And the Winner of PROJECT RUNWAY Season 13 is...

13 has proved to be the lucky number for Sean Kelly, the newly-named winner of Lifetime's Emmy(R)-nominated series PROJECT RUNWAY (#ProjectRunway).

Last night, the talented young designer from New Zealand beat out 15 fellow designers, including finalists Charketa Glover, Kini Zamora and Runway Redemption winner Amanda Valentine to become champion of PROJECT RUNWAY Season 13. Kelly, 25, who resides in New York, grabbed early attention this season with a dress chosen by Emmy Award-winning host Heidi Klum to wear at this year's Creative Arts Emmys. Kelly impressed judges Klum, Nina Garcia, Zac Posen and finale guest judge Emmy Rossum (Shameless) with his 10 piece winning collection inspired by the "Betrayal of Caesar" at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at New York City's Lincoln Center this Fall.

From the series' first-ever "Rainway," to designing the ultimate, unconventional wedding dress, the designers continually stepped out of their comfort zones to showcase their creativity and impress this season's guest judges, including Emmy Award winning MODERN FAMILY actress Julie Bowen, Golden Globe(R) winner Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men, Shay Mitchell from the hit series Pretty Little Liars, Olympic gold medalist downhill skier Lindsey Vonn, actress Michelle Monahan, entertainer Dita Von Teese, and Youtube celebrity Bethany Mota, to name a few.

As the season 13 winner, Kelly receives $100,000 from Red Robin to launch his business and the opportunity to design a fashion accessory for their servers; a complete sewing and crafting studio from Brother International Corporation; a premiere entertainment center, courtesy of Samsung; a fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine and a car from Lexus. Additionally, Kelly receives from Mary Kay, an entire year's worth of beauty products for his fashion shows and professional makeup artist services for his debut show and a shoe and accessory collection from ALDO to help enhance his upcoming runway shows. Best Western International will also provide Kelly with travel and hotel accommodations to fashion capitals and inspiring locations around the world. Kelly's winning model, Alisar Ailabouni will also appear in the winner's fashion spread in Marie Claire magazine

ABOUT PROJECT RUNWAY

Hosted by supermodel and fashion maven Emmy Award winner Heidi Klum, the hit Emmy(R)-nominated series PROJECT RUNWAY provides budding designers with an opportunity to launch their careers in fashion, under the watchful eyes of mentor and co-host Emmy Award winner Tim Gunn and judges Nina Garcia and Zac Posen.

Project Runway is produced by The Weinstein Company, Bunim/Murray Productions and Full Picture Entertainment. Executive producers include Bob and Harvey Weinstein (Co-Chairmen of The Weinstein Company), Meryl Poster and Barbara Schneeweiss of The Weinstein Company, Jonathan Murray and Sara Rea of Bunim/Murray Productions, Heidi Klum, and Jane Cha and Desiree Gruber of Full Picture Entertainment. Eli Lehrer, Mary Donahue and David Hillman of Lifetime also executive produce.

ABOUT THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

TWC also boasts an active television production division, which has garnered nine Emmy nominations in 2013, and has five Emmy nominations for 2014. Weinstein TV produces the highly rated reality powerhouse PROJECT RUNWAY for Lifetime, currently in its 13th season. Its spin-off series and critically acclaimed PROJECT RUNWAY ALL STARS, hosted by Alyssa Milano, will debut its 4th season on October 30th. The newest spin-off series PROJECT RUNWAY: THREADS will launch following the PROJECT RUNWAY Season 13 finale on October 23. Weinstein TV has also produced PROJECT RUNWAY: UNDER THE GUNN, MILLION DOLLAR SHOPPERS for Lifetime, RODEO GIRLS for A&E and SUPERMARKET SUPERSTAR for Lifetime. Projects currently in production include MOB WIVES Season 5 for VH1 and TRAILER PARK: WELCOME TO MYRTLE MANOR Season 3 for TLC. Announced scripted projects include John Fusco's historical action-adventure epic MARCO POLO for Netflix, TEN COMMANDMENTS, a 10-part event series with each episode to be helmed by a different A-list director and focusing on one commandment and an adaptation of Daniel Stashower's bestselling Civil War-era spy thriller, THE HOUR OF PERIL. TWC also developed Amy Sherman Palladino's THE NANNY DIARIES for ABC and produced the Peabody award-winning HBO series THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY, directed by Anthony Minghella.

ABOUT BUNIM/MURRAY PRODUCTIONS

Bunim/Murray Productions is the leading producer of innovative entertainment content. The Emmy Award-winning company is widely credited with creating the reality television genre with its hit series The Real World (renewed for season 30 on MTV). BMP continued to innovate with the first reality game show, Road Rules (MTV), in 1995; the first reality sitcom, The Simple Life (E!), in 2003; and the first reality soap opera, Starting Over, in 2003. Bunim-Murray's programming also includes Bad Girls Club, Bad Girls All Star Battle, and BEST INK (Oxygen), Keeping up with the Kardashians, Kourtney and Khloe Take The Hamptons and TOTAL DIVAS (E!), The Real World and The Challenge (MTV), Love Thy Sister (WE tv) and PROJECT RUNWAY All Stars, and Project Runway: UNDER THE GUNN (Lifetime). Bunim/Murray Productions has also produced films, including Valentine Road (HBO), Pedro (MTV) and the Emmy Award-winning Autism: The Musical (HBO). Bunim/Murray Productions has launched additional entities including BMP Films, BMP Digital and BMP Latin. Based in Van Nuys, CA, Bunim/Murray Productions was founded in 1987 by Jonathan Murray and the late Mary-Ellis Bunim, who were inducted into the Television Academy of Arts & Science's Hall of Fame in 2012. The company joined Banijay Group in 2010.

ABOUT LIFETIME

Lifetime is a premier female-focused entertainment destination dedicated to offering the highest quality original programming spanning scripted series, non-fiction series and movies. As a result of the network's aggressive programming strategy that has doubled the hours of its original programming, 2013 marked Lifetime's second straight year of growth among Total Viewers. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LL0C, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.

Photo courtesy of Lifetime

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