Designer Mak Tumang became a trending topic on social media after the Miss Universe 2018 beauty pageant for creating the two gowns that Catriona Gray wore during the preliminary competition and coronation night.
It can be recalled that Tumang wowed pageant fans all over the world with his orange Ibong Adarna-inspired gown which Gray wore during the preliminary competition. The fourth Filipina Miss Universe titleholder was also crowned while wearing his red lava-inspired dress.
The designer previously shared on Instagram that he drew seven sketches and created three gowns for Gray. He said that the entire process of creating the gowns took “2,712 hours of fastidious process and P1,025,091 worth of materials”.
After fans from all over the world were able to see the two aforementioned gowns, some of them are asking what happened to the third one.
Tumang previously said in an interview with ABS-CBN that he created the third gown for Gray for her to wear during the pageant’s That Silk Night. However, the candidates were asked to wear creations of Thai designers and Gray, instead, wore a purple gown designed by Asava for the said event.
Because of this, fans were not able to see Gray in Tumang’s third gown.
That was until Tumang took to Facebook to share the sketches of the unseen gown which is called “Perla Oriente”.
The gown features a gold bodice draped with blue sheer covered with crystals. Just like the other two gowns, the Perla Oriente has a thigh high slit to show off Gray’s long legs.
“Pearl of the Orient Seas is the byname given to our beautiful country, the Philippines. Even our National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal referred the country with this sobriquet in his poem: Mi último adiós. Aside from the fact that our country is one of the largest producers of pearls, the Philippines is truly a gem! It is beautiful, enchanting and captivating. Indeed a high value and rare pearl!” Tumang wrote on Facebook.
In another interview with GMA News, Tumang revealed that the third gown was a product of Gray’s ideas and concept.
He said that the Perla Oriente was an option for Gray’s preliminary competition outfit, but they ultimately decided to go with the Ibong Adarna gown.
Since Gray was unable to wear the gown during the pageant’s events, she decided to bring the gown with her to New York so that she will have something to wear in case a Miss Universe function arises.
