Miss Ukraine has been commended for the incredible outfit she will wear for the Miss Universe pageant’s national costume competition.
Viktoria Apanasenko, representing the war-torn country, will sport a “Warrior of Light” ensemble at the pageant in New Orleans on 14 January 2023.
Her look was unveiled in an Instagram post, which detailed a stunning multilayered motif with ornate, oversize blue and yellow wings.
“The ‘Warrior of Light’ costume symbolizes our nation’s fight against darkness,” Apanasenko wrote on Instagram.
It was created four months into the Ukraine war.
Feel the difference.
🇺🇦Ukraine at @MissUniverse: A costume that symbolizes Ukraine's fight for freedom.
🇷🇺 Russia at Miss Universe: A costume that embodies the Russian empire.Very telling. pic.twitter.com/jPaZaHvFF3
— Ostap Yarysh (@OstapYarysh) January 12, 2023
The outfit worn by Viktoria Apanasenko featured a multilayered motif with ornate, oversize blue and yellow wings topped off with a sword and body armor.
An Instagram post on Miss Ukraine’s page said: “The “Warrior of Light” costume symbolizes our nation’s fight against darkness. Like Archangel Michael, who defends Ukraine with a sword, it protects us.
“Viktoriia has a weapon in her hands, her body is covered in armour, and simultaneously, she carries light through the darkness that came to our peaceful lands with the aggressor.”
It added: “The monolithic jumpsuit symbolises armour and wraps Victoria like a second skin.
“The white dress consists of a stylization of a vyshyvanka with puffy sleeves and a skirt with more than 10 meters of fabric.
“The headwear is decorated with spikelets, which are traditional in Ukraine.
“Symbolic wings are burned in battle, framed in blue and gold armor in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, and decorated with various mirror ornaments, opened for the decisive action.
“The costume was created in Ukraine in four months in extreme conditions, to the sound of sirens, without electricity, and by candlelight.”
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