Filipino designers made news for dressing up global candidates in the just-concluded 70th Miss Universe pageant, held in Eilat, Israel.

Francis Libiran made the flowing gold evening gown of Philippines bet Beatrice Luigi Gomez, while Dubai-based designers Michael Cinco, Ezra Santos and Garimon Escandor Roferos dressed up delegates from other countries.

But it wasn’t only design veterans who shone on the Miss Universe stage. Fashion student Kennedy Jhon Gasper, 20, won the Best in National Costume award for a “homemade” piece he made for Nigeria’s Maristella Okpala.

“They reached out to me through Instagram, and the costume took five days to finish. We did fittings through video call,” Gasper told Lifestyle. “Since I am still a student, I created everything at home.”

Okpala wrote on her Instagram (@mariselle4) that the winning outfit was “a female masquerade costume designed for ceremonial and festive purposes.” It was “inspired by a famous traditional masquerade of the southeastern tribe of Nigeria called Mmanwu.”

Gasper designed the tribal costume with African beads and stones, and accessorized it with sculpted headwear, over-the-top hoop earrings and a cape featuring a three-foot mask—the Mmanwu—which, Okpala wrote, represents the strength of the Nigerian women, and the call to “stop girl child mutilation and child slavery.”

Gasper is studying fashion and textile technology at Central Luzon State University in Nueva Ecija. On Instagram (@kennedy_gasper), he featured another national costume he made for Haiti’s Pascale Bélony—a sparkling full bodysuit with a red-and-blue long skirt with a giant removable “pearl” around the waist, to celebrate Haiti as the “Pearl of the Antilles.”

Gasper’s bee costume also won the Best in State costume for Filipino-American Ayzjiahna Wood, who finished fourth runner-up in the Miss Teen USA 2021 pageant.

He accepts commissions for pageant costumes, uniforms, swimsuits and toddler dresses. “I also design doll gowns, as shown on the Barbie clothes on my Instagram,” he said.

Handmade beadwork

Louis Pangilinan, 33, is known in the local pageant circuit for his intricate hand-beaded gowns. Three Miss Universe teams approached him to collaborate for the women’s evening wear, and they did virtual fittings via calls and video recordings.

He created for Honduras’ Rose Meléndez a gold front-slit halter gown with matching cuffs and turban. Malta’s Jade Cini walked in a sparkling royal blue one-shoulder gown, while Great Britain’s Emma Rose Collingridge wore an embellished white gown with silver bead strings.

“There was no specific concept given for the gowns, but I wanted to bring class and elegance to make the girls shine,” Pangilinan told Lifestyle. “All the gowns were fully hand-embellished with beads, crystals and sequins, and it took one to two weeks to finish each.”

Based in San Pablo City, Pangilinan took up hotel and restaurant management at Laguna State Polytechnic University but found a career in fashion, making wedding gowns and celebration dresses in his Laguna shop (tel. 0927-0010183; Louis Pangilinan Fashion Empire on Facebook; @louispangilinan.ph on Instagram).

“My goal is to create elegant hand-embellished designs for all sizes, ages and genders,” he said.