Miss Universe Bahrain unveils its seven finalists for 2023 edition

Miss Universe Bahrain 2022 Evlin Khalifa and Miss Universe Bahrain National Director Josh Yugen. (Supplied)
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Updated 06 July 2023
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Miss Universe Bahrain unveils its seven finalists for 2023 edition

DUBAI: The seven finalists for the third edition of Miss Universe Bahrain 2023 have been revealed. 

The organization officially announced its finalists in a blind introduction which premiered on the official Miss Universe Bahrain YouTube channel earlier this week.

The seven are Advaita Shetty, 28; Lujane Yacoub, 19; Mariam Naji, 26; Mary Mohamed, 28; Menatalla Husein, 20; Nivine Abouzeid, 24; and Turina Carrol, 28.

The winner will be crowned in September and will go on to represent the country at the Miss Universe pageant in El Salvador later in the year.

In 2022, 24-year-old Bahraini Russian model and pianist Evlin Abdullah-Khalifa was named Miss Universe Bahrain. 

She was chosen by a judging panel that included Egyptian actress Mai Omar, the Black Eyed Peas’ Jrey Soul, and influencer Faryal Makhdoom, among others.

The first runner-up last year was the then 18-year-old Yacoub and filling in joint third were Naji and Shereen Ahmed from Manama.

“My main purpose in life is to find success (and) to believe in myself because I struggled a lot with this problem in my life. And I realised that whenever you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything. And I want to say to everybody watching to believe in themselves as well just as how me and my sisters believed in ourselves,” said an emotional Abdullah-Khalifa in an interview with Arab News.
 


Mona Tougaard wears bridal look at Dior’s Paris show

Updated 27 January 2026
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Mona Tougaard wears bridal look at Dior’s Paris show

  • Rihanna and Brigitte Macron among attendees at show
  • Design part of new director Jonathan Anderson’s vision

DUBAI/ PARIS: Model Mona Tougaard reportedly turned heads in a bridal-inspired look on the Christian Dior runway during the recent Paris Haute Couture Week.

The runway star, who has Danish, Turkish, Somali and Ethiopian ancestry, wore a sculptural white gown with a one-shoulder silhouette and layered petal-like appliques cascading from the bodice to the full skirt.

The asymmetrical bodice featured draped detailing across the torso, while the skirt flared into a voluminous, floor-length shape.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dior Official (@dior)

The look was finished with oversized floral statement earrings that echoed the dress’s petal motif.

The floral elements echoed the wider vision of Dior’s new creative director Jonathan Anderson, who drew inspiration from nature and his love of ceramics for his first Haute Couture collection since being appointed to the role.

The 41-year-old faces the rare challenge of overseeing all three fashion lines at the house — women’s and men’s ready-to-wear and Haute Couture — becoming the first designer to do so since Christian Dior himself.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dior Official (@dior)

Just days after presenting his latest men’s collection during Paris Men’s Fashion Week, the Northern Irish designer returned with his first couture offering.

The collection featured floral motifs on fabrics or as accessories, while sculptural bulbous dresses were inspired by the work of Kenya-born ceramicist Magdelene Odundo.

“When you copy nature, you always learn something,” Anderson declared in his show notes, which compared Haute Couture to a living ecosystem that is “evolving, adapting, enduring.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Dior Official (@dior)

Other noteworthy pieces included dresses with spherical birdcage-inspired silhouettes, while other models wore vest tops with their dresses gathered around their waists.

The front row at the Rodin Museum reflected the scale of anticipation surrounding Anderson’s couture debut. France’s first lady Brigitte Macron arrived early, while Lauren Sanchez Bezos swept in shortly after.

Actor Parker Posey twirled briefly in a trench-style dress, playing to the room before settling in.

Then the space fell into a collective pause as celebrities and editors alike waited for Rihanna. When the pop star finally took her seat, the lights dropped and the show began.

Before the show, Anderson admitted in an interview with the Business of Fashion website that he previously thought couture was “irrelevant,” adding that he never really “understood the glamour behind it.”

“Now, I feel like I’m doing a Ph.D. in couture,” he explained.