Exclusive sneak peak at “Project Runway” stars lounging in the Atlas

At left: Contestants (Left to Right) Amy Sarabi and Christiane King relaxing in their Atlas NY digs. At right: (Left to Right) Seth Aaron Henderson, Jay Nicolas Sario and  Ben Chmura take a break from competing while hanging out at Atlas NY

Atlas New York, the longtime Manhattan home of “Project Runway,” gave The Real Deal an exclusive sneak peak at this season’s contestants lounging in their apartments at the 48-story Garment District rental tower.

During filming of the seventh season of the hit reality show, the 16 contestants lived in six one- and two-bedroom apartments at the Atlas, according to the Gotham Organization, the building’s developer. The building is located at 66 West 38th Street,A Short Walk From Mood Designer Fabrics On 37th Street, where the show sends its aspiring fashion designers in search of fabric. The show premiers tonight at 10 p.m. on Lifetime.

Atlas — which features concierge service and a 4,000-square-foot Rooftop Terrace — also housed the contestants during the show’s first five seasons, Gotham said, while Season 6 was filmed in Los Angeles. The show did not pay Gotham for the apartments.

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To celebrate the show’s return to Manhattan, the city temporarily renamed Fashion Avenue “Project Runway Avenue” and presented a proclamation naming Jan. 13 “Project Runway Day.”

The show outfitted the apartments with geometric patterns created by colorful wood trim and carpet squares, Gotham said, but the apartments were returned to their original condition and rented out once filming was completed.

The Atlas was also the host of a New York Moves magazine interior design competition late last year, in which HGTV host Krista Watterworth and New York City-based designer Oskar Torres went head-to-head to try to design the “quintessential Manhattan apartment” in under 45 minutes.