Quite the generous country, are we?
The Miss Universe pageant - once a Trump-owned competition where young girls are judged in their bikinis - feels out-of-place in the era of "woke-ness". However, any discussion of its relevance in today's culture is tossed aside once countries announce their Hunger Games-inspired costumes to be worn by their respective representatives.
Every year, these costumes are torn apart by online comments and Photoshop. Last year, everyone was laughing at our neighbour's nasi lemak dress. This year, pageant attendees would raise their eyebrows (and not in a good way) at our costume which features both the USA and DPRK flags. Just who are we representing again?
About our $16.3m "investment" earlier this year
For those who are clueless as to why the flags of North Korea and USA are on her dress, here's a recap of how the world escaped nuclear self-destruction. In June, US President Donald Trump met with North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore to discuss among other things, not bombing the crap out of one another. Singapore spent $16.3m to host the event, and some of which was used to create a brand identity for this historic summit.
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| The media centre featured the Trump-Kim Summit identity |
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| Pampering the media team with SG Mark branded memorabilia |
However, international press seldom/did not even use the event identity, resorting instead to creating custom banners featuring the 2 leaders' faces - even local media did not show the identity any love.
When Trump held a press conference in one of the banquet halls of Capella Singapore, he was standing in front of a backdrop featuring a US version of the event branding. Naturally, media outlets used these pictures and footage which essentially rendered our local event identity useless. So much for using this summit as a platform to showcase Singapore's visual branding...
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| "We've got the best branding - the best - believe me" |
What Went Wrong?
Now's the part you've been wanting to read - my critique of this angelic dress. Angelic when the flaps are closed, that is.
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| Seriously, what can I do to convince her not to reveal the flaps |
Once the flaps are opened to reveal the print, I had to laugh at the messiness and inconsistency of the design. The hands are generated 3D-models while the skyline is an airbrushed photograph - inexcusable amateurish design when 'blended' together. That blue colour, that yellow/white glow, the flags - it's all too cheesy, especially with the Singapore skyline decorating the flap's border, a possible afterthought after realising that this is the dress for Miss Universe SINGAPORE, not the USA or DPRK.
As I studied the dress more closely, I got this sense of uneasiness as it reminded me of propaganda posters. Look at the art style of the hands and compare them with North Korean posters. Look at the flags and tell me if far-right Trump voters would use this picture in their terrible MAGA picture compilations. I'm not sure if the designer was knowingly creating propaganda material, which is deeply troubling.
The Design Devil
I'm going out on a limb to say that this was not entirely the designer's fault. In a recent article, designer Moe Kasim of Moephosis Concepts defended the dress he designed, revealing that it was a challenge to work with the budget allocated and to come up with a fashion design based on a 'controversial and contentious' event.
An lo and behold, you can see the problem which resulted in this mess in the first place - the organisers instructed him to 'design something based on the Trump-Kim summit'. Not world peace in general, but specifically on the summit.
This smells like design by committee, which happens when non-designers essentially design for the designer via instructions. Seriously, for a design which can be done on powerpoint (all you need is some stock photos and clip art online plus the outline effect and voila, a miss universe worthy dress), I find it hard to believe that he willingly wanted this as the final design.
Can we go back to food themed costumes now
Our local comedians were quick to add their take on the costume, and how I wished we just stuck to food instead. Maybe pass some samples around the judges to
Anyway, if this year's costume requires more examples of world peace, I present to you my edition of the dress, which celebrates the successful Ma-Xi meeting in 2015, our neighbourly relations with Malaysia and ASEAN cooperation. Enough hands for world peace already?
Oh and I added the SG Mark for good measure - lest this dress be worn by the actual Miss Universe after winning.
Beating the dead horse
Part of me thinks that this dress was created to remind everyone of Singapore's monetary sacrifice contribution to world peace. But with the media already talking about the next summit, are we a little too late in celebrating this?
Coupled with the dress' aesthetic which would be displayed on the world stage, it does make Singapore appear desperate for attention and recognition. Remember the 2 hour-long STB-sponsored advertisement called Crazy Rich Asians?
Hype can't be forced (looking at you, Nas Daily); we can't just throw money and genuinely expect every country to be indebted to us. Keep referring to this and it'll just be seen as a cheap political talking point.
But in this day and age, with people benefiting from both positive and negative chatter, let's hope that every design flaw is justifiable.
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