Miss Universe India 2024 held at the Zee Studios, Jaipur, Rajasthan witnessed five costumes from Siolim-based Goan designer Melvyn Noronha, which included the winner of the Best National Costume and the costume of the eventual winner of the whole contest.
NRI Chhavi Verg from New Jersey, won the Best National Costume at Miss Universe India 2024. The theme for her costume was ‘The Colourful Love of a Universal India’. The costume features traditional Indian textile work on a base of hot pink to symbolise ‘desi’ love, which is the unifying quality of India. The flora and fauna is an ode to the history of preservation of India’s varied biodiversity while the simple pots honour rural artisans. The panelled lehenga with showers of flowers represents the culture of big and fat weddings and the choli is beaded in the colours of the Indian flag. The crown symbolises the meditative progressions and has floating planets.
Rhea Singha, who ultimately won the title also wore Noronha’s costume. Themed ‘The Modern Fashion Spirit of Devi Ahilyabai Holkar’, the costume represented the historical power of women with white for purity; yellow for enthusiasm and radiation of light like the sun; and saffron for the country’s strength, courage, sacrifice, valour, wisdom, and action. The modern youthful and fashionable avatar of Devi Ahilyabai Holkar through a wall of sacrifice with the horses representing the women on the past who worked together to skill up and establish start-ups in the textile and handicraft industries. The fire in the costume is a symbol of the denial of Sati, and the passion and perseverance of women to contribute to build a strong society. The balance of flowers and metal depicts the gentle but effectively strong essence of women.
Another top standout costume at the contest was that of Miss Universe Goa- Anjum Malik. The theme was ‘In search of the Pearl of the Indian Ocean – Goa. Based on São Gabriel, the ship of Vasco Da Gama, the costume featured the Portuguese adoration for Goa through a sensual Captain costume adorned with the fan of mando singers as a crown, eventually revealing Goa on a pearl out of a treasure box.
Noronha also did the costumes for Lakshita Thilagraj and Bhuvaneshwari Vishwanath. Thilagraj’s costume celebrated the legacy of Velu Nachiyaar a valiant queen of Sivaganga Kingdom, the premier woman avenger of India against the British colonisers. Bhuvaneshwari’s costume was the ‘Temple protecting Apsara of South India’.
