Trinis style Miss Guyana

A local team of celebrity stylists, led by designer and entrepreneur Peter Elias, have been preparing Miss Guyana Rafeiya Husain, 25, for the Miss Universe 2017 pageant.

The team includes photographer Calvin French, hairstylist Ashvin Bally, who, Elias told Sunday Newsday, have worked together for years creating editorials and images when, “I ran the Miss Trinidad and Tobago (pageant).” Elias is a former franchise holder of the Miss Universe pageant. Husain’s make-up is being done by Katrina Laydoo.

On Husain’s chances at the competition on November 26 in Las Vegas, Elias said, “I don’t ever remember Guyana ever having as promising a delegate as Rafeiya.”

“She has the experience of doing so well in the Miss World 2014 competition,” he said. In 2014, Husain made it to the top 11 in the Miss World contest as Miss Guyana World. She also took part in Miss Guyana Universe last year, but failed to win the crown.

“My last favourite Miss Guyana was Shakira Caine,” he said. Caine competed as Shakira Baksh in the late 1960s and placed third. She later married British actor Sir Michael Caine.

Elias took on the job to style Husain, he said, when her relatives in Guyana made contact for images for the upcoming pageant.

Even though his role is that of stylist and to conceptualise the looks that best suits the delegate, he said, the four-member team work closely together.

Asked how the team coped with the logistics of meeting the needs of the contestant in a different country, Elias said, “This was easy as we only had to create images and assist with looks for her time during the competition.”

Though he would not give away anything much about Husain’s ensembles, he said, they “evoke a Caribbean aesthetic that speak to her personality, and then stand out in an international arena.”

In the past when he prepared TT delegates, Elias said that “included actually packing her suitcase - labelling/creating the list of what to wear and when. Then there’s the national costume, national gift and managing shipping and overweight.” On Miss TT Universe Yvonne Clarke being stripped of the title and subsequently reinstated, Elias said, “So, so sad. I’m relieved that Yvonne will represent, as it’s been her dream and for so long.”