Designer Anjali Phougat designs shined on Miss Universe 2023 stage

We have already witnessed designer Anjali Phougat signature style with Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu from India, who won the Miss Universe crown in 2021. This year too, she won hearts with her collaboration with Miss Universe participant from Chile Sophia Depassier. This year, R’Bonney Gabriel of US became Miss Universe 2022, with Amanda Dudamel from Venezuela and Andreína Martínez from Dominican Republic being the first and second runner-ups. Well, there is some great news in store for Anjali’s fans, as the ace designer not only interacted with R’Bonney at the ceremony, would love to work with her for spreading awareness about sustainability in fashion industry.

“I would like to congratulate her on her big win and wish the best for her future endeavours. It feels great to see her win because she’s a sister from a fashion designer community and I felt incredibly proud of her. She was one of my top three choices because of the causes she supports as it totally resonates with me. She also gave intelligent answers. She correctly said that women should never be judged on the basis of their age. I look forward to seeing her spreading more awareness around sustainable fashion and supporting recycling,” says Anjali.

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Coming from a fashion designer background, Anjali could resonate well with R’Bonney’s journey, which is inspirational to say the least. Anjali interacted with her father, who shared many incidents from her childhood days. “She comes from a very down-to-earth and humble family. Since his daughter is a fashion designer like me, we resonated well. We chatted about her struggle with her faith. Her father said something very beautiful and that is, R’Bonney is God’s. She believes in God and wherever she is today is because of her belief and hard work. She prays daily. The conversation made me both emotional and proud,” she says.

Anjali, who is one of the most sought-after celebrity stylists in the global fashion space, has often showcased her designs at the New York Fashion week. In fact, she is the founder of Designer Dream Collection, a luxury brand in the fashion industry. And we would soon many Miss Universe delegates in her style at NYFW!

“She is very talented, and an amazing fashion designer. It would be truly an honour for me to design for her. In fact, we were chatting right before the Miss Universe pageant, and we discussed the same. I have invited her to walk for me during New York Fashion Week too,” shares Anjali.

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The qualities of R’Bonney as a participant that Anjali liked since the very beginning were her confidence, talent and fearless nature. “Miss Universe competition is not just about good looks, it’s more for the cause of womanhood, goodness, intelligence and to use the power of voice to implement positive changes for this world better future by spreading awareness about phenomenal causes. It’s not about your skin colour, shape and body size this platform has much more to offer. There’s a lot to learn from this 28-year-old woman. Another thing that inspired me is that she mentioned that she would like to see the age bracket of female participants being lifted in the pageantry, so that more talented and passionate women can come forward and use this platform to grow in life,” she explains.

About the kind of clothes that would suit R’Bonney, Anjali adds, “She has a great body, great personality and great aura about herself. She can totally carry and nail any look. I would love to do some Indian saree for her because she would look absolutely glamorous in the attire. If I can dress her during any of my shows or the event, I would love to create one gorgeous saree, maybe a blue in colour, which would match her force for good crown and would make her look even more powerful and sensuous.”