Did You Know That....a Filipino Designed the Winning National Costume of Miss Nigeria during the Miss Universe 2021?

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She struts and stunned the judges in the runway! Miss Nigeria, Maristella Okpala, won the Best in National costume in the 70th Miss Universe held in Eilat, Israel on December 12, 2021. The national costume was made by a Filipino fashion student Kennedy Jhon Gasper. The costume was inspired by the famous traditional masquerade of Nigeria’s Mmanwa tribe. The Mmanwa masquerade costume is designed for ceremonial and festive purposes to celebrate Nigerian cultural heritage to women’s strength. The elaborate ensemble consists of a 3ft sophisticated tribal mask and colorful ancient back cape that portrays a face with beaded headdress. Moreover, the costume is made of African beads, stones, crafts as she stated in her Instagram post. The whole costume has two representations: first, the beautiful Mmanwa who fought tirelessly to stop girl mutilation and child slavery; finally, as this costume was designed for ceremonies and festivals, the colorful patterns and embellishments portray the African dashiki which offers a visual appeal and forms meant to invoke the ancestral spirits.

This costume caught the attention of Maristella Okpala as she stated that she stated in her Instagram post, “Celebrate the rich Nigerian cultural heritage, paying closer attention to the strength women possess.” She also added, “I picked this particular costume because I see a self-reflection of my cause in this Mmanwa who protects children and women against any form of abuse. Finally, this costume pays attention to the strong will of women in attaining whatever height they want to attain, no matter the challenges faced while reaching their desired goals.”




When Ms. Okpala was named Best in National costume, Gasper was elated with joy as he expressed how thankful he is for winning the prestigious award and how it seemed surreal in a Facebook post, “Thank you Lord. Hindi parin ako makapaniwala talaga. Umiiyak ako kanina habang kayakap si mama (I still can’t believe it. I was crying earlier while hugging my mom)”. Kennedy Jhon Gasper is a 20 year old Filipino taking BS Fashion and Textile Technology major in Fashion Design at the Central Luzon State University in Nueva Ecija. Being true and passionate to his talent, this was not his first time making a costume for Miss Universe. Kennedy Jhon Gasper also created a “Lioness” ensemble in the 69th Miss Universe in May. It was worn by Miss Universe Cameroon 2020, Kossinda Angeles. 


This only means that it marks his second time designing a costume for Miss Universe and this time, his costume won the Best in National Costume. He may be still a student but he surely has a knack and talent for this. Aside from his costumes dedicated to Miss Universe, he also created costumes for Miss Grand International Haiti 2021, Miss Utah Teen USA 2021 and Miss Supranational Kenya 2021. Recently, Kennedy Jhon Gasper won the Best in State costume for Miss Utah Teen USA 2021. The Filipino talent surely is spreading worldwide and this makes the Filipinos proud and happy.

 

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