“Miss Universe Ukraine” 2023, Angelina Usanova, will represent Ukraine at the international beauty contest Miss Eco International-2024, currently taking place in Egypt. The main goal of the contest is to promote the importance of caring for our planet and ecology. The winner of the contest becomes the UN Ambassador for Ecology and the Environment. Finally, it has been revealed in what costumes Angelina will represent Ukraine.
National Costume “Phoenix”
“Phoenix” is Angelina Usanova’s national costume for the Miss Eco International-2024 contest. The phoenix is a symbol of immortality. The dress is made entirely from recycled materials. The majority of the materials were provided by the NGO “Ukraine Without Waste,” whose activities are aimed at promoting the culture of sorting household waste in Ukraine.
In total, more than 1500 plastic spoons and over 500 plastic knives found at the sorting station were used for the costume. Used plastic utensils were used for the wings, headdress, and corset. The headdress was created from pieces of plastic and plastic knives. Large plastic feathers were cut from plastic sheets to form the base of the headdress, then textured and shaped with fire. The skirt is also recycled.
“I really wanted to create a dress that would be couture and impossible to tell what it was made of at first glance. Just by reading the description of the costume, it should be clear that it was literally created from trash, while looking like a million bucks,” said the idea’s author and founder of the Patoka studio, Lesya Patoka.
Eco-costume “World on Fire”
Angelina Usanova’s eco-costume is called “World on Fire.” Like the national costume, this outfit is made from recycled materials and addresses one of the world’s environmental issues.
The dress corset is adorned with red and black plastic bottles and details cut from construction pipes. Each detail was individually treated with fire to give them the shape and appearance of flames. The skirt of “World on Fire,” like the national costume, is made from curtains and organza and tulle, printed with a fire print. The headdress consists of torches and resembles flames ignited. The gems are taken from recycled dresses.
Creating the eco-costume was more challenging than the national costume, as it is a transformer costume. The costume hides over 5 meters of printed fabric, which should create the effect of erupting streams of volcanic lava when Angelina takes the stage.
The Miss Eco International-2024 final will take place on April 28th in Cairo, Egypt.
