Came across an interview with “Project Runway” season one winner Jay McCarrol on film critic Marshall Fine’s blog.

Learned something new — “Project Runway” gets a 10 percent cut of future earnings the winner makes in the fashion industry.

“Project Runway” was a mixed blessing for McCarroll. As its first winner, he still gets attention that other fledgling designers never will. On the other hand, he turned down its prize money ($100,000) and the rest of the spoils that went to the victor – because taking them would have obligated him to give 10 percent of his professional earnings to “Project Runway” in perpetuity.

 

Those conditions are something he’s legally proscribed from talking about. Still, refusing the prize was “the best decision I’ve made. ‘Project Runway’ built up my confidence level. I got to do interesting things and travel around. The fame was fun while it lasted.”