Miss Thailand Anna Sueangam-iam wowed the crowd with a dress made of soda tabs as the Miss Universe pageant kicked off this week with the preliminary competition.
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Sueangam-iam has already made headlines with her evening-gown round, rocking up well over 160,000 likes on Instagram.
However, it was her caption that caught the attention of both audience and jury as the model wrote how the gown was inspired by her childhood.
‘Growing up with garbage collector parents, my life as a child was among piles of garbage and recyclables. This unique gown was purposefully tailored-made with discarded and recycled materials, namely the ‘Can Tab’ to present to the UNIVERSE that what’s considered worthless by many actually possesses its own value and beauty.’
The dress was designed by the brand Manirat and is known as the ‘Hidden Precious Diamond Dress’, combining the aluminium pull-tabs of soda cans with Swarovski crystals.
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The 24-year-old model was born and raised in a slum in Bangkok, with her family later sending her to a temple to protect her from an unsafe environment. She reportedly grew up among Buddhist nuns, eating mostly leftovers for years.
She now aims to use the beauty pageant to give a platform to underprivileged children.
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