'Project Runway' Season 12: Meet the Designers

Season 12 Designers

Fifteen designers -- plus a returning fan favorite, yet to be announced -- will compete for a shot at the Project Runway season 12 crown. Click through the gallery for a brief introduction on each of the designers as derived from their bios on Lifetime's Project Runway website.

Alexander Pope

The 38-year-old designer hails from Los Angeles -- he comes from a family of actors -- but has since moved to the East Coast, taking up residence in New York, where he works in costume construction on Broadway. Previously, he spent 10 years as a makeup artist for editorials and runway shows. He says he first realized he had designer potential "when I was color-coordinating my clothes in elementary school."

Alexandria von Bromssen

The 38-year-old is a native of Stockholm, Sweden, but now resides in San Mateo, Calif. The former model/advertisement assistant at Time Inc. knew she wanted to be a designer since age 4. First garment she ever made? "Vest for my Barbie skirt with knit hem," she says, adding: "I used to draw dresses for Princess Diana. She was my muse when I was eight years old."

Angela Bacskocky

The 33-year-old Richmond, Va., native has been designing full-time for her own label, Angela Bacskocky, since 2011. Her experience includes interning at Alexander McQueen and Felder Felder and also working as a fit tailor for London suitmakers A Suit That Fits. As a teen, she made stage costumes for the rock band she was in. "It occurred to me somewhere in that time that I liked planning our onstage look more than actually playing the music!" she says. "I left the band and enrolled in art school."

Bradon McDonald

The 38-year-old native of Lowville, N.Y., who now lives in Los Angeles, spent 14 years as a touring modern dancer and also has worked as a patternmaker. After teaching himself to sew, "I began making rugs, quilts, book covers and pillows -- basically anything to show off the fabrics" that he had collected from around the world, he says. He later began making costumes for a New York burlesque show.

Dom Streater

The 24-year-old Philadelphia native says she was "a total DIY punk in high school. When I started getting lots of compliments and requests, I realized, 'Hmm there may be something there.'" The first garment she ever made nearly got her in trouble with her family. "I made a denim one-shoulder bell-sleeve top from a couple of pair of jeans I had," she says. "My mom almost killed me."

Helen Castillo

The 25-year-old New Jersey native -- she hails from Weehawken and resides in Union City -- has worked at Reebok and has been a hair salon assistant, an outerwear designer and a sportswear designer. The first garment she ever made didn’t turn out so well. It was "an awful Peter Pan collar dress that was part of my first sewing course," she says.

Jeremy Brandrick

The British-born designer, 41, who now lives in New York, first took an interest in interior design before realizing he found it "boring." He switched to fashion design and says he's "never done anything else." In college, he "won a competition to design outfits for the Olympic committee in England. They were made by the U.K.’s biggest retailer, which I oversaw, and I won a trip to Milan." He has worked for Dolce and Gabbana in Milan and was head of menswear at Mulberry.

Justin LeBlanc

The 27-year-old, originally from Tampa, Fla., is an assistant professor in the College of Design at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. LeBlanc, who has interned for Alexander McQueen and Nick Cave, says he didn't fully realize he wanted to be a designer until college. "Being deaf has made me a more visual person," he says. "This naturally drew me to finely crafted designs. I began my formal training in architectural design but soon realized that fashion design provided me greater opportunities to express my creativity."

Kahindo Mateene

The Chicago-based fashion designer, 34, hails from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The former human resources specialist has her own line, Modahnik, which is said to be inspired by "the avant-garde eclecticism of Congolese art and culture." Mateene, who says her strengths include her use of color and prints, says she first realized she had potential "after I showed some of my designs to some friends and they put in orders."

Karen Batts

Karen Batts, 29, a Boca Raton, Fla., native now living in Queens, N.Y., says she got some early training while a 4-H member. "But it wasn’t really until my junior/senior year at the college where I studied fashion that I realized I had not only the potential, but also the desire to be a designer and have my own line," she says. "Prior to that, I loved fashion but was leaning toward doing something like using my journalism degree to be a fashion editor or journalist."

Ken Laurence

The 24-year-old Birmingham, Ala., native has wanted to be a designer since age 10, but he isn't proud of the first garment he ever made -- "a pair of lime-green pants. They were made from 100 percent cotton. It was bad." His influences, he says, are "women of power like Michelle Obama."

Miranda Kay Levy

The Wisconsin native, 29, hails from Wilton and now lives in Milwaukee. Levy says she used to sketch designs as a little girl, "but being from a small town it seemed like a one in a million chance that I could ever actually achieve that as a career." The first garment she ever made? "In college, I made a vinyl swimsuit made out of suction cups. The project was to create a superhero costume, and I decided that my superhero power would be the power of adhesion."

Sandro Masmanidi

The Russian-born designer, 28, who has worked as a model, busboy, salesman, jewelry designer and "architectural draughtsman." Masmanidi, who lives in New York, adds that his strengths include handwork such as beading and embroidery, but claims his weaknesses are that he's "slow and exacting" and has never worked with fur. Among his influences? Nature, beauty "and the aesthetics of a woman's body."

Sue Waller

The Boston native, 45, who now lives in Brooklyn, is a self-taught designer who says she realized she had designer potential at a very young age. "Ask my kindergarten teacher," she says. The first garment she ever made? "I made a jacket out of a pair of 1930s farmer's (French) pants," she says.

Timothy Westbrook

The 24-year-old hails from Wanakena, N.Y., but now resides in Milwaukee. He says the first garment he ever made was a hand-sewn dress for a Barbie doll. "When I was 9 years old, I spent the entire summer drawing dresses," he says. "I have been drawing since I can remember, and my grandmother taught me how to sew when I was 9. I loved to play with my sisters' Barbies, and all of a sudden there was a connection when I was 9. I realized that I didn’t just have to mix and match Barbies' dresses, I can make dresses for them; then I realized that I could make dresses for big people; then I realized that it could be a job."

Viewers' Choice

One past competitor got the chance to return and compete a second time this season. Viewers were given the opportunity to vote on one of three designers -- Ra'mon-Lawrence Coleman (Season 6), Valerie Mayen (Season 8) or Kate Pankoke (Season 11) -- with the winner revealed to be Pankoke during the 12th-season premiere.

Kate Pankoke

Pankoke, a 24-year-old from Chicago, was sent home during season 11 in a surprising double elimination during an unconventional challenge that called on the designers to create a prom dress out of duct tape. Of her return to Project Runway, Pankoke told THR: "I knew I definitely had to bring my A game. Last season, I would be happy to make it to the next episode. But seeing all my friends show at Fashion Week, this time I was not happy being safe. I was in it to win it." Pankoke also has her own bridal line, Elaya Vaughn, and plans to show her collection for the first time at the upcoming National Bridal Market in New York.