In the mode: French designer Francine Pairon, creative director of the Institute of French Fashion, will judge the Vietnamese version of the international reality TV show Fashion Star. — File Photo

HCM CITY (VNS)— French designer Francine Pairon, creative director of the Institute of French Fashion (IFM), will judge the Vietnamese version of the international reality TV show Fashion Star.

From 2004 to 2009, Pairon, founder of the Brussels-based La Cambre-Mode fashion school, worked as an IFM consultant with the French Embassy to organise fashion programmes in Viet Nam.

With 40 years of experience, she has served as a judge in many international competitions.

Pairon and Vietnamese designers Minh Hanh and Cong Tri will be on the jury.

Hanh is creative director of Vietmode Fashion Company. Her collections have been presented in many countries, including Japan, China and Italy.

Tri won top prizes at several design contests, including the 2000 Asia Collection Makuhari in Japan, 2000 Vietnam Collection Grand Prix and 2001 Singapore Fashion Connection. In 2010, he was a judge at Viet Nam's Super Model contest.

Fashion Star, licensed by Electus International, is organised by Viet Nam Television (VTV) and the Cat Tien Sa Media Company to give unknown designers a life-changing opportunity.

The contestants' clothing collections will be introduced to Macy's, H&M and Saks Fifth Avenue, three top US retailers.

The judges and the retailers will choose three talented designers for the finale. The winner will receive a VND1 billion (US$47,600) contract to launch a clothing collection in retailers' stores.

The competition will be aired on VTV3 beginning on October 19.

Contestants aged over 20 can send their collections to Cat Tien Sa Company at 5A Nguuyen Dinh Chieu Street in District 1 before August 4 for the preliminary round. — VNS