The 70th edition of Miss Universe pageant, Miss Universe 2021, is set to be held on 12th December 2021 in Eilat, Israel where Miss Universe 2020 Andrea Meza of Mexico will crown her successor at the end of the event finale.

The delegates are in the last leg of pre pageant activities and are already done with the head to head challenge and judge’s interview round and next up is the much watched out for, national costume round, set to be held today at 7 PM (local time).

Namibia’s Chelsi Tashaleen Shikongo recently took to her social media to reveal her national costume and the idea behind it for the preliminary competition today. “I am the child of the soil and the salt. Introducing! My National Costume Reveal My hometown, Walvisbay sports the largest solar sea salt company in sub-saharan Africa. My national costume is an ode to the beautiful hues of pink salt pans and their well-loved flamingos,” she said.

“With detailing of the salt crystals, chiffon fabrics to represent the water of the pans and fine detailing of the Aavambo fabric - a pink striped cotton fabric worn by the Aavambo people from which my heritage has this pink costume that embodies one of many of Namibian’s culture, nature and infrastructure and its hard-working people. It took 6 artisans over 150 hours to create it,” she further continued.

Hailing from Walvis Bay, Chelsi is 23-years-old and is the founder of ‘I Can Say No’, an empowerment campaign that promotes inclusive education. She works as a professional model, comedian, and activist. The beauty queen is passionate about beauty pageants and believes that with the platform given to her, she can make a significant impact on the society and is positive about her cause. She is the oldest of 6 siblings and is also running a campaign for her fifteen-year-old sister who is suffering from tuberculosis. She speaks Afrikaans and English. She also studied Portuguese and German and is now ready to showcase her country’s rich heritage through her outfit today.