Project Runway Korea
Project Runway Korea was the South Korean version of the American reality show Project Runway. It was Korean television's first localized franchise from a foreign-language reality competition, and the third Project Runway version in Asia after Malaysia and the Philippines.
The winner of Project Runway Korea's first season received ₩50 million in prize money, along with a car and a fashion spread in Elle Korea; the second season increased the prize money to ₩70 million.
The show's fifth and final season, an All Stars Season, concluded in May 2015.
Production
The show is hosted by Lee So-ra, supermodel, together with Editor-in-Chief of ELLE Korea Shin Yoo-jin and ANDY & DEBB designer Kim Seok-won completing the judging panel. Meanwhile, fashion design professor Kan Ho-sup serves as mentor to the designers. Lee replaced Kang Ho-dong, who was the choice to host Project Runway Korea, as FremantleMedia found it inappropriate to have a comedian in a fashion-related program. Over 500 designers auditioned, and 14 of them were chosen as finalists. The final three designers will get the chance to show their collection in the 2009 Fall/ Winter Seoul Collection, with the winner receiving 50 million won, a 2009 GM Daewoo Lacetti and a fashion spread in ELLE Korea. The show premiered on cable network OnStyle on February 7, 2009.News reports stated that the production company of Project Runway Korea paid 100 million won to purchase the franchise, which included a 700-page "bible" that details the program's format, production notes, and casting procedures. The whole season is said to have been produced at a budget of 700 million won for all of its 10 episodes, compared to Project Runway that has a production budget of 500 million won for every episode.
During the promotion of the program, the staff of Project Runway Korea stated that "everything about is the same except for the color of the contestants' skin."
The first season will feature appearances from celebrity Uhm Jung-hwa, fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon, and designer from Project Runway's fourth season Victorya Hong, who incidentally has Korean lineage.
As of Season 4, the show has begun filming in an HDTV format.
Season 1
Names of the designers are arranged in "Romanized" order, while the ages listed are the designers' ages at the time the show was taped in late 2008.| Contestant | Age | Place Finished |
| Kye Han-hee | 21 | 14th |
| Lee Eun-jeong | 37 | 13th |
| Kim Hong-bum | 30 | 12th |
| So Ye-in | 25 | 11th |
| Yoo Sang-wook | 27 | 10th |
| Kyung Cho-rong | 28 | 9th |
| Shin Jae-eun | 41 | 8th |
| Kim Jae-min | 21 | 7th |
| Lee Myung-sin | 22 | 6th |
| Jung Jae-woong | 25 | 5th |
| Lee Seung-hee | 33 | 4th |
| Choi Hye-jung | 28 | 2nd Runner-up |
| Nam Yong-seop | 29 | 1st Runner-up |
| Lee Woo-kyung | 26 | Winner |
- : Kim Jae-min's team had one of the highest scores but because of his attitude, he was on the bottom 5.
Season 2
| Contestant | Age | Place Finished |
| Lee Hyun-shik | 31 | 15th |
| Lee Jae-hoon | 25 | 14th |
| Hyun Sung-shik | 32 | 13th |
| Yoon Se-na | 30 | 12th |
| Lee Dong-jun | 22 | 11th |
| Jung Ga-young | 23 | 10th |
| Bang Ji-eun | 25 | 9th |
| Jung Hyun-joo | 29 | 8th |
| Choi Chang-sook | 36 | 7th |
| An Song-eun | 22 | 6th |
| Yoon Choon-ho | 27 | 5th |
| Kim Ji-hye | 31 | 4th |
| Jung Mi-young | 30 | 2nd Runner-up |
| Choi Hyoung-wook | 30 | 1st Runner-up |
| Jung Go-woun | 25 | Winner |
- : Two team's teamwork are worst. And all of contestants are critiqued.
Season 3
| Contestant | Age | Place Finished |
| Lee Hak-lim | 33 | 15th |
| Lee Tae-kyung | 27 | 14th |
| Jeon Ju-hyun | 27 | 13th |
| Jung Nok-young | 25 | 12th |
| Hong Ji-sun | 23 | 11th |
| Gwon Bo-mi | 27 | 10th |
| Jo Seo-young | 32 | 9th |
| Jo Hang-yong | 24 | 8th |
| Hwang Jae-geun | 34 | 7th |
| Kim Won-shik | 26 | 6th |
| Jung Hee-jin | 27 | 5th |
| Kim Jin | 32 | 4th |
| Lee Se-jin | 24 | 2nd Runner-up |
| Gwon Soon-soo | 24 | 1st Runner-up |
| Shin Joo-yeon | 24 | Winner |
- : Jung Hee-jin was eliminated at panel, but was saved. Because all of contestants are critiqued.
Season 4
| Contestant | Age | Place Finished |
| Jung Ji-eun | 31 | 15th |
| Kim Sung-gwon | 28 | 14th |
| Kim Min-ji | 23 | 13th |
| Lim Je-yoon | 22 | 12th |
| Park So-hyun | 29 | 11th |
| Kim Gyung-mi | 30 | 10th |
| Gi Yoon-ha | 24 | 9th |
| Kim Sung-hyun | 23 | 8th |
| Kim Jae-woong | 21 | 7th |
| Gang Sung-do | 27 | 6th |
| An Jae-hyun | 29 | 5th |
| Jo A-ra | 26 | 4th |
| Oh Yu-kyung | 25 | 2nd Runner-up |
| Lee Ji-seung | 28 | 1st Runner-up |
| Kim Hye-ran | 30 | Winner |
- : In episode 1, Nam Bo-ra, Park Jung-sang, Back Ye-jin, Lee Kyung-hae, and Jung Yong-jin were the 5 designers who were eliminated before the final 15 were officially participants of the show.
All-STARS
| Contestant | Age | Original Season | Original Ranked | Place Finished |
| Jung Jae-woong | 30 | Season 1 | 5th | 12th |
| Jo A-ra | 28 | Season 4 | 4th | 11th |
| Oh Yu-Kyung | 27 | Season 4 | 2nd Runner-up | 10th |
| Choi Chang-sook | 40 | Season 2 | 7th | 9th |
| Nam Yong-seop | 34 | Season 1 | 1st Runner-up | 8th |
| Hyun Sung-shik | 36 | Season 2 | 13th | 7th |
| Kim Sung-hyun | 25 | Season 4 | 8th | 6th |
| Jung Mi-young | 34 | Season 2 | 2nd Runner-up | 5th |
| Yoon Se-na | 34 | Season 2 | 12th | 4th |
| Lim Je-yoon | 24 | Season 4 | 12th | 2nd Runner-Up |
| Lee Myung-sin | 27 | Season 1 | 6th | 1st Runner-Up |
| Hwang Jae-geun | 37 | Season 3 | 7th | Winner |
- :Jung Jae-woong was eliminated at panel, but was saved. Because judges thought that he had potential, and stayed in the competition.
- :Lee Myung-sin & Lim Je-yoon's design was considered good even though they are received a low score to lose the battle.
- :Jung Mi-young's design was considered good even though her group received a low score.