The 8th edition of Miss Eco International i.e. Miss Eco International 2021 held its preliminary competitions on 2nd April,2021 at Baron Resort, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, where the National Costume and Evening Gown competitions were organized along with announcements of other special awards.
The National Costume competition saw contestants parade in their traditional costumes showcasing their country’s traditions and cultures. The organization announced the names of Top 10 finalists for the award out of which Kelley Day, Miss Eco Philippines was announced as the winner.
Kelley Day wore a ‘Modern Filipina’ costume with the country’s rich culture and history, the iconic attire of Philippines’ mestizo heroine named Maria Clara meets modern age. The traditional attire of style and fashion is the evidence of religiosity and spirituality of Filipinos passed into a Filipiana Costume. Defining a Modern Filipina, summing up the fear of being outdated, the touch of modernity on this Maria Clara national attire still implies purity, innocence and devout.
The designer, Louis Pangilinan explained, “The rapid increase of modernity had been welcomed this age. This national dress is embellished with hand painted art that can flamboyantly seen by far and fully hand-embroidered. Topping it with topical Maria Clara’s bell sleeves premeditated with beads and crystals. Accentuated with tassels made from fibers extracted by hand and worked into fine threads woven together in a loom that makes it one of the exciting styles today, in a unique and quintessential way.”
Kelley Day shared, “It was such an honor to wear this beautiful creation in the National Costume Competition of Miss Eco International. Winning “Best National Costume” tonight just made me feel even MORE proud to be representing the Philippines. Thankful for all the hard work and creativity of the team that was behind this. Thank you Miss Eco International for the recognition - this is for the Philippines!”
Alongside the winner, Panama and Thailand were adjudged First and Second runner-ups respectively. Let us also have a look at their national costumes:
Yanmery Salceda, Miss Eco Panama 2020/2021, donned the ‘Tortuga Carey’ suit designed by Abdul Hadid. The costume was majorly inspired by and dedicated to spread awareness around Hawksbill Sea Turtle, a critically endangered species. Yanmery’s performance was as cheerful as her colorful costume.
Thailand’s Juthamas Mekseree carried the ‘Siam Mozorus Suthethoni’ costume inspired by the dinosaur fossils which were excavated at Phi Wiang National Park, Province. Juthamas’ performance was full of character and strength. Her confidence and role-playing was an impressive presentation of the theme.
The 10 finalists for the National Costume Prime at Miss Eco International 2021 were, Miss Eco Peru 2020/2021 Lesly Reyna, Miss Eco Indonesia 2020/2021 Intan Wisni Permatasari, Miss Eco Philippines 2020/2021 Kelley Day, Miss Eco Costa Rica 2020/2021 Kristel Ruiz Freeman, Miss Eco Malaysia 2020/2021 Shavinaa Balan, Miss Eco Venezuela 2020/2021 Steffania Rodriguez Vivas, Miss Eco Panama 2020/2021 Yanmery Salceda, Miss Eco Thailand 2020/2021 Juthamas Mekseree, Miss Eco United Kingdom 2020/2021 Charlotte Sophie Brooke and Miss Eco USA 2020/2021 Alexandria Kelly.