Much to his family and friends' relief, Escondido's native son, Ricky Lizalde, skated through the second episode of Bravo's hit reality series "Project Runway" on Wednesday night. This week's challenge for the aspiring fashion designers was to create a two-piece look for actress and "fashion icon" Sarah Jessica Parker's new line, Bitten. With a budget of only $15 and a few hours to create their garments, the 14 remaining designers were pushed to their creative and physical limits.

"He's so passionate about this," said Lizalde's sister, Heli Hondo, of the two mini-interviews featuring Lizalde in Wednesday's show, in which he shed tears as he expressed before the camera how much the competition means to him.

The first part of the designers' task was to sketch their designs - meant for women of various shapes, ages and sizes - and pitch them to Parker. She in turn chose seven garments to be stitched up and sent down the runway. Lizalde's simple red peasant dress was chosen as one of the top designs, and he then chose fellow designer Jack Mackenroth to help him with his dress's construction.

Hondo said she loved watching the show this week and was relieved to see how well her brother did. "I just loved his (Ricky's) dress," she said. "And all of the people we talked to … the thing that all of them said was, 'I would so wear that dress.' "

Winner of the second episode's challenge was Victorya Hong, a 34-year-old designer from Seoul, Korea, who created a short shirt dress with matching racerback plaid vest. Hong's design is already available at Steve & Barry's stores nationwide and sells for $19.98 in black or burgundy. The matching vest sells for $14.98.

Designer Marion Lee was eliminated with a more complicated sweater dress design that drooped from the model's shoulders, and as supermodel Heidi Klum pointed out on the show, seemed to stretch and grow in front of the judges' eyes. Lee is the second designer to be eliminated from the show and will return to his home in Dallas, where he sells his fashions out of the back of his flower shop.

Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 740-3527 or rwebster@nctimes.com.