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Aired summer 2026 · Filmed in Manhattan · Freeform's second season

New York

The Freeform era's second season. Project Runway returns with the largest cast in franchise history and a rebuilt judges' table adding Tyra Banks alongside Nina Garcia and Law Roach, plus a new mechanic letting mentor Christian Siriano reclaim an eliminated designer.

Filmed
New York City
Premiered
Jul 9, 2026
Freeform · Thursdays, streaming next-day on Hulu and Disney+
Episodes
10
Format
Record cast · new save mechanic
largest cast in franchise history
Cast size
22 players
twenty-two designers, the largest cast the show has run
Host
Heidi Klum
Heidi Klum's second season back at the helm
On this page6 sections
  1. 01The take
  2. 02The shape of the season
  3. 03Where it sits in the canon
  4. 04What to watch for
  5. 05Adjacent in the canon
  6. 06In this canon
01The take

Scale and stakes, formalized.

Twenty-two designers, a three-judge panel finally settled, and a save that puts the workroom's exits back in play — the reboot stops improvising and starts building a format of its own.
02The shape of the season

Ten episodes, twenty-two designers.

The Freeform era's second season formalizes what the first one improvised. Twenty-two designers — the largest cast the show has ever run — fill the Manhattan workroom, and a fuller judges' table adds Tyra Banks alongside returners Nina Garcia and Law Roach. The season's real structural first is the Siriano Save, handing the mentor a direct hand in who survives. A crossover with the prior season's alumni closes the loop on the reboot's first year.

03Where it sits in the canon

The #06 slot.

Slot #06 of 22 in the Project Runway Editor's Canon. Season twenty-two is the Freeform era stopping to build a format instead of just resetting one. Twenty-two designers fill the Manhattan workroom, the largest cast the show has ever run, and the judges' table finally reads settled — Tyra Banks joins returners Nina Garcia and Law Roach, closing the continuity gap the prior season's thinned-out panel left open. The real addition is the Siriano Save, handing mentor Christian Siriano a direct hand in who survives an elimination, a genuine structural first for the franchise. A crossover challenge pulling back six alumni ties the cycle to the season before it. tiered.tv places it sixth because the season delivers on scale, panel, and format at once.

No spoilers. Every page is reviewed before it goes live.
04What to watch for

5 moments, no spoilers.

  • Ep 1-2 · The premiere split

    The largest cast in the show's history gets sorted through an unconventional immunity-and-elimination structure right out of the gate. Watch how the format handles pressure-testing twenty-two designers before the room even settles.

  • Early run · The jury

    Eliminated designers get pulled back into the season's voting math through a jury-style redemption mechanic. Notice how the show uses designers who are already out to keep shaping the room they left.

  • Mid-run · The alumni

    Six designers from the previous Freeform season return for a one-off crossover challenge. Watch how the current cast reads next to a group the audience already knows.

  • Late run · The Save

    Christian Siriano's new reclaim mechanic gets its test alongside a double-elimination episode, giving the mentor a direct hand in who stays. Watch how the workroom reacts to a decision that used to belong to the judges alone.

  • Panel · Three judges

    Tyra Banks settles into the resident table alongside Nina Garcia and Law Roach, giving the season a fuller panel than the debut Freeform cycle ran with. Watch how three distinct critique styles divide the room's attention.

06In this canon

Its Editor's Canon entry.