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“The designs that were given to us were not good enough for our candidates.”
This was what Stella Marquez Araneta, the founder of the Binibining Pilipinas Charities, said in a TV Patrol interview. Her controversial statement starts at 1:53 in the video.
She was asked why she has tapped Colombian designer Alfredo Barraza to create the gowns of Pinay beauty queens for international pageants. She said that she started commissioning Barraza to do the Miss Universe gowns for Pinay candidates since the time of Miriam Quiambao.
It may be recalled that the Philippines’ Miss Universe representative MJ Lastimosa wore a flowered creation as her national getup. The said dress was bashed by netizens.
In case you didn’t know, Araneta was Miss Colombia in 1959 and Miss International in 1960. She also competed in the Miss Universe pageant in 1960. She then married Filipino businessman Jorge Araneta. She has been the brains behind the Binibining Pilipinas pageant since 1964.
Araneta said, though, that she is open to having Pinoy designers create the gowns for the Philippines’ beauty queens.
