Runway Success for Arena … And The Winner Is …

Arena has unveiled the final collections of its top five contestants in Project Runway Australia, with one of the aspiring Aussie designers set to enjoy an incredible career starter in a notoriously cut-throat industry.

Editorial Review

Project Runway Australia last night held its final runway of designs by its remaining five contestants at a glamorous event at Shed 14 at Melbourne's Docklands.

Arena invited leading fashion designers, celebrities, media, friends and family to a grand scale showing of collections.

Project Runway Australia, produced by FremantleMedia, is based on the US series in which aspiring fashion designers vie for a as "$100,000 opportunity" to create their own fashion line to show in Melbourne Fashion Week , plus a Fiat 500 and a six-page spread in Madison.

Hosted by Kristy Hinze, the series has attracted both good reviews and strong ratings. Last week during the Olympics it was the highest rated non-sporting event on subscription television across the country.

There were five remaining contestants for the Grand Final including Brent Zaicek, 32, of Sydney; Julijana Grbac, 29, of Brisbane; Leigh Buchanan, 31, of Brisbane; Lui Hon, 33 and Petrova Hammond, 27, both from Melbourne. They had already endured the rollercoaster reality ride that required them to share a house with seven other contestants and create fashion designs with wild demands, miniscule budgets and a ticking clock. And let's not forget camera crews in their face.

For the final each received $10,000 and were given two months to create their collections. What they delivered was sensational. All five made their mark with imaginative, colourful, outfits to die for. They contrasted wildly in style from Cleopatra-inspired numbers to sleek evening dresses to contemporary winter woollens.

They were presented to an enthusiastic audience by top catwalk models in an evening that would be right at home in any Fashion Week festival.

But Arena is keeping its last moment of glory under wraps. No winner was declared at the final runway, and two more contestants are yet to be eliminated.

Good luck to the judges Sarah Gale and Jayson Brunsdon in picking the winner here, it's anybody's guess. We won't find out until sometime in September who that lucky designer will be.

But one thing is clear. Arena is bound to 'green light' a second series of this baby.

Project Runway Australia airs 8:30pm Mondays on Arena.

David Knox for Citysearch, August 2008

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