The four Filipino beauty queens with photographer BJ Pascual
“We even joked Angelia that she’s our class president,” Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach told TheDiarist.ph about the shoot she and three other Filipino beauty queens did for Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam’s cover (July 2021 issue), which, as of this writing, has drawn 25,000 likes for the glossy magazine’s Instagram. Angelia is Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong whose brainchild the shoot was and who produced the shoot herself.
Wurtzbach added that the shoot was years in the making.
“It all happened in good timing though. It was Angelia who has direct contact with Harper’s Vietnam, then she approached me with the idea,” Wurtzbach said. “It almost didn’t happen because we had to check everyone’s availability. It felt like putting puzzle pieces together. Luckily everyone was game.”
To celebrate Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam’s 10th anniversary, the magazine did the cover shoot of four Filipino title-holders: Miss World 2013 Megan Young, Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, Miss International 2016 Kylie Versoza and Miss Earth 2015 Angelia Ong.
Filipino beauty title-holders in Avedon-inspired cover of Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam
It was shot in mid-June 2021 at the Okada Manila ballroom by fashion photographer BJ Pascual, styling by Adrienne Concepcion, and creative direction by Eldzs Mejia. According to Mejia, the theme was about showcasing the multiple transformations and versatility of these beauty queens. “We wanted to showcase them in different trends and beauty transformation,” Mejia said.
Mejia had a lot of brainstorming sessions with Pascual before selecting the shoot’s final themes. “We paid homage to Richard Avedon’s ‘90s Versace campaigns and even the 1980s movie of Joey Gosengfiao’s Temptation Island.”
“Temptation Island” inspired cover
“Stylist Concepcion did a great translation of our creative brief,” Mejia added. The shoot took 12 hours. Asked why Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam opted for a cover of four Filipino beauty queens, Mejia said that since the Philippines is known as a pageant powerhouse, there’s always been a fascination with our beauty queens, “so it’s no surprise for an international title to approach Angelia, Pia, Megan, and Kylie to be on the cover of their anniversary issue.”
Miss World 2013 Megan Young and Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach for Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam
“I really enjoyed, though the shoot ended up a little late and but it was one of my most memorable ones,” Wurtzbach said. “You would think that having four beauty queens can be stressful, but actually it was so fun. The vibe was fun and light, besides we’re not in competition anymore. We were just trying to have fun. We all just wanted beautiful pictures. It was so fun; it was so stress-free.”
Now they’re thinking of doing another—“Perhaps next time there would be more of us,” Wurtzbach said.
The four queens in Gucci
Credits:
Behind the scenes photography Kim Wee Ebol
Photography: BJ PASCUAL @bjpascual
Creative Direction: ELDZS MEJIA @eldzsmejia
Styling: ADRIANNE CONCEPCION @adrianneconcept
Assistant Stylists: DODLEY GALLARDO @_dodleygal and KRING MALLARI @kringmallari
Make up (Angelia): MAC IGARTA @mac_igarta
Make up (Pia & Megan): MICKEY SEE @mickeysee
And Make up (Kylie): ANTHEA BUENO @antheabueno
Hair (Pia & Angelia): ARIES MANAL @ariesmanal_hair
Hair (Megan & Kylie): RENZ PANGILINAN @renzpangilinan
Production Design: JUSTINE ARCEGA-BUMANLAG @justine_arcegabumanlag of Saso Studios and AREN DALE SANTOS @arendale of AdsetProd @adsetprod
