Aleksandra Flasz out-designed her competitors to walk away with the grand prize of $100,000

L to R :The Apartment: Rising Stars Edition winner.Aleksandra Flasz and first runner up Winston See

Without any professional background in interior design, Aleksandra Flasz, a Polish fashion design graduate and model was crowned the winner of Sony Channel’s first original production, The Apartment: Rising Stars Edition.

In a grueling 40-hour design challenge, Aleksandra faced off with Malaysian architect, Winston See, to fight for the Rising Star crown and the grand prize of $100,000. It was a dramatic and close race to the finish, but ultimately Aleksandra won the winning vote against Winston, leaving him wondering where he went wrong.

“The Apartment: Rising Stars Edition was created to inspire young designers and Sony Channel’s viewers to enhance their living spaces using tips from the experts.

The series featured some of the world’s top designers including Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Genevieve Gordor and Jamie Durie, who provided incredible insights and design advice in each episode, and all against a backdrop of gripping drama,”said Ms. Virginia Lim, Senior Vice President and Head of Content, Production and Marketing, Sony Pictures Television Networks, Asia.

“I would like to congratulate Aleksandra and Winston for making it to the finish and I hope that The Apartment: Rising Stars Edition will help further launch their careers on a global scale.”

The ultimate and deciding challenge for the two finalists was to design and furnish an apartment from scratch with only the help of two previous contestants, Ally and Andres.

At the finale design court, Aleksandra and Winston had to defend their designs in front of a judging panel of nine, with esteemed members including Andrea Savage, Jeremy Rowe from Dulux and Genie Tay from UMLand.

While there was praise for both finalists, there were some questionable design choices that displeased the judges. Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen described Aleksandra’s bedroom as “Hugh Hefner, done atrociously.” To Winston, he said that the floor design looked like it had “been hit by an earthquake.”
Despite the criticism, the judges commented that both of them had shown vast improvement from their first challenge, and applauded them for their effort and hard work. In a tense reveal, Aleksandra won the 5-4 vote against Winston to take the title of The Apartment: Rising Stars Edition.

The intense 10-episode journey drew Sony Channel viewers into the cut-throat world of interior design where 12 up-and-coming designers competed to become the next style superstar.

The Apartment: Rising Stars Edition featured a formidable and glamorous judging panel, including world-renowned interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen as the head judge and Jamie Durie, the award-winning designer and author, who doubled as series host and mentor. Vivacious media personality and home product designer, Genevieve Gorder also joined the judging panel this season, injecting her clever wit and colorful commentary into the series.