Vanessa Ponce, Miss World 2018, attended the grand finale of Miss Uganda last evening in a gown with a very familiar silhouette. Yes, the creative team behind the look was inspired by the Busuuti, which is the traditional dress worn by most of the tribes here in Uganda.
Christine Akello, popularly known as Tina Brad in Kampala’s fashion circles is the creative lead behind all this. Obviously the question now is, how did she land the coveted spot of dressing one of the most important women in the world? Naturally, Ponce and her team have access to some of the top stylists in the globe, but they chose Akello.
According to Akello, who was beaming with excitement shortly before the event, “this was a life changing opportunity that I took without thinking twice,” she shared.
It all started when Quinn Abenakyo and Ponce (yes they are bffs) were in Ghana to attend the Miss Ghana pageant. Ponce was blown away by Abenakyo’s gown, she asked her. The reigning Miss World Africa was quick to recommend her stylist in Uganda, who is Akello. The two shared contacts and the rest has been history.
“I wasn’t even aware I was going to dress her, because I’ve been away on holiday,” she beams. Brenda Nanyonjo, CEO of Miss Uganda reached out to her that Abenakyo needed something special to wear to the event, and as usual Akello went down to work.
“I sent visuals of my inspiration to the team and obviously thought my role would end at that.” As soon as Abenakyo received the images, she shared with her BFF Ponce who was blown away, yet again. This time she asked that she too gets a similar look from the same source.
“When Brenda reached out to me with the brief that the team wanted me to dress Vanessa I was ecstatic,” she muses. She reached out to her tailors in Turkey with the inspiration and the dress was created.
Akello was also the official stylist of the event last evening. She outfitted all the contestants plus the academy of queens.
The inspiration
The entire look was inspired by the Busuuti. If you look at the sleeve of the dress, they are raised and pointed just like a Busuuti, only that these are shorter. Because we wear something like a Kikoyi under the busuuti, I gave her a dress instead. We added a skirt over the dress which goes all the down. The over skirt is belted just like a sash on the Busuuti. The dress also features faux feather detail, which I believe is one of the hottest trends of the season. I wanted to make her feel Ugandan but also modern.
What are your thoughts on the look? Sound off in the message box below.
Photos by Hannyz Photography (0784058026)
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