Ndavi Nokeri, Miss Universe, “carries the voices” of South African women

Miss SA Ndavi Nokeri brought the voices of South African women to the Miss Universe competition with her custom-made black cape, which was shown during the swimsuit competition on January 11.

The 71st edition of Miss Universe will be held at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center on January 15 in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. This year, the format of the national gift auction at the pageant has changed.

Instead of presenting a national gift from their country, each of the 84 contenders was obliged to personalize a blank cape provided by the Miss Universe organizers.

This necessitated drawing inspiration from everything associated with their cause or the nation they represent. The capes, which will be auctioned in lieu of national presents with earnings donated to charity, are worn during the Miss Universe swimsuit competition and were debuted during the preliminary round.

Miss South Africa Ndavi Nokeri collaborated with graphic artist Ashlyn Atkinson from iDesign South Africa and Sinead Fletcher, who painted the cape, as well as the voices of South African women, to create the outstanding design named “Perfectly Imperfect.”

“Throughout the centuries, women have been made to feel unworthy based on any physical characteristics that were deemed undesirable by the male gaze.” With the South Africa cape, and as part of the Miss Universe platform’s bigger message, women are reclaiming the narrative surrounding their bodies and what makes them attractive, according to Nokeri and Atkinson, who were quoted by the Miss SA Organisation.

Ndavi Nokeri, Miss Universe, will represent South Africa at the Miss Universe competition. Images courtesy Instagram @ndavi.nokerii.
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“The design reflects freedom from other people’s preconceptions of what I, or any woman, should look like to be deemed beautiful. She said, “Beauty has no definition, no skin tone, no size, and is certainly not perfect.”

“I believe that the design conveys that all women are attractive in their own imperfect ways. The competitors for Miss Universe come from all over the world and have various body types and skin tones. Atkinson stated that the only thing that genuinely makes women attractive is our common womanhood, our cellulite, stretch marks, scars, curves, varied sized breasts, different hair, and our voices.

In New Orleans, Nokeri is cheered on by a group of South African supporters. This includes the CEO of the Miss South Africa Organization, Stephanie Weil, the creative director, Werner Wessels, and Moses and Betty Nokeri, her parents.