saldana and Malin Akerman.

In a "Project Runway" first, during the premiere episode, 20 designers must go in front of Heidi, Michael, Nina and Tim to make a case why they deserve one of the 16 coveted spots this season. Once they are chosen, the 16 designers barely have a chance to celebrate before being awoken at the crack of dawn with one of the toughest first challenges in the series' history. Filmed on location in New York, each episode will feature more couture creations and fashion flubs as the designers attempt to make the cut to show at New York Fashion Week at Lincoln Center.



The "Project Runway 9" contestants are:

Amanda Perna, 25 years old
Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Resides in: New York, NY

Anthony Ryan Auld, 28
Hometown: Linden, TX
Resides in: Baton Rouge, LA

Anya Ayoung-Chee, 29
Hometown: Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Resides in: Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

Becky Ross, 38
Hometown: Calumet, MI
Resides in: Portland, OR

Bert Keeter, 57
Hometown: Washington, D.C.
Resides in: Los Angeles, CA

Bryce Black, 26
Hometown: Twin Falls, ID
Resides in: Portland, OR

Cecilia Motwani, 34
Hometown: Cordoba, Argentina
Resides in: Woodside, NY

Danielle Everine, 26
Hometown: Minneapolis, MN
Resides in: Minneapolis, MN

David Chum, 29
Hometown: Merong, Battaan, Philippines
Resides in: Boston, MA

Fallene Wells, 29
Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Resides in: Denver, CO

Gunnar Deatherage, 21
Hometown: La Grange, KY
Resides in: Louisville, KY

Joshua McKinley, 25
Hometown: Cleveland, OH
Resides in: New York, NY

Joshua Christensen, 29
Hometown: Snohomish, WA
Resides in: Los Angeles, CA

Julie Tierney, 35
Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA
Resides in: Grand Junction, CO

Kimberly Goldson, 35
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
Resides in: White Plains, MD

Laura Kathleen, 26
Hometown: St. Louis, MO
Resides in: St. Louis, MO

Olivier Green, 22
Hometown: International
Resides in: New York, NY

Rafael Cox, 27
Hometown: Alamogordo, New Mexico
Resides in: Atlanta, GA

Serena da Conceicao, 31
Hometown: Kingston, NY
Resides in: Brooklyn, NY

Viktor Luna, 30
Hometown: Guadalajara, Mexico
Resides in: New York, NY

As part of the winner's prize package, this season's victorious designer will receive $100,000 from L'Oréal Paris to start his/her own line, a fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine, a 50,000 dollar technology suite from HP and Intel to enable their creativity and run their business and the opportunity to design and sell an exclusive collection on Piperlime.com. The model paired with the winner of Project Runway will also appear in the designer's editorial feature in Marie Claire and receive $25,000 from L'Oreal Studio Secrets Professional.

Hosted by supermodel and fashion maven Heidi Klum, the hit series "Project Runway" provides budding designers with an opportunity to launch their careers in fashion, under the watchful eye of mentor and Liz Claiborne Chief Creative Officer Tim Gunn. The water-cooler season eight of the series last year included its expansion to a 90-minute format, which led to significant season-to-season ratings growth as viewers were hungry for more drama and fashions on and off the runway, making "Project Runway" 2010's number one rated and most watched competitive reality program on ad-supported cable among Women 18-49, Women 25-54, Women 18+, Adults 18-49, Adults 18+ and Households. Noted as one of "Project Runway's" most emotional and best seasons ever, last year saw one of the most memorable moments in the program's history with designer Mondo Guerra bravely revealing on national television he was HIV positive, having kept his status a secret for over a decade. The show recently was awarded with a 2011 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Reality Program and also was nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award in the Reality-Competition Program category.

"Project Runway" is produced by The Weinstein Company, Bunim-Murray Productions and Full Picture. Executive producers include Bob and Harvey Weinstein (Co-Chairmen of The Weinstein Company), and Meryl Poster of The Weinstein Company, Jon Murray and Sara Rea of Bunim-Murray Productions, Heidi Klum, and Jane Cha and Desiree Gruber of Full Picture Entertainment. Barbara Schneeweiss oversees the production on behalf of The Weinstein Company. Rob Sharenow, Gena McCarthy and David Hillman of Lifetime Television also executive produce.