Laura Bennett

Laura Eugenia Bennett (born August 2, 1963) is an American architect and fashion designer and one of the four finalists on Bravo's July 2006's Project Runway (Season 3). Bennett was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. She received her undergraduate degree in architecture from the University of Houston and a graduate degree in the same field from Columbia University in New York City.

Bennett has six children: one daughter Cleo (born 1988), from her first marriage, and five sons: Peik (born 1996), Truman (born 1999), Pierson (born 2002), Larson (born 2003), and Finn (born Dec 1, 2006), with whom she discovered she was pregnant while competing on Project Runway, with her late husband, architect Peter L. Shelton. On August 26, 2012, Shelton died of cancer in their New York home. Shelton's work as a co-founder of Shelton, Mindel & Associates, and a memorial to him was in the November 2012 issue of Architectural Digest.

She worked part-time at his design firm, Shelton, Mindel & Associates, best known for its design of the Polo Ralph Lauren headquarters in New York City. In 2013, Bennett (re-styled as Laura Bennett Shelton) relocated her family and business to the Laros estate in Bethlehem, PA. The house is on a property originally belonging to her husband's maternal grandfather, prominent early 20th century businessman and textile manufacturer R.K. Laros. She serves as Vice Chair of the R.K. Laros Foundation. After her relocation to Pennsylvania, Bennett Shelton took up archery, and within six months was competing at a world-class level, even participating in the 2014 World Indoor Archery Championships.