Top Gunn

Where Are They Now?
We catch up with past Runway stars

CHLOE DAO
''I'm going to move out of my garage into a real design studio. It's insane!'' exclaims season 2 winner Dao. As she jets between her Houston boutique — online at lot8online.com — and an NYC factory, Dao is planning her 2007 collections. (''I'm feeling ladylike — pencil skirts, dress shirts.'') She's also scouting locations for that studio in Houston, ''where I can have a real staff and be Chloe Dao, household name.''

AUSTIN SCARLETT
Season 1's cornhusk-couture pioneer is now head designer at Kenneth Pool Bridal, catering to ''diva-type'' fiancées. ''It's the perfect outlet,'' he says, shocking nobody. ''I've always loved feminine, glamorous things.'' But he's since toned down his outsize duds: ''I don't dress as extravagantly because so many people come up to me.'' Who knew he had so much in common with Lil' Kim?

WENDY PEPPER
''I'm the biggest cream puff,'' insists season 1's prickly Pepper, now focused on her store — ''my little fiefdom'' — in small-town Virginia. But life isn't all tea and porch swings — she showed her dresses in Washington, D.C., last spring and credits continued success to her run as Runway's first ''great big villain.'' ''Nine-tenths of fashion is name recognition — I've crossed that hurdle, for sure.'' — Hannah Tucker