Project Runway is coming to Korea. Cable channel On Style is producing and airing the competitive reality show for fashion-designer aspirants, having bought the rights to produce Project Runway Korea from the show's international distributors, Fremantle Media.

Because the production rights have been bought from the purveyors of the original show, the Korean version will follow the exact format as the U.S. show, with twelve contestants completing one design challenge per week, each of which will result in one cut. The winner earns a cash prize and a spread in a fashion magazine, and just as U.S. finalists show at New York Fashion Week, Project Runway Korea finalists will present at Korea's Fashion Week in the fall. Apparently there are strict guidelines that the show must follow regarding filming style, editing, set design, challenge content, etc., in accordance with the original format.

Project Runway has already been shipped overseas to countries like Canada and Malaysia, although this is the first time a well-known foreign format will be applied to a Korean reality show. Applications for contestants will be open until July 13, and the program plans to air in September 2008.

Project Runway Coming to Korea

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• Project_Runway_Korea Korean Edition

Project Runway uses progressive elimination to reduce the initial field of 12 or more fashion designers down to 3 or 4 before the final challenge. Each non-finale challenge (the scope of one episode) requires the designers to develop one more new garment to be presented at a runway show. The challenges may include creating a garment from non-traditional materials, such as recycled materials or items from a grocery store, using the 'clothes off their backs, designing for a certain person, corporate fashion line, or specialized theme (such as a cocktail party). A professional fashioin mentor is assigned to the designers and does not participate in the judging; instead, he visits the designers mid-way through each challenge to comment and suggest improvements for each design.

While on the show, the designers live in an apartment together and are prohibited from leaving without authorization. They are also prohibited from communicating with family or friends, nor are they allowed access to the Internet to research designs. Designers are also forbidden from bringing pattern books or similar how-to books with them during the show.

The designers are given a stipend and limited amount of time to finish each garment (from as short as half a day to two or three days). Often the designers work independently, although on some challenges contestants must work in teams. Once the deadline is reached, the designers must dress their models and select their hair, make-up, and accessories. Each model walks down the runway, and the garment the contestant made is rated by a panel of judges, scoring each dress in a number of categories from 0 to 5. The judges then interview the designers and share their opinions before conferring as a group and selecting winning and losing designers based on their scores and other considerations. Generally, the loser of each challenge is eliminated from the competition.

After the final challenge, the remaining three or four designers are then told to prepare a complete fashion collection to be presented at the next big Fashion Week. The finalists are given several months and several thousand dollars for this task which they perform at their own homes or studios. While some construction work can be outsourced, the majority of the garments must be created by the designers themselves. Prior to the show, the finalists return to the Project Runway studios to perform final fittings on their models, and also may be thrown an additional challenge, such as designing an additional outfit to fit the collection. The ultimate winner is selected by the judges, and receives $100,000 to start his or her own design line, a magazine spread in a popular fashion Magazine, and a mentorship from a design firm; some seasons have also included a new car as part of the prize package.

Fashion models who work with the designers throughout the season are also in the competition. Each week, as the number of designers dwindles, the number of models is also reduced, with one model remaining at the end. Models may sometimes be randomly pre-assigned to a designer; in other cases, designers will have an opportunity to pick the model they wish to work with. The winner of the previous challenge receives first pick and subsequent designers pick through a random draw. Included in the prize package for the winning model is coverage in a high fashion magazine, featuring the winning designer's designs.