Voltaire Tayag, Miss Universe Philippines’ director of communications, gifted Miss Universe 2023 Top 10 finalist Michelle Dee with a fashion doll wearing her iconic black gown in the pageant finals.
The MUPH official on Friday posted pictures of a fashion doll styled after the beauty queen.
It was wearing a replica of Michelle’s famous detailed gown with patterns inspired by the tattoos of indigenous tattooist Apo Whang-Od, who the beauty queen paid tribute to during her Miss Universe stint.
Michelle represented the Philippines at Miss Universe 2023, which was won by Sheynnis Palacios of Nicaragua.
“My thank you gift to Michelle for having worked so hard and for being so amazing at Miss Universe. Also to Mark [and] Earl who have been so kind [and] generous to make my suit for the prelims [preliminaries],” Voltaire said on Instagram on January 19.
He added that he commissioned an “MMD Barbie” in her iconic gown, saying that the initiative “turned out so fabulously.”
“Thank you for making this happen @cholodollcouturephilippines and for introducing me to such talented professionals,” the MUPH official said, tagging the Instagram page of doll couture designer Cholo Ayuyao.
Cholo has been designing fashion doll couture for the country’s representative to the Miss Beauty Doll pageants.
View this post on Instagram
RELATED: ‘Gears of Time’: Pinoy-made doll stuns in clock-inspired national costume | Philippines’ fashion doll finishes first runner-up at Miss Beauty Doll 2022
Meanwhile, Michelle expressed her gratitude to Voltaire through an Instagram Story.
She tagged the MUPH official with smiling-face-with-tears emojis and wrote: “You’re the best.”
Michelle was previously lauded for paying tribute to Whang-Od with her atypical black gown which was handstitched with beads to imitate the living legend’s body art.
READ: ‘Mad respect’ for Whang-Od: Michelle Dee’s Miss Universe 2023 evening gown lauded
The beauty queen finished her Miss Universe 2023 journey by bringing the country back into the semi-finals placement of the pageant and taking home several awards.
These are the gold medal for her “Voice for Change” advocacy video, the “Spirit of Carnival” award given by longtime pageant sponsor Carnival Cruises and the Best in National Costume award.
Michelle was also the fan vote winner in the Miss Universe 2023 app.
