Some contestants dazed audiences at an audition earlier this week of “Project Runway Vietnam,” the local version of the American fashion design show, by donning or letting their male models put on womanlike outfits and gaudy makeup.

The audition, which took place on Monday in Ho Chi Minh City, saw the competition between some 100 contestants in fashion design.

Apart from nice designs, a number of contestants were not reluctant to showcase their daring, outrageous ideas, including highly controversial clothes which blur the gender distinction.

A handful of young men donned clinging, backless dresses with high splits revealing their long legs.

They also wore high-heels and heavy make-up.

One of the most disputable entries was created by Nguyen Thanh Tai, a contestant who took great pride in his limit-breaking designs.

His collection featured fancy dresses, skimpy blouses and skirts which are all intended for male wearers.

“I yearn to become a designer who can reconcile all the long-existing distinctions between members of the two genders by letting males wear females’ clothes and the other way round,” Tai said while defending his ideas in front of the Project Runway Vietnam jury.

Nguyen Thanh Tai (left), a 2015 Project Runway Vietnam contestant, poses "confidently" with a male model donning one of his womanlike designs. Photo: Project Runway Vietnam's fanpage

The young man’s shocking entries met with harsh criticism from Tung Leo, one of the four jurors, who stressed such attire might disturb preset gender differences and distort young people’s aesthetics.

Over 50 Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper readers have expressed their frowns and even disgust at such shocking, gender-blurring designs.

Some said such outrageous fashion items have triggered their antipathy toward members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Minh Hanh, a veteran designer, advised young people against being tempted into coming up with eccentric, unacceptable designs just to grab attention and satisfy their artistic ego.

Two other contestants pose in their gender-undefined outfits. Photo: Project Runway Vietnam's fanpage.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!