Celebrating local folklore is Cebuana beauty queen Tracy Maureen Perez as she presents her national costume for the Miss World 2021 pageant.
Crafted by Axel Que, the avant-garde designer behind Miss Universe Philippines 2021 Beatrice Luigi Gomez’s “The Golden Lunar Dragon” ensemble, “Mayari” pays homage to the local deity of the moon and the daughter of Bathala. In Filipino anthropologist F. Landa Jocano’s book “Notes on Philippine Divinities,” Mayari had two sisters–Hanan, goddess of the morning, and Tala, goddess of the stars–and was described as most beautiful.
Axel’s creation is filled with symbols that pay homage to the moon goddess. “My rendition incorporated a lot of traditional forms as the base silhouette, with slight exaggerations in the proportion and volume,” she says. “For embellishment, I crafted white and purple moonflowers (morning glory/ moon vine) from scratch and added the gradient shading in the middle to give it more depth. Pearls and tassels thoughtfully border the hemlines.”
To complete the look, styling duo Vhee Co and Francis Chee complemented the garb with jewelry made by Christopher Munar and shoes by Jojo Bragais.
This is not the first time Axel dressed Tracy for a beauty contest. In her journey to winning the Miss World Philippines crown, the avant-garde designer made her the “Vessel of Faith” costume, which sparked conversations online about “romanticizing colonialism.” In an interview with Manila Bulletin Lifestyle, Axel explained that the garb “is just a representation of a journey of the Christian faith. It does have colonial influences for sure, much like our churches, but by no means are we trying to romanticize it. Again, it’s just a profession of our faith manifested in an amalgamation of different aesthetic influences as a designer.”
Take a closer look at the "Mayari" here:
Image credits:
Photography: Mark Neto Diaz
Styling: Francis Chee and Vhee Co with Aura Nicole de Jesus and Juancho Buendia
Hair: MJ Rone
Beauty: Japeth Mike Purog
Project mangement: Krishna Balsarza