The final round of a fashion reality show’s 2nd season will air on national broadcaster Vietnam Television (VTV) every Sunday starting May 11, promising surprises as numerous contestants of this year’s season have special personal backgrounds and outstanding design talent.

The 2014 Project Runway Vietnam’s 2nd season, which will air on VTV3 at 8:00 pm every Sunday, showcases 12 outstanding contestants who have proven their talent in design after overcoming tricky qualification rounds.

Several participants have special personal backgrounds, including color-blind Phan Nguyen Minh Quan, builder Ly Giam Tien, Le Dinh Chien, who gave up his flight attendant job to pursue a career in fashion design, and To Phan Dieu Linh, a college graduate at the age of only 19.

Contestants will live in the same house while filming the show. Their work will be judged by a jury that includes Vietnamese fashion designer Cong Tri, journalist Thien Huong, actress Truong Ngoc Anh, and master of ceremonies Tung Leo.

The 12 finalists were selected from hundreds of contestants who participated in the show’s qualification rounds held on March 16 at the Crowne Plaza building in Hanoi and March 10 at the Grand Palace Wedding and Convention Center in Ho Chi Minh City.

Like the previous season’s qualification rounds, participants in the contest were required to perform several skills to show their basic understanding of fashion design including sketching designs, cutting fabric, and sewing.

New to this year’s contest, they were also asked to design clothes using material given to them by the jury, including a black and white piece of cloth and a large shirt.

The winner will pocket VND300 million (US$14,227) and have the chance to participate in New York Couture Fashion Week, which will take place from September 5 to 7 this year in the U.S.

First aired in the U.S. in 2004, the fashion reality show Project Runway has been produced and broadcast in more than 100 countries like the UK, Australia, Russia, the Republic of Korea, the Philippines, and Finland, attracting millions of viewers.

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