DAVAO CITY – Candidates of Miss Universe 2016 paid tribute to tribeswomen of Mindanao in a unique show of fashion, beauty and culture here last Thursday night.
Dubbed “Mindanao Tapestry,” the jampacked fashion show gave a peek into a least known aspect of Philippine culture which is the culture of Mindanao.
Reigning Miss Universe Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach hails from Cagayan de Oro, the capital of Misamis Oriental in Mindanao, he said.
Crowds cheered as 29 the candidates modeled in the neo-ethnic fashion of Salud and the Mindanao weavers in an hour-long show held at the SM Convention Center Davao at SM Lanang Premier. Among those wildly applauded were delegates from Philippines, Sierra Leone and Venezuela.
Candidates in the fashion show were Miss Argentina Estefania Bernal, Miss Belgium Stephanie Geldof, Miss Bulgaria ViolinaAncheva, Miss China Zhenying Li, Miss Ecuador Connie Jimenez, Miss Guyana Soyini Fraser, Miss Honduras Sirey Moran, Miss Hungary VeronikaBodizs, Miss India RoshmithaHarimurthy, Miss Indonesia KeziaWarouw, Miss Kazakhstan DarinaKulsitova, Miss Mexico Kristal Silva, Miss Myanmar HtetHtetHtun, Miss Namibia LizelleEsterhuizen, Miss Netherlands Zoey Ivory, Miss Nigeria UnoakuAnyadike, Miss Paraguay Andrea Melgarejo, Miss Philippines Maxine Medina, Miss Russia YulianaKorolkova, Miss Sierra Leone HawaKamara, Miss Singapore Cheryl Chou, Miss Slovak Republic ZuzanaKollarova, Miss Turkey TansuCakir, Miss Switzerland DijanaCvijetic, Miss Tanzania Johan Dimack, Miss Ukraine AlenaSpodynyuk, Miss USA Deshauna Barber and Miss Venezuela Mariam Habach.
Aside from Salud, the participating designers in the main show were SilverioAnglacer, Emi Englis, Kenny Ladaga, Alfonso “Boy” Guino-o, Aztec Barba, BenjiePanizales, Dojie Batu, Edgar Buyan, Wilson Limon and Egay Ayag.
The fashion spectacle was highlighted in six segments – T’boli weavers, indigenous cross stitchers, Yakan weaves, tribal weaves of Bukidnon, Royal garb of Mandaya tribe and Inuol ball gowns.
* Asians vs. Latinas
Salud, who has successfully sent to the Miss Universe pageant in previous years, forecast that it would be a battle between the Asians and the Latinas in the Miss Universe 2016 beauty contest on Jan. 30.
“The Top 15 will be dominated by Asians and Latinas. This batch is loaded with beautiful girls,” said Salud who saw some of the candidates when he dressed them up for the fashion show.
Asked about the chances of the Philippines bet to the pageant, Salud said: “Of course she has a big chance. But I am telling you that there are other competent girls so she should not rest on whatever good qualities she has.”
Salud also said that mounting the Mindanao fashion show is one of the highlights of his illustrious career in fashion and modelling.