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Project Runway’s first season ended with Jay McCarroll, Kara Saun, and Wendy Pepper showing collections at New York Fashion Week. The finale aired February 23, 2005. Two decades later, available records document notable careers for McCarroll, Saun, and Austin Scarlett—but they do not establish a current update for every contestant. Here is what can be said, and what remains unconfirmed.
What happened to the season-one finalists?
The season-one finale brought three designers to New York Fashion Week: winner Jay McCarroll, Kara Saun, and Wendy Pepper. Bravo lists the finale’s air date as February 23, 2005. Bravo’s finale page confirms the finalists and date.
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Project Runway (Yr 1 2004/05 Eps 1-11) | $24.99 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
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Project Runway - The Complete Second Season | $23.23 | Buy on Amazon |
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Project Runway: Season 5 | $39.99 | Buy on Amazon |
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Project Runway: Season 7 | $22.88 | Buy on Amazon |
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Time Trax: The Complete Second Season (dvd Movies, New) | $53.93 | Buy on Amazon |
Jay McCarroll
McCarroll’s post-show career included teaching at Philadelphia University, a fashion line for QVC, and an appearance on Celebrity Fit Club, according to a Us Weekly update published September 11, 2026. Those are career milestones, not confirmation of his present job.
EntertainmentNow’s retrospective also reports that McCarroll developed the Bravo documentary Project Jay, showed a solo collection at New York Fashion Week in 2006, appeared on Celebrity Fit Club, and joined the wardrobe department of HBO’s Mare of Easttown in 2021. The available sources do not verify what he is doing professionally now.
#1 Best Overall
- This sexy and addictive hit show will draw you in with its irresistible combination of creativity and intensity inside the glamorous industry of high fashion! Starring beautiful international supermodel Heidi Klum -- you'll go behind the scenes and take an unguarded look at what it takes for some hip young designers to make it in the highly competitive world of fashion! Featuring every enterta
Kara Saun
Saun built a career in costume design beyond the competition. Bravo’s profile says she designed costumes for the first three Disney Descendants films, consulted on consumer products for the films, and dressed celebrities. Bravo also describes her charitable Fashion Fairy Godmother initiative.
Saun returned for Project Runway season 20. In an ELLE interview, she said she came back to honor a promise to her mother. Reflecting on the original season, she said, “Not winning Project Runway was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Rank #2
- Factory sealed DVD
Wendy Pepper
Pepper was one of the final three, as Bravo’s finale page confirms. The sources available here do not establish a reliable current profile or provide a basis for claims about her later personal life. Her place in the finale is documented; a fuller account of what followed is not.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What about Austin Scarlett and the rest of the cast?
Austin Scarlett was a memorable season-one contestant, best known on the show for the corn-husk dress that won the first challenge. His official biography describes work in couture, bridal and eveningwear, theater, and television, as well as lecturing and authoring Forever Scarlett, the Immortal Style of Gone with the Wind. These details come from Scarlett’s own biography; they do not independently verify every activity he is currently undertaking or disclose his private life.
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Rank #3
- Factory sealed DVD
There is not enough substantiated, current information here to give a complete cast-by-cast update. An older 2014 Los Angeles Times alumni gallery offers historical context about Scarlett and other contestants, but it cannot establish where they are now. Missing information should not be mistaken for retirement, inactivity, or a particular life event.
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Rank #4
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