Vietnamese supermodel Kha Trang has won the best national costume at the 2016 Miss Supranational beauty pageant held in Poland.

Kha Trang wins best national costume

The Vietnamese Golden Lotus costume weighs 45kg and is 3.5 metres long. It was designed by Le Long Dung who said he was inspired by strength of dragon father Lac Long Quan and fairy mother Au Co who are said to be parents of the Vietnamese in the folktales.

The costume mostly has red and gold colours similar to Vietnam's national flag. On the sleeves are the shapes of the golden lotus and spirals to present the fairy clouds and water where the dragon father resides. The headwear is equally impressive with 2-metre long pheasant tail feathers.

The brocade dress is decorated with many details and goes with gigantic earrings.

Ever since the introduction, the costume has become a controversial topic in Vietnam.

Some people support Dung because most Vietnamese beauty queens had never won anything with regular traditional costumes. They need to be grand, dazzling and unique in order to compete on international stage. In addition, the lotus image and the folktale of Lac Long Quan and Au Co also represent Vietnamese people.

The stylised costume is controversial in Vietnam

Other criticise the heavily stylised and detailed dress, saying that it was not suit to Vietnamese culture and looked too foreign.

On the final night of 2016 Miss Supranational on December 2, Vietnam won the prize against strong contestants like Philippines and Venezuela. Kha Trang was also able to enter the Top 25.

Indian beauty Srindhi Shetty was crowned as Miss Supranational 2016

Indian beauty Srindhi Shetty was crowned as Miss Supranational. Valeria Vespoli from Venezuela named runner-up and Jaleesa Pigot from Suriname was third.

Dtinews