MISS THAILAND PAYS TRIBUTE TO HER GARBAGE COLLECTOR BY WEARING SODA TAB DRESS
For some of us, paying tribute to those who have supported us on our path to success is a must. So we get inspirational speeches and book captions at awards ceremonies. The Miss Universe contestant decided to honour her upbringing in a unique way. Miss Thailand Anna Suangam-yam wore a soda can dress as a tribute to her parents (father a garbage collector and mother a Bangkok cleaner) on the pageant evening stage.
Aptly named the Hidden Precious Diamond Dress, this recycled dress was designed by Thai fashion label Manirat and combines alluminum soda poppers with Swarovski crystals. The powerful message of her dress garnered attention even before the competition, and her dress photo has received more than 230,000 likes on Instagram to date.
“This dress was inspired by the familiar environment of my childhood,” Suanggamyam wrote on Instagram. “I grew up in a family of garbage collectors and my childhood was surrounded by piles of trash and recycling. This one-of-a-kind dress was created specifically from discarded and recycled materials, namely Can Tab, to show UNIVERSE that what many people consider obsolete actually has its own value and beauty.”
Suangam Yam was born and raised in the slums of Bangkok. She was sent to a Buddhist monastery where she grew up surrounded by nuns, and most of her diet was leftovers from the monks. About her education, she realised from an early age that she was different from other children. According to her Miss Universe biography, she had to earn merit points, donate blood, collect plastic bottles for trash, and clean public toilets to cover her school fees. Her life story inspired her to work for a non-profit organisation to provide an education system for children regardless of their economic status.
Miss Universe Thailand wrote of the inspirational dress, "Her persistence, perseverance and optimism have led her to great success in life." She said, "Someone calls her her 'junk beauty queen,' but she shines like a jewel."
Although Suangam Yam did not make the top 16, she did receive the Social Impact Award, which included prize money to provide equal educational opportunities and care for underprivileged children in her home country of Thailand. If you want to know more about her work, you can follow Suang Am I Am on Instagram.