Thai silk was the star of Miss Universe 2018's Thai Night gala dinner and fashion show held at Dusit Thani Bangkok on Wednesday evening. The event served as an official welcome to the competing beauty queens, as well as a showcase of Thai culture, fashion design, textile and food.
Ninety-four international beauty queens at this year's Miss Universe pageant walked the grand runway inside the hotel's lobby lounge in gorgeous silk gowns created by Thai designers under the theme of "Mongkol" or "auspiciousness". The gowns were all made from hand-woven silk from the Foundation for the Promotion of Supplementary Occupations and Related Technique of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit of Thailand.
These 19 local designers include well-known Thai brands such as Asava, Ek Thongprasert, Emotions Atelier, La Boutique, Hook's, Kanapot Anusorn, Kloset, Milin, Narong, Pattarat, Patinya, Present, Surface, Tipayaphong, Tohns, Tube Gallery, Valentier, Vickteerut and Wisharawish.
The gowns came in different colour schemes according to each day of the week: yellow, pink, green, orange, blue, purple and red.
Selma Kamanya, Miss Namibia 2018, who wore a lilac gown made by La Boutique, said she loved the design and especially the colour as she found it very complimenting to her skin tone.
For this special occasion, the pageant was also honoured by the support of HRH Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana whose custom designs from her Sirivannavari brand were worn by Miss Universe 2017 Demi-Leigh Nel-Peters and Miss Universe Thailand 2018 Sophida Kanchanarin.
Nel-Peters's gown was inspired by HM Queen Sirikit's wardrobe. The strapless, two-piece gown utilised draping technique for effortless flowing effect during movement. The top was also adorned by a peacock, which is a symbol of the Sirivannavari label that represents grace and femininity.
Thailand's representative Sophida wore a blue gown that drew on designs from the Sirivannavari Couture Collection, which was also inspired by Queen Sirikit's wardrobe. The skilled craftsmanship combined mutmee and praewa silk together. The long train, playing with different shades of blue, reminded onlookers of a peacock's dazzling tail feather.
The evening ended with a charity auction of souvenirs from each contestant to fundraise for non-profit organisations. Five items from five contestants were auctioned at the event. Manita Devkota's souvenir from Nepal alone raised 310,000 baht.
Miss Universe 2018 will continue with a national costume competition on Dec 10 in Pattaya, a preliminary round on Dec 13, and a final show on Dec 17 to be held at Impact Arena Muang Thong Thani from 7am onward. Streaming of these events will be available on PPTV 36 TV channel and its website. Tickets to the three shows are available on thaiticketmajor.com.
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